The Final Race Read online

  PRAISE FOR THE FINAL RACE

  Many know the story of the Flying Scot, Eric Liddell, whose Christian conscience would not let him run in the 1924 Paris Olympics on a Sunday. Though he had trained for the 100-meter event, he had to switch to the 400-meter instead—and won the gold! It was all told in the book and movie Chariots of Fire.

  What more is there to say? Plenty! Another Eric (named Eichinger) now tells the rest of the story in his fascinating book The Final Race. With gifted pen, he tells of Liddell’s subsequent career as a missionary teacher in China and how his efforts there became a powerful witness to Christianity and culture in the Far East. As a celebrity, doors were open to him, and he faithfully used them to do the work of the Lord in remarkable fashion.

  What happened after the Olympics was by far the most significant part of Liddell’s life, and Eichinger nobly rescues it from oblivion, offering a true account, brimming with triumphs, tragedies, love, and violence—all set against the brutality of the Japanese invasion of China at the start of World War II. In these pages, Eric Eichinger has given us the genuine sequel in Liddell’s life, providing a true tale that will grip readers and fire their spirits.

  PAUL L. MAIER

  Bestselling author of A Skeleton in God’s Closet

  The Final Race is a gripping read of the rest of the Eric Liddell story. This chariot of fire of God’s grace didn’t merely bask in Olympic glory but sacrificed it all to run the race of his life and to share the gospel of Jesus in China. Author Eric Eichinger does a wonderful job showing Liddell’s humanity, his struggles, his tenacity, and above all his persevering faith. It’s a riveting story of the love of Christ leading the way amidst the hurdles of culture and resources, as well as the overwhelming atrocities of war, concentration camps, poverty, and false ideologies. In the midst of it all, Liddell’s life is a compelling story of the love of Christ, a race that he ran to win so that others would be blessed, to give God glory. Truth be told, his service was just a reflection of his Savior, the one he always wants you to meet through it all. Eichinger compellingly brings to life this story that will have you turning the pages in anticipation. It’s a story that surely will bless all who read it.

  GREGORY P. SELTZ, PHD

  Executive director of the Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty, Washington, DC, and speaker emeritus of The Lutheran Hour

  The story of Eric Liddell after his Chariots of Fire Olympic glory is both inspiring and challenging. Pastor Eichinger takes us on a thrilling yet heartbreaking journey of courage and self-sacrifice. He digs deeper into not only what made Liddell an all-time great on the track but also the difficulties of balancing God’s calling with the demands of responsibility to family. Set in World War II China, The Final Race is a timely reminder that true faithfulness often leads to great sacrifice, but also great reward.

  JIM STINTZI

  Director of track and field and cross-country, Charleston Southern University; seven time All-American; and head coach of thirty years in the Big Ten

  Pastor Eric Eichinger has done a masterful job of introducing us to Eric Liddell’s life after Chariots of Fire. Since he both served as a missionary to China and ran track in college, Rev. Eichinger is able to capture Liddell’s story in a unique and engaging way. Far from picturing the Christian life as one of pure glory and victory, The Final Race reminds us that following Christ means bearing a cross, having to sacrifice what we love at times and even living in uncertainty. Yet in all of this, Liddell’s life points to the reality that God’s grace always prevails and that the blood of Christ offers the only true hope there is. The Final Race is sure to inspire and encourage all of us who have to bear a cross.

  REV. BOB HILLER

  Senior pastor, Community Lutheran Church, Escondido, CA

  The Final Race recounts the heroic story of Eric Liddell with passion and grit. Author Eric Eichinger shares how Liddell finished the ultimate race of life with commitment, determination, and self-sacrifice. Faith, family, war, romance, struggle, and victory combine to show that Eric Liddell was much more than an Olympic hero. He was a hero who changed lives for eternity.

  MICHAEL NEWMAN

  Author of Hope When Your Heart Breaks and The Life You Crave

  Eric Liddell’s life of loving service is a testimony to his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. His story is worthy of remembrance and celebration, and The Final Race is an enriching and rewarding testament. Like the Apostle Paul before him, Eric Liddell has “run the race,” entering the joy of his Master. This book will help you enter into that race as well. I encourage you to read and be refreshed.

  DR. JORDAN J. BALLOR

  Research fellow, Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty

  The Final Race offers a refreshing, compelling reminder of someone who lived by his principles regardless of circumstance. With this engaging account of Olympic hero Eric Liddell’s life story, Eric Eichinger has given a solid example that should be considered by all endeavoring to live a life of virtue today.

  DAVID AND JASON BENHAM

  Entrepreneurs and bestselling authors of Whatever the Cost

  Like Eichinger and Everson’s remarkable work, I have been captivated by Eric Liddell’s story for over thirty years. It was immensely gratifying to discover that The Final Race holds true to the man’s incredible legacy while crafting a beautiful tale. Highly recommended.

  DAVIS BUNN

  International bestselling author

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  TYNDALE, Tyndale Momentum, and Tyndale’s quill logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. The Tyndale Momentum logo is a trademark of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Tyndale Momentum is the nonfiction imprint of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois.

