Editing Tim LaHaye (section)

==Biography==

===Early life===
Timothy Francis LaHaye was born on April 27, 1926, in [[Detroit|Detroit, Michigan]], to Frank LaHaye, a [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] auto worker who died in 1936 of a [[Myocardial infarction|heart attack]], and Margaret LaHaye (née Palmer). His father's death had a significant influence on LaHaye, who was only nine years old at the time. He had been inconsolable until the minister at the funeral said, "This is not the end of Frank LaHaye; because he accepted [[Jesus Christ]], the day will come when the Lord will shout from [[heaven]] and descend, and the dead in Christ will rise first and then we'll be caught up together to meet him in the air."<ref>Cited in {{Cite news |last=Lampman |first=Jane |date=February 18, 2004 |title=The end of the world |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0218/p11s01-lire.html |access-date=March 12, 2024 |work=[[Christian Science Monitor]] |issn=0882-7729}}</ref><!-- Found reference from 2004, better to find original 2003 interview quoted -->

LaHaye later said that, upon hearing those remarks, "all of a sudden, there was hope in my heart I'd see my father again."<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Lampman |first=Jane |date=February 18, 2004 |title=The end of the world |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0218/p11s01-lire.html |access-date=March 12, 2024 |work=[[Christian Science Monitor]] |issn=0882-7729}}</ref>

LaHaye enlisted in the [[United States Army Air Forces]] in 1944, at the age of 18,<ref name=":0" /> after he finished high school. He served in the [[European Theater of Operations]] as a [[machine gun]]ner aboard a bomber.<ref name="dreyfuss"/> Then he studied at [[Bob Jones University]] in [[Greenville, South Carolina]], where he met his wife, Beverly, and obtained a [[Bachelor of Arts]] in 1950. LaHaye held the [[Doctor of Ministry]] degree from [[Western Seminary]].<ref name="NYTMC"/>

===Ministry===
He served as a pastor in [[Pumpkintown, South Carolina]], and after that he pastored a congregation in [[Minneapolis]] until 1956.<ref name="NYTMC"/><ref name="HagertyWSJ"/> After that, the LaHaye family moved to [[San Diego, California]], where he served as pastor of the Scott Memorial [[Baptist Church]] (now called [[Shadow Mountain Community Church]])<ref> {{Cite web |last=Peterson |first=Karla |date=July 26, 2016 |title=Author Tim LaHaye dies at age 90 |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/lifestyle/people/sdut-tim-lahaye-obituary-2016jul25-story.html |access-date=March 12, 2024 |website=San Diego Union-Tribune}} </ref><ref name="WeberCT"/> for nearly 25 years.<ref name="NYTMC"/>

In 1971, he founded Christian Heritage College, now known as [[San Diego Christian College]].<ref name="NYTMC" /> In 1972, LaHaye helped establish the [[Institute for Creation Research]] in [[El Cajon, California]], along with [[Henry M. Morris]].<ref name="SDCC">{{cite web|url=http://sdcc.edu/about-sdcc/history-sdcc|title=History of SDCC|website=San Diego Christian College|access-date=January 30, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140608074532/http://sdcc.edu/about-sdcc/history-sdcc|archive-date=June 8, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://site.pfaw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=issues_religious_timeline_creationism|title=The 'Evolution' of Creationism: The Creationism 'Science' Period|access-date=November 26, 2007|website=People for the American Way|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080919205331/http://site.pfaw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=issues_religious_timeline_creationism|archive-date=September 19, 2008}}</ref>

In 1976, the couple wrote ''[[The Act of Marriage]]'', a Christian self-help sex manual. The book sought to depict enjoyment of sex within marriage as positive rather than sinful. It frames marital sex as an important part of a [[Complementarianism|complementarian]], divinely designed relationship – with men as aggressive, sexually voracious leaders whose submissive wives provide them with sexual satisfaction to boost their egos and thereby make them more confident leaders, as part of God's design for [[Gender role|gender roles]].<ref name=":2" />{{Rp|page=91}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Zimmerman |first=Jonathan |date=2016-07-29 |title=Tim LaHaye’s sex-ed legacy: Before he wrote novels about the apocalypse, he and his wife opened right-wing Christian married couples’ eyes |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2016/07/29/tim-lahayes-sex-ed-legacy-before-he-wrote-novels-about-the-apocalypse-he-and-his-wife-opened-right-wing-christian-married-couples-eyes/ |access-date=2025-05-25 |website=[[New York Daily News]]}}</ref>

