Focusing on the New Testament’s final book, Revelation, and other apocalyptic passages, Mr. LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins co-authored the “Left Behind” series that popularized the theology of growing numbers of evangelical Christians – a lengthy period of suffering on earth, called the tribulation, before the Second Coming of Jesus, but which the saved Christian remnant will be raptured up to heaven to avoid.
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Dr. LaHaye, an Air Force veteran, is perhaps most noted for his blockbuster best-selling book series “Left Behind”, which he co-authored with Jerry B. Jenkins.
“Thrilled as I am that he is where he has always wanted to be, his departure leaves a void in my soul that I don’t expect to be filled until I see him again”, Jenkins said in a statement Monday. “If Tim was missing from the autograph table or the green room of a network television show, he was likely in a corner praying with someone he’d just met – from a reader to a part-time bookstore stock clerk to a TV network anchorman”, he said.
Rev Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, said: “Dr LaHaye has blessed the church in America with a legacy that will far outlast his time on this earth”. It was the very first book published by Tyndale House apart from the Living series of Bible paraphrases.
LaHaye and his wife, Beverly, have been friends of Liberty since its early years.
“While probably best known lately for his Left Behind series, Dr. LaHaye’s roles as a pastor, as an organizer and connector for ministries, and as a founder and supporter of institutions of secondary and higher Christian education also tie him closely to the objective and values of Criswell College and its founder, W.A. Criswell”, Creamer said. Time magazine labeled the pair “the Christian Power Couple” in 2005, listing them among the country’s most influential evangelicals. Nearly every conversation I had with him ended with his praying with me and for me. He was active in conservative political groups and instrumental in the creation of the Moral Majority. “We shared long lunches together talking about ministry and praying for our nation”.
In addition to his work on the rapture and prophecy, LaHaye advocated for creationism (he once described evolution as “the biggest fairy tale in our past two centuries”), authored books organizing personality traits along the four ancient temperaments and wrote about marriage, family and sex within the Christian family.
He and his wife Beverly, the founder of the conservative organization Concerned Women for America, hosted a radio show together.
LaHaye authored more than 60 other non-fiction books focused on family life, Bible prophecy, secular humanism and other topics. “We will miss him”.
In the 1970s LaHaye helped form a coalition of Southern California pastors to address a progressive political agenda they believed was “undermining traditional family values”.
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LaHaye was also credited with garnering evangelical support behind the campaign of George W. Bush.
