Tim LaHaye

Timothy Francis LaHaye (April 27, 1926 – July 25, 2016) was an American Baptist evangelical Christian minister and political activist who wrote more than 85 books, both non-fiction and fiction, including (with co-author Jerry B. Jenkins) the Left Behind series of novels depicting apocalypse events after a pre-tribulation rapture. He was a founder of the Council for National Policy, a conservative Christian advocacy group. LaHaye opposed homosexuality, believing it to be immoral and unbiblical. He was a critic of Roman Catholicism, and a believer in conspiracy theories regarding the Illuminati. LaHaye has been called "one of the most influential evangelicals of the late twentieth century" and, along with his wife Beverly LaHaye, he helped shape the beliefs and organizations of the Christian right. Born in Detroit, Michigan, he experienced the early death of his father, which he later cited as a formative spiritual moment. LaHaye served in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II and later earned degrees from Bob Jones University and Western Seminary. He pastored congregations in South Carolina, Minnesota, and California, spending nearly 25 years at Scott Memorial Baptist Church in San Diego. He co-founded Christian Heritage College (now San Diego Christian College) and the Institute for Creation Research, and authored The Act of Marriage, a Christian guide promoting marital sexuality within a complementarian framework. LaHaye was heavily involved in conservative political activism, founding groups such as Californians for Biblical Morality and the American Coalition for Traditional Values, and encouraging the creation of the Moral Majority. He supported several Republican presidential campaigns. His views included premillennial dispensationalism. He was recognized as one of the most influential evangelicals of his era, with numerous awards and tributes, including from Time and Liberty University.