The Story Behind the One-Off Religious Novel Written by Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash is known for a great deal of things. However, a large part of the man’s life has also remained fairly unknown. Whether that was going to trial for burning down a California forest home to endangered condors or contemplating suicide in a cave, there were certain aspects of Cash’s life that he seemingly didn’t feel the need to broadcast. As a matter of fact, during that moment in the cave, Cash had a spiritual epiphany, a spiritual epiphany that ultimately led to him writing his first and only novel, Man In White.

Videos by American Songwriter

Published in 1986, Man In White is a piece of historical fiction retelling the six pivotal years in the life of St. Paul(Saul of Tarsus). In the novel, Cash portrays the evolution of Saul to Paul, which retells his transition from persecuting early Christians to then becoming one in the primitive church. Through both historical accounts and imaginative prose, Cash outlines the complexities of accepting faith and religion, a metamorphosis he was familiar with.

Seemingly, Cash saw a part of himself in Paul. After all, can a writer write anything genuine and nuanced if they don’t see themselves in the characters they are depicting? Nevertheless, the novel was Cash’s first and last, and was an effort that reportedly spanned over decades.

What Johnny Cash Saw in Paul the Apostle

Summarizing his book, Cash told CBN, “Man in White is a novelization of the conversion of St. Paul about his life before and immediately after his conversion and the first years of the primitive church. It came to a halt when I got sick. I haven’t written but a little in the last year.”

” I have to study the life and writings of Paul so it really doesn’t matter to me if it takes 20 years ’cause I need to study Paul’s writings that long anyway,” Cash added. Regarding what he discovered and admired about Paul, Cash continued, “What I admire about him… through Jesus Christ he was able to overcome every kind of adversity known to man.”

“He was evidently a small man but very strong, very durable—a survivor too. He had every kind of reason to quit and never did because of his faith in God. Paul was my inspiration. Jesus Christ is the one who laid it out for us and showed us what to do and Paul’s the one that showed us how it could work,” added Johnny Cash.

Even if you don’t consider yourself a religious person, the ambitious creative mission of retranslating and retelling the life of a Saint is both fascinating and admirable. Given the subject, the stakes were incredibly high, but that didn’t stop Cash from putting words on the page and sharing his perspective.

Photo by Hülzer/ullstein bild via Getty Images