  The Final Race: The Incredible World War II Story of the Olympian Who Inspired Chariots of Fire

  Copyright © 2018 by Surrender Films, LLC. All rights reserved.

  Cover photograph of JW Foster running shoe copyright © Reebok and used with permission. All rights reserved.

  Cover photograph of barbed wire copyright © Cludio Policarpo/EyeEm/Getty Images. All rights reserved.

  Cover photograph of dirt copyright © Gary Weathers/Getty Images. All rights reserved.

  Interior photograph of triumphant parade copyright © Firmin/Stringer/Hulton Archive/Getty Images. All rights reserved.

  Interior photograph of Eric Liddell racing copyright © Alpha Historica/Alamy Stock Photo. All rights reserved.

  Interior photograph of Florence Liddell and daughters taken at New Paramount Studios, Toronto, and used with permission.

  Unless otherwise noted, all interior photographs are from the personal collection of Eric Liddell’s family and used with permission.

  Designed by Jennifer Phelps

  Eric Eichinger is represented by SON: The Spirit Of Naples and Southwest Florida, Inc., 1100 Fifth Ave S, Ste. 201, Naples, FL 34102 www.SONStudios.org.

  Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible,® copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

  Scripture quotations within the text body are taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version.

  Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version,® NIV.® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Use
d by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

  For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Tyndale House Publishers at [email protected], or call 1-800-323-9400.

  ISBN 978-1-4964-1994-1 (hc)

  ISBN 978-1-4964-3245-2 (International Trade Paper Edition)

  ISBN 978-1-4964-1997-2 (ePub); ISBN 978-1-4964-1996-5 (Kindle); ISBN 978-1-4964-1995-8 (Apple)

  Build: 2018-01-25 14:47:58 EPUB 3.0.1

  FOR KARA

  You are my best “running partner.” You ran this ultramarathon with me every blistering step of the way.

  Eric

  * * *

  AND FOR ERIC EICHINGER

  Because you shared writing the story of Eric Liddell with me, I have grown spiritually in ways I never imagined possible.

  Thx, EE.

  ee

  Eva Marie

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Praise for The Final Race

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Authors’ Note

  Prologue: Our Race

  Chapter 1: Another Race

  Part One: The First 100 Chapter 2: Foundations

  Chapter 3: The Starter’s Pistol

  Chapter 4: Muscular Christianity

  Chapter 5: Olympic Mind Games

  Chapter 6: Into Battle

  Chapter 7: A Victory Lap

  Chapter 8: Doctrinal Discernment

  Part Two: The Second 100 Chapter 9: A Sort of Homecoming

  Chapter 10: A Slow Bloom

  Chapter 11: Ordinary Time, Extraordinary Days

  Chapter 12: Onward and Upward

  Chapter 13: A Gaze into the Looking Glass

  Chapter 14: Patience and Tact

  Chapter 15: Steadfast Wedlock

  Chapter 16: A Prophet in His Hometown

  Chapter 17: An Island of Peace

  Chapter 18: Keep Calm and Carry On

  Chapter 19: Together Apart

  Part Three: The Third 100 Chapter 20: An Unexpected Opportunity

  Chapter 21: Detainment

  Chapter 22: Incurvatus In Se

  Chapter 23: Discipleship

  Chapter 24: Eric Is In

  Chapter 25: Good Night, Sweet Prince

  Chapter 26: Eric Is Out

  Chapter 27: A Liddell Epilogue

  Epilogue: The Final 100: The Race before Us

  Afterword

  Acknowledgments

  Photo Insert

  About the Authors

  AUTHORS’ NOTE

  THE WRITING OF THIS BOOK draws from a wide variety of research over a number of years, each experience more humbling than the last. Having been a competitive runner at a high level and a teacher in China, I already felt I had caught a glimpse of what it was like to stand in the shoes of Eric Liddell. While living in China, I decided to stride down that path a bit further to Weihsien, where Eric Liddell is buried and a memorial is dedicated to him. I sneaked into the condemned hospital structure where he died and surveyed the landscape as the familiar score from Chariots of Fire played in my mind. Somewhere on my return home from that pilgrimage, I knew I had to tell this story in a way that had not yet been done.

  I am thankful for the numerous and dedicated biographers who came before me, including the primary source of D. P. Thomson’s writing, as well as the Day of Discovery video documentary with David McCasland. The Eric Liddell Centre in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a trove of delight, and I warmly appreciate their hospitality. Having tea and dashing through the streets of Edinburgh to visit Eric’s old haunts with his nieces, Joan and Sue, is a moment in time I will never forget. I am especially thankful for the audience granted to me by Eric’s daughters Patricia and Heather; their open and continued communication; and for the voluminous correspondence with Eric’s youngest daughter, Maureen. It has also been an extreme pleasure working with Eva Marie Everson, a servant-leader in her craft, who made the manuscript flow with narrative quintessence.