===Political activism===
{{Conservatism US|activists}}
LaHaye started numerous groups to promote his views, having become involved in politics at the [[Christian Voice (USA)|Christian Voice]] during the late 1970s and early 1980s.<ref name=":2" />{{Rp|pages=93–94}} In 1979, he founded Californians for Biblical Morality, which has been described as "in many ways...the genesis of the Christian right."<ref name="dreyfuss" /> The same year, LaHaye encouraged [[Jerry Falwell]] to found the [[Moral Majority]] and was among its three directors.<ref name="dreyfuss">{{cite magazine |author=Dreyfuss |first=Robert |date=January 28, 2004 |title=Reverend Doomsday: According to Tim LaHaye, the Apocalypse is now |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/5939999/reverend_doomsday/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070806102443/http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/5939999/reverend_doomsday/ |archive-date=August 6, 2007 |access-date=September 16, 2017 |magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref><ref name="goldberg">{{cite news |author=Goldberg |first=Michelle |date=July 29, 2002 |title=Fundamentally Unsound |url=http://dir.salon.com/story/books/feature/2002/07/29/left_behind/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214062956/http://dir.salon.com/story/books/feature/2002/07/29/left_behind/index.html |archive-date=December 14, 2007 |work=Salon}}</ref>

LaHaye was a member of and speaker for the [[John Birch Society]] (JBS), a conservative, [[Anti-communism|anti-communist]] group; scholar Celestini Carmen argues that LaHaye used the JBS's [[culture war]] methods and rhetoric of "fear, apocalyptic thought and conspiracy" to forge the Moral Majority, with "fear, anger, and disgust as essential ingredients." His book ''Rapture Under Attack'' describes his time in the JBS and relationship to its leader, [[Robert W. Welch Jr.]]<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Celestini |first=Carmen |title=God, Country, and Christian Conservatives: The National Association of Manufacturers, the John Birch Society, and the Rise of the Christian Right |date=2018 |access-date=September 20, 2024 |publisher=[[University of Waterloo]] |url=https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/handle/10012/13361/Celestini_Carmen.pdf |pages=37, 283, 300}}</ref><ref name="dreyfuss" />

Also in 1979, LaHaye's wife, [[Beverly LaHaye|Beverly]], founded [[Concerned Women for America]], a conservative [[Christianity|Christian]] women's activist group.<ref name="Christian Examiner">{{cite news |last=Arnold |first=Lori |date=December 20, 2009 |title=Beverly LaHaye marks three decades of promoting traditional values through CWA |url=http://www.christianexaminer.com/Articles/Articles%20Dec09/Art_Dec09_06.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130919182256/http://www.christianexaminer.com/Articles/Articles%20Dec09/Art_Dec09_06.html |archive-date=September 19, 2013 |access-date=September 14, 2013 |work=Christian Examiner}}</ref>

Then in 1981, he left the pulpit to concentrate his time on politics and writing.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Unger |first=Craig |date=December 2005 |title=American Rapture |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2005/12/rapture200512 |access-date=March 12, 2024 |magazine=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]}}</ref> That year, he helped found the [[Council for National Policy]] (CNP), a policy making [[think tank]]<ref>{{cite book |author=Williams |first=Daniel K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lqf3KBaqgI8C&q=God's%20Own%20Party&pg=PA194 |title=God's Own Party: The Making of the Christian Right |date=July 12, 2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press USA |isbn=9780199929061 |page=194 |access-date=July 29, 2016 |via=Google Books}}</ref> in which membership is only available through invitation. ABC News called it "the most powerful [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]] organization in America you've never heard of".<ref>{{cite web |last=Ambinder |first=Marc J. |date=May 2, 2002 |title=ABCNEWS.com: Inside the Council for National Policy |url=http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/council_020501.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021202132338/http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/council_020501.html |archive-date=December 2, 2002 |access-date=July 29, 2016 |website=ABC News}}</ref>

