He was a founder of theCouncil for National Policy, aconservative Christian advocacy group. LaHaye opposed homosexuality, believing it to be immoral and unbiblical. He was acritic ofRoman Catholicism, and a believer in conspiracy theories regarding theIlluminati. LaHaye has been called "one of the most influential evangelicals of the late twentieth century" and, along with his wifeBeverly LaHaye, he helped shape the beliefs and organizations of theChristian right.[2]: 92–95
Timothy Francis LaHaye was born on April 27, 1926, inDetroit, Michigan, to Frank LaHaye, aFord auto worker who died in 1936 of aheart 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 acceptedJesus Christ, the day will come when the Lord will shout fromheaven and descend, and the dead in Christ will rise first and then we'll be caught up together to meet him in the air."[3]
LaHaye later said that, upon hearing those remarks, "all of a sudden, there was hope in my heart I'd see my father again."[4]
In 1976, the couple wroteThe 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 acomplementarian, 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 forgender roles.[2]: 91 [12]
LaHaye started numerous groups to promote his views, having become involved in politics at theChristian Voice during the late 1970s and early 1980s.[2]: 93–94 In 1979, he founded Californians for Biblical Morality, which has been described as "in many ways...the genesis of the Christian right."[5] The same year, LaHaye encouragedJerry Falwell to found theMoral Majority and was among its three directors.[5][13]
LaHaye was a member of and speaker for theJohn Birch Society (JBS), a conservative,anti-communist group; scholar Celestini Carmen argues that LaHaye used the JBS'sculture war methods and rhetoric of "fear, apocalyptic thought and conspiracy" to forge the Moral Majority, with "fear, anger, and disgust as essential ingredients." His bookRapture Under Attack describes his time in the JBS and relationship to its leader,Robert W. Welch Jr.[14][5]
Then in 1981, he left the pulpit to concentrate his time on politics and writing.[16] That year, he helped found theCouncil for National Policy (CNP), a policy makingthink tank[17] in which membership is only available through invitation. ABC News called it "the most powerfulconservative organization in America you've never heard of".[18]
In the 1980s he was criticized by the evangelical community for accepting money fromBo Hi Pak, a longtimeSun Myung Moon operative.[19] He was additionally criticized for joining Moon's Council for Religious Freedom, which was founded to protest Moon's 1984 imprisonment.[19] In 1996, LaHaye's wife spoke at an event sponsored by Moon.[19]
LaHaye is best known for theLeft Behind series ofapocalyptic fiction that depicts theEarth after thepretribulationrapture which premillennial dispensationalists believe the Bible states, multiple times, will occur. The books were LaHaye's idea, thoughJerry B. Jenkins, a former sportswriter with numerous other works of fiction to his name, wrote the books from LaHaye's notes.[23]
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.[6] Seven titles in the adult series have reached No. 1 on the bestseller lists forThe New York Times,USA Today, andPublishers Weekly.[24][non-primary source needed]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."[25] The best-selling series has been compared to the equally popular works ofTom Clancy andStephen King: "the plotting is brisk and the characterizationsManichean. People disappear and things blow up."[13]
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.[5] The first book in the series opens with a similar scene. He sold the movie rights for theLeft 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.[7]
In 2001, LaHaye co-hosted withDave Breese the prophecy television programThe King Is Coming. In 2001, LaHaye gave $4.5 million toLiberty University to build a new student center,[26] which opened in January 2002 and was named after LaHaye. He, alongside his wife, served as a member of Liberty's board of trustees.[27]
He provided funds for theLaHaye Ice Center on the campus of Liberty University, which opened in January 2006.[28]
LaHaye's bookThe Rapture was released on June 6, 2006, in order to capitalize on a6-6-6 connection.[29][30]
In July 2016, the LaHayes celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary.[9][7] They had four children and nine grandchildren, and lived in the Los Angeles area.[6] The LaHayes owned a condo inRancho Mirage, California.[33]
LaHaye died on July 25, 2016, in a hospital inSan Diego, California, after suffering from a stroke, aged 90.[6][22] In addition to his wife, Beverly, he was survived by four children, nine grandchildren, 16 great grandchildren, a brother (Richard LaHaye), and a sister.[9][7] His funeral service took place atShadow Mountain Community Church on August 12, 2016, withDavid Jeremiah, who succeeded LaHaye as pastor at what was then Scott Memorial Baptist Church, led the service.[34] LaHaye is interred atMiramar National Cemetery in San Diego, California.
