Bestseller Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1880) combines the romance, melodrama, and spiritual piety common in the sentimental novels of the nineteenth century with the action, adventure, and intrigue found in the more lurid tales of the day. The story takes its Jewish hero, Judah Ben-Hur, across the Roman Empire of the first century, initially on a quest for revenge against the Roman childhood friend who betrayed him and then finally on a more spiritual quest to understand the nature of the new teacher Jesus Christ.
Lew Wallace said that he wrote Ben-Hur as a way of sorting out his own beliefs concerning God and Christ. In the process, he inspired the faith of millions of readers, prompting many clergy of the day to reverse their churches long-held opposition to novels and actually encourage their congregations to read Ben-Hur.