In the 1980s he was criticized by the evangelical community for accepting money from [[Bo Hi Pak]], a longtime [[Sun Myung Moon]] operative.<ref name="Paul R 2004, page 272">{{Cite book |last1=Forrest |first1=Barbara |author-link1=Barbara Forrest |title=[[Creationism's Trojan Horse|Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design]] |last2=Gross |first2=Paul R. |author-link2=Paul R. Gross |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 |isbn=9780195157420 |pages=272}}</ref> He was additionally criticized for joining Moon's Council for Religious Freedom, which was founded to protest Moon's 1984 imprisonment.<ref name="Paul R 2004, page 272"/> In 1996, LaHaye's wife spoke at an event sponsored by Moon.<ref name="Paul R 2004, page 272"/>

In the 1980s, LaHaye founded the [[American Coalition for Traditional Values]] and the [[Coalition for Religious Freedom]]. He founded the Pre-Trib Research Center along with [[Thomas Ice]] in 1993.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Boyer |first=Paul |date=Spring 2005 |title=Give Me that End-Time Religion: The Politicization of Prophetic Belief in Contemporary America |url=https://reflections.yale.edu/article/end-times-and-end-gamesis-scripture-being-left-behind/give-me-end-time-religion |journal=Reflections |publisher=Yale}}</ref> The center is dedicated to producing material that supports a [[Dispensationalism|dispensationalist]], [[Rapture|pre-tribulation]] interpretation of the Bible.<ref name="dreyfuss" />

LaHaye also took more direct roles in presidential politics. He supported [[Ronald Reagan]]'s elections as [[President of the United States|United States president]].<ref name="HagertyWSJ"/> He was a co-chairman of [[Jack Kemp]]'s 1988 presidential bid but was removed from the campaign after four days when his [[anti-Catholicism|anti-Catholic]] views became known.<ref name="dreyfuss"/><ref name="NYTMC"/> LaHaye played a significant role in getting the [[Christian right|Religious Right]] to support [[George W. Bush]] for the presidency in [[2000 U.S. presidential election|2000]].<ref name="dreyfuss"/><ref name="goldberg"/> In 2007, he endorsed [[Mike Huckabee]] during the [[Republican Party presidential primaries, 2008|primaries]]<ref name="chafets">{{cite news |author=Chafets |first=Zev |date=December 12, 2007 |title=The Huckabee Factor |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/12/magazine/16huckabee.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170208113642/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/12/magazine/16huckabee.html |archive-date=February 8, 2017 |access-date=February 23, 2017 |work=The New York Times Magazine}}</ref> and served as his spiritual advisor.<ref name="BanksDispatch"/>

===''Left Behind''===
{{main|Left Behind (series)}}
LaHaye is best known for the ''Left Behind'' series of [[apocalypse|apocalyptic]] fiction that depicts the [[Earth]] after the [[dispensationalism|pretribulation]] [[rapture]] which premillennial dispensationalists believe the Bible states, multiple times, will occur. The books were LaHaye's idea, though [[Jerry B. Jenkins]], a former sportswriter with numerous other works of fiction to his name, wrote the books from LaHaye's notes.<ref name="mcalister">{{cite news |author=McAlister |first=Melani |date=September 4, 2003 |title=An Empire of Their Own |url=http://www.thenation.com/doc/20030922/mcalister |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071227103517/http://www.thenation.com/doc/20030922/mcalister |archive-date=December 27, 2007 |access-date=December 19, 2007 |work=[[The Nation]]}}</ref>