In 1978 LaHaye publishedThe Unhappy Gays, which was later retitledWhat Everyone Should Know About Homosexuality. The book called homosexuals "militant, organized" and "vile."[35]The Unhappy Gays also argues that homosexuals share 16 pernicious traits, including "incredible promiscuity", "deceit", "selfishness", "vulnerability tosadism-masochism", and "poor health and an early death."[36] He believed thathomosexuality can be cured.[37][38] However, he said that such conversions are rare.[39]
LaHaye believed that theIlluminati is secretly engineering world affairs.[40] InRapture Under Attack he wrote:
I myself have been a forty-five year student of thesatanically-inspired, centuries-oldconspiracy to use government, education, and media to destroy every vestige of Christianity within our society and establish anew world order. Having read at least fifty books on the Illuminati, I am convinced that it exists and can be blamed for many of man's inhumane actions against his fellow man during the past two hundred years.[41]
LaHaye believed thatpolitical mobilization of theChristian right in voting for Ronald Reagan thwarted the Illuminati, who had been attempting to create a New World Order.[42]
While himself a premillennialist who asserted the end times were near and that the nation will be judged, LaHaye also adopted aspects ofR. J. Rushdoony'spostmillennialist movement,Christian reconstructionism. Despite varying beliefs on how the end times will occur, both groups share a "desire to reclaim the culture for Christ by reassertingpatriarchal authority and waging battle against encroachingsecular humanism, in all its guises."[2]: 94
Theeschatological views of LaHaye have been described as "view[ing] the U.N. and Islam as literally satanic; oppos[ing] any compromise in theIsraeli–Palestinian conflict; and foresee[ing] an imminent eschatological crisis in which millions of human beings will perish in agony".[20]
Many mainstream Christians and certain other evangelicals had broader disagreements with theLeft Behind series as a whole, pointing out that "most biblical scholars largely reject the eschatological assumptions of this kind of pop end-times literature."[43] InThe Rapture Exposed by Barbara Rossing, a number of criticisms are raised regarding the series, particularly its focus on violence.[43][44]
LaHaye was a harsh critic ofRoman Catholicism, which he called "a false religion".[6] In his 1973 bookRevelation Illustrated and Made Plain, he stated that the Catholic Church "is more dangerous than no religion because she substitutes religion for truth" and "is also dangerous because some of her doctrines are pseudo-Christian." Elsewhere the same book compared Catholic ceremonies topagan rituals.[6] It was these statements that were largely responsible for LaHaye's dismissal fromJack Kemp's 1988 presidential campaign.[45] It was later revealed thatScott Memorial Baptist Church, the San Diego church that LaHaye had pastored throughout the 1970s, had sponsored an anti-Catholic group calledMission to Catholics; one of their pamphlets asserted thatPope Paul VI was the "archpriest of Satan, a deceiver, and anantichrist, who has, likeJudas, gone to his own place."[46]
The issue of anti-Catholicism also comes up in regard to theLeft Behind series. While the fictional Pope John XXIV was raptured, he is described as having "stirred up controversy in the church with a new doctrine that seemed to coincide more with the 'heresy' ofMartin Luther than with the historic orthodoxy they were used to," and this is implied as the reason he was raptured. His successor, PopePeter II, becomesPontifex Maximus of Enigma Babylon One World Faith, an amalgamation of all remaining world faiths and religions.[47]
Other Catholic writers have said that while the books aren't "anti-Catholic per se", they reflect LaHaye's other writings on the subject.[48]
Time Magazine named LaHaye one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in America, and in the summer of 2001, theEvangelical Studies Bulletin named him the most influential Christian leader of the preceding quarter century.[25][43]
Jesus Is Coming Soon!: A Kid's Guide to Bible Prophecy and the End Times (2004, withJerry B. Jenkins)
Why Believe in Jesus? (2004)
The Authorized Left Behind Handbook (2005, withJerry B. Jenkins, Sandi L. Swanson)
The Best Christmas Gift (2005, withGreg Dinallo, Gregory S. Dinallo)
A Party of Two: The Dating, Marriage, and Family Guide, AKAParty of Two: Lessons for Staying in Step in Dating, Marriage, and Family Life (2006, withBeverly LaHaye)
The Popular Bible Prophecy Workbook: An Interactive Guide to Understanding the End Times (2006, withEd Hindson)
Global Warning: Are We on the Brink of World War III? (2007, withEd Hindson)
The Popular Bible Prophecy Commentary: Understanding the Meaning of Every Prophetic Passage (2007, withEd Hindson)
Jesus: Why the World Is Still Fascinated by Him (2009)
The Book of Revelation Made Clear: A Down-to-Earth Guide to Understanding the Most Mysterious Book of the Bible (2014, with Timothy E. Parker)
Target Israel: Caught in the Crosshairs of the End Times (2015, withEd Hindson)
Bible Prophecy for Everyone: What You Need to Know About the End Times (2016)
Who Will Face the Tribulation?: How to Prepare for the Rapture and Christ's Return (2016)
^Chafets, Zev (December 12, 2007)."The Huckabee Factor".The New York Times Magazine.Archived from the original on February 8, 2017. RetrievedFebruary 23, 2017.
^"Dr. Tim LaHaye biodata".LeftBehind.com. Tyndale House Publishers. 2008. Author's photo.Archived from the original on September 14, 2013. RetrievedSeptember 5, 2013.
^Cloud, John; Sachs, Andrea (July 1, 2002)."Meet The Prophet: How an evangelist and conservative activist turned prophecy into a fiction juggernaut".Time Magazine. Vol. 160, no. 1. p. 50. RetrievedMay 25, 2025.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.
^Caramagno, Thomas C. (2002).Irreconcilable Differences? Intellectual Stalemate in the Gay Rights Debate. Westport: Praeger/Greenwood. p. 159.ISBN9780275977115.
^Quoted inVersluis, Arthur (2006).The New Inquisitions: Heretic Hunting and the Intellectual Origins of Modern Totalitarianism. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 121.ISBN9780195306378.
^Stephens, Randall J.; Giberson, Karl (2011).The Anointed: Evangelical Truth in a Secular Age. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. p. 166.ISBN9780674062672.
^Hindson, Ed; Mitchell, Dan (2013)."LaHaye, Tim (1926– )".The Popular Encyclopedia of Church History. Eugene, Ore.: Harvest House Publishers. p. 211.
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