  Rev. Eric Eichinger

  * * *

  The first time I heard the name Eric Liddell, I sat in a movie theater, shortly after the birth of my daughter, Jessica, in 1981. My husband and I had been given free tickets in exchange for our opinion about a soon-to-be-released movie, Chariots of Fire. I clearly remember being stunned as the final words appeared across the screen, informing moviegoers that Eric had died in China during World War II. Years later, as I entered the world of publishing, one of the first books I came across at a booksellers’ convention was a short biography about Eric. Oh, I remember thinking, he was the runner who refused to run on Sunday and who died in China.

  In 2015, I received a call from Rebeca Seitz of SON Studios in Naples, Florida, asking if I would look over a few chapters by a pastor from Clearwater. “He’s not a novelist,” she said, “and this is a novelization. With your experience, I think you can give him some pointers.” As soon as I opened the manuscript and saw that the story was about Eric Liddell, something inside me said, See this through. Over the next six months, the good reverend and I worked on his project, and a year later, my agent called one fine afternoon and said that “EE” (as I call him) had been offered a contract to write a biography on “EL,” but that Tyndale wanted a fiction writer’s influence. Enter “ee.”

  The opportunity to work again with EE, to sit across the desk from him and pore over books and video notes and other research, to read the numerous accounts of EL’s life, to speak on the phone with Eric Liddell’s daughter, Patricia, on several occasions (oh, her patience in talking with me!), and to take the moments in Eric Liddell’s life and weave my artistic thread through their fabric (and to do so from only his point of view) has been more than a project for me. This manuscript has changed my life. It has changed my walk with God.

  This is a biography. We wanted to maintain the factual integrity of a traditional biography while also making the book readable and understandable. We wanted to make Eric Liddell’s presence more immediate and relatable to readers. So each chapter begins with a fictionalized snapshot from Eric’s life based on true history but told using the conventions of fiction. Obviously, when fictionalizing someone’s life, writers don’t know exactly what happened (Was it really raining? Did he really eat roast beef that night for dinner?), but I have tried to stay as close as possible to what we do know for certain and to enhance that part of the story to help draw readers into the life of a truly remarkable human being. My prayer is that, like EE and myself, you will come to feel that you actually know Eric Liddell . . . and that running this part of the race alongside him will make your journey with Christ that much more precious.

  Eva Marie Everson

  PROLOGUE

  OUR RACE

  ALMOST A FULL CENTURY HAS passed since Eric Liddell’s running career began and his renown caught fire. Once he made his decision to withdraw from the 1924 Olympics 100-meter event due to religious observance, his iconic legacy was seared in time.

  A prized favorite to win gold for Britain, his name was dragged through the homeland mud on the heels of his announcement. Yet Liddell navigated gold-medal glory via a different route, the 400 meters, a distance with which he had minimal experience.

  Against all odds, he ran victoriously and in the process inspired millions. In so doing he preserved his routine commitment of honoring God by resting on the Sabbath and provided a rapturous reason for Britain to celebrate. The flame that had been lit beneath his celebrity exploded throughout the world.

  Eric’s incredible display of faith during the Olympics was just the beginning. He had another race in his life yet to run—a more important one, with a much greater prize. This final race of faith was not marked out using the familiar lines of a track. He did not know where it would end. He could not have imagined how his world would be torn apart before it was all over. And he certainly couldn’t have fathomed the magnificent extent of how God would continue to use him in the generations that would follow. All Eric could do
was prepare day by day and by faith run his race to the best of his abilities. He ran in his own unique theological lane as he persevered through hardships and ultimately achieved the everlasting crown of righteousness.

  Many glowing embers of Eric Liddell’s example remain today. They serve as luminaries for the race we have yet to run, and indeed are running—the race of faith in Christ Jesus. The baton of Christian faith has been passed to us. We don’t know what our next century will bring or what tumult lurks around dark cultural turns. We can’t know for certain what we will be asked to do. But we can prepare, as Eric did, in the days of comfort. Then when our days of hardship come, we’ll be ready to meet them—so that we, too, might not run aimlessly but in order to win the prize.

  Eric Liddell was prepared to run his final race of faith. Are we prepared for ours?

  CHAPTER 1

  ANOTHER RACE

  A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.

  Proverbs 29:23, NASB

  July 19, 1924

  Journalists crowded London’s King’s Cross railway station platform like hunters in midstalk. They milled around, searching the faces of passengers urgently headed toward their respective train compartments. Their office-issued pads and nubby No. 2 pencils were poised to jot down the perfect quote, which by morning’s print—and with the right framing—would become the next sports page headline. Cameramen, not to be outdone, vied from equal vantage points. They readied their flashbulbs in hope of seizing their unsuspecting victim and, in doing so, capturing their prize—an exclusive photograph of the nation’s most recently crowned hero.

  They had not been so lucky earlier that warm Saturday afternoon at the Stamford Bridge track, where a special relays meet between the British Empire and the United States of America had been held. Eric Liddell, the newly minted 400-meter gold-medal champion, was to run in the relay, only a week into his Olympic glory. Because his medal still had not arrived by mail, the sheen of his athleticism had yet to hang around his neck.