The series, which started in 1995 with the first novel, includes 12 titles in the adult series, as well as juvenile novels, audio books, devotionals, and graphic novels. The books have been very popular, with total sales surpassing 65 million copies as of July 2016.<ref name="NYTMC">{{cite news|last1=McFadden|first1=Robert|title=Tim LaHaye Dies at 90: Fundamentalist Leader's Grisly Novels Sold Millions|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/26/books/tim-lahaye-a-christian-fundamentalist-leader-dies-at-90.html?_r=0|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=July 27, 2016|date=July 25, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160729205015/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/26/books/tim-lahaye-a-christian-fundamentalist-leader-dies-at-90.html?_r=0|archive-date=July 29, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Seven titles in the adult series have reached No. 1 on the bestseller lists for ''[[The New York Times]], [[USA Today]]'', and ''[[Publishers Weekly]]''.<ref>{{cite web |author=Jenkins |first=Jerry B. |last2=LaHaye |first2=Tim |title=Left Behind |url=http://www.leftbehind.com |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090830114316/http://www.leftbehind.com/ |archive-date=August 30, 2009 |access-date=July 29, 2016 |website=Left Behind}}</ref>{{Secondary source needed|date=May 2025}} [[Jerry Falwell]] said about the first book in the series: "In terms of its impact on Christianity, it's probably greater than that of any other book in modern times, outside the Bible."<ref name="alleman">{{cite news |author=Alleman |first=Thomas Michael |date=February 7, 2005 |title=The 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America: Tim and Beverly LeHaye |url=http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101050207/photoessay/15.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050203012258/http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101050207/photoessay/15.html |archive-date=February 3, 2005 |access-date=September 8, 2007 |work=[[Time magazine|TIME]]}}</ref> The best-selling series has been compared to the equally popular works of [[Tom Clancy]] and [[Stephen King]]: "the plotting is brisk and the characterizations [[Manichaeism|Manichean]]. People disappear and things blow up."<ref name="goldberg"/>

LaHaye indicates that the idea for the series came to him one day circa 1994, while he was sitting on an airplane and observed a married pilot flirting with a flight attendant. He wondered what would befall the pilot if the Rapture happened at that moment.<ref name="dreyfuss"/> The first book in the series opens with a similar scene. He sold the movie rights for the ''Left Behind'' series and later stated he regretted that decision, because the films turned out to be "church-basement videos", rather than "a big-budget blockbuster" that he had hoped for.<ref name="HagertyWSJ"/>

===Later activities===
In 2001, LaHaye co-hosted with [[Dave Breese]] the prophecy television program ''The King Is Coming''. In 2001, LaHaye gave $4.5 million to [[Liberty University]] to build a new student center,<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 15, 2001 |title=Liberty University Receives $4.5 Million Gift |url=https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/liberty-university-receives-4.5-million-gift |access-date=March 12, 2024 |website=Philanthropy News Digest |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref> which opened in January 2002 and was named after LaHaye. He, alongside his wife, served as a member of Liberty's board of trustees.<ref>{{Cite web |date=29 July 2024 |title=In Memoriam |url=https://issuu.com/libertyuniversity/docs/lj_summer24_digital?fr=xKAE9_____w |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240723112045/https://issuu.com/libertyuniversity/docs/lj_summer24_digital?fr=xKAE9_____w |archive-date=July 23, 2024 |access-date=29 July 2024 |website=Liberty Journal |page=43 |url-status=live }}</ref>

He provided funds for the [[LaHaye Ice Center]] on the campus of Liberty University, which opened in January 2006.<ref>{{cite web |last=Pounds |first=Jessie |date=July 25, 2016 |title='Left Behind' co-author Tim LaHaye dies |url=http://www.dailyprogress.com/starexponent/news/left-behind-co-author-tim-lahaye-dies/article_c07ea048-52c5-11e6-b0d0-1b74f2c643c1.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322081805/http://www.dailyprogress.com/starexponent/news/left-behind-co-author-tim-lahaye-dies/article_c07ea048-52c5-11e6-b0d0-1b74f2c643c1.html |archive-date=March 22, 2017 |access-date=July 27, 2016 |website=Daily Progress }}</ref>

LaHaye's book ''The Rapture'' was released on June 6, 2006, in order to capitalize on a [[Number of the beast|6-6-6]] connection.<ref>{{cite news |last=Vasquez |first=Emily |date=June 6, 2006 |title=On 6/6/6, the Possibilities Are Endless |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/06/nyregion/06number.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304172436/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/06/nyregion/06number.html |archive-date=March 4, 2018 |access-date=July 27, 2016 |work=The New York Times }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Levy |first=Piet |date=May 25, 2006 |title=Numerous marketers making a special date with 6/6/06 |url=http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/uniontrib/20060525/news_1c25six.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817103544/http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/uniontrib/20060525/news_1c25six.html |archive-date=August 17, 2016 |access-date=July 27, 2016 |newspaper=[[The San Diego Union-Tribune]] }}</ref>

===Personal life and death===
Tim LaHaye married activist and fellow author [[Beverly LaHaye|Beverly Ratcliffe]] in 1947<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.leftbehind.com/03_authors_testimonials|title=Dr. Tim LaHaye biodata|website=LeftBehind.com|publisher=Tyndale House Publishers|at=Author's photo|access-date=September 5, 2013|date=2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130914183551/http://leftbehind.com/03_authors_testimonials/|archive-date=September 14, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=LaHaye|first1=Tim|last2=Jenkins|first2=Jerry B.|author-link2=Jerry B. Jenkins|title=Left Behind|edition=Paperback|series=[[Left Behind (series)|Left Behind]]|orig-year=Hardback 1995|date=February 1999|publisher=Tyndale House|isbn=0-8423-2912-9|at=Photo of authors on rear cover|url=https://archive.org/details/leftbehindnovelo00lah_cju|url-access=registration}}</ref> while attending [[Bob Jones University]].<ref name="NYTMC"/>

In July 2016, the LaHayes celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary.<ref name="WeberCT"/><ref name="HagertyWSJ"/> They had four children and nine grandchildren, and lived in the Los Angeles area.<ref name="NYTMC"/> The LaHayes owned a condo in [[Rancho Mirage, California]].<ref>{{cite magazine<!-- Citation bot bypass--> |author1=Cloud |first=John |author2=Sachs |first2=Andrea |date=July 1, 2002 |title=Meet The Prophet: How an evangelist and conservative activist turned prophecy into a fiction juggernaut |url=https://time.com/vault/issue/2002-07-01/page/52/ |access-date=May 25, 2025 |magazine=Time Magazine |page=50 |volume=160 |issue=1 |quote=Their condo in Rancho Mirage, Calif., is at one of the less impressive country clubs, and LaHaye recently gave a seminar in Wichita, Kans., in a sports-coat/paisley-tie/blue-leather-loafer combo that looked as if it could not have been purchased after 1985.}}</ref>

LaHaye died on July 25, 2016, in a hospital in [[San Diego, California]], after suffering from a stroke, aged 90.<ref name="NYTMC"/><ref name="BanksDispatch">{{cite web|last1=Banks|first1=Adelle|title=Tim LaHaye, Evangelical Leader and 'Left Behind' Co-Author, Dead at 90|url=http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/07/28/tim-lahaye-evangelical-leader-and-left-behind-co-author-dead-at-90.html|date=July 28, 2016|newspaper=[[The Columbus Dispatch]]|access-date=August 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801035542/http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/07/28/tim-lahaye-evangelical-leader-and-left-behind-co-author-dead-at-90.html|archive-date=August 1, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition to his wife, Beverly, he was survived by four children, nine grandchildren, 16 great grandchildren, a brother (Richard LaHaye), and a sister.<ref name="WeberCT">{{cite news|last1=Weber|first1=Jeremy|title=Died: Tim LaHaye, Author Who 'Left Behind' a Long Legacy |url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2016/july/tim-lahaye-dies-left-behind-coauthor-stroke.html |date=July 25, 2016|work=[[Christianity Today]] |access-date=August 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802223154/http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2016/july/tim-lahaye-dies-left-behind-coauthor-stroke.html|archive-date=August 2, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="HagertyWSJ">{{cite news|last1=Hagerty|first1=James|title=Evangelist Tim LaHaye Penned Best-Selling Apocalyptic Book Series|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/evangelist-tim-lahaye-penned-best-selling-apocalyptic-book-series-1469806933|date=July 29, 2016|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|access-date=August 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801093316/http://www.wsj.com/articles/evangelist-tim-lahaye-penned-best-selling-apocalyptic-book-series-1469806933|archive-date=August 1, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> His funeral service took place at [[Shadow Mountain Community Church]] on August 12, 2016, with [[David Jeremiah]], who succeeded LaHaye as pastor at what was then Scott Memorial Baptist Church, led the service.<ref>{{cite web |date=July 28, 2016 |title=NRB Members Remember Dr. Tim LaHaye |url=http://nrb.org/news-room/articles/nrbt/nrb-members-remember-dr-tim-lahaye |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160831172504/http://nrb.org/news-room/articles/nrbt/nrb-members-remember-dr-tim-lahaye/ |archive-date=August 31, 2016 |access-date=September 3, 2016 |website=NRB News }}</ref> LaHaye is interred at [[Miramar National Cemetery]] in San Diego, California.