TIM LAHAYE

'Timothy F. LaHaye' (b. 1926) is an American conservative evangelical Christian minister, author, and speaker. He is best-known for the ''Left Behind'' series of apocalyptic fiction, which he co-wrote with Jerry B. Jenkins. He has written over fifty books, both fiction and non-fiction.

Biography

In 1958, the LaHaye family moved to San Diego, California, where Tim became pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church serving for almost 25 years. In 1971 he founded the San Diego Christian College.
LaHaye received a B.A. from Bob Jones University in 1950. He also holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Western Conservative Baptist Seminary and a Doctor of Literature from Liberty University. He is married to activist and fellow author Beverly LaHaye; they have four children and nine grandchildren and live in the Los Angeles area.
LaHaye entered politics at the Christian Voice in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1981 he helped found the Council for National Policy (CNP), a conservative lobby group membership in which is only available by invitation (it should not be confused with the liberal ''Center'' for National Policy). In the 1980s, LaHaye founded American Coalition for Traditional Values and Coalition for Religious Freedom. In 1979, he helped to establish the Institute for Creationist Research, along with Henry Morris, in Santee, California. He founded the Pre-Tribulation Research Center along with Thomas Ice in 1998. The center is dedicated to producing material that supports a dispensationist, pre-tribulation interpretation of the Bible.
In 2001 LaHaye co-hosted with Dave Breese in the prophecy television program ''The King Is Coming''. His book ''The Rapture'' was released on June 6, 2006, in order to show a 6-6-6 connection.
In 2001 LaHaye gave $4.5 million to Jerry Falwell's Liberty University to build a new student center and School of Prophecy, which opened in January 2002, was named after LaHaye. He also serves as its president. Dr. LaHaye also provided the funds for the LaHaye Ice Center on the campus of Liberty University, which opened in January, 2006.

''Left Behind''

LaHaye is best-known for the ''Left Behind'' series of apocalyptic fiction, which he co-wrote with Jerry B. Jenkins. The series, which started in 1995 with the first novel, includes 16 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. Seven titles in the adult series have reached #1 on the bestseller lists for The New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly.^[1] 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."^[2]

Controversy and criticism

LaHaye has been criticized for his apocalyptic beliefs, in which he asserts the end of the world is near. In 2004, Penn & Teller's TV show Bullshit! devoted an episode to the "end of the world" phenomenon, following centuries of incorrect prophecy. The show explained that Bible prophecy is nothing new, and that the vague descriptions in the book of Revelation can apply to almost any location at any time. The ''Left Behind'' series was featured, and Jerry B. Jenkins, LaHaye's co-author, was interviewed. Jenkins said "in my mind, in a way, we are sales people for the Gospel." He continued, "people say money is the root of all evil, and actually it's the love of money that's the root of all evil. So there is nothing wrong with money if you use it right." The host, Penn Jillette, responded, "what's the story on money if you get it by creating an irrational fear in people?"
LaHaye has also been criticized by Christians as having "some real problems with his prophetical teachings in the ''Left Behind'' series." It is noted that "in books 8 & 9, LaHaye and Jenkins teach that [non-willing] recipients of the mark of the beast can still be saved." However, in ''The Mark'', "the Chang scenario" is developed, whereby a character receives both the mark of the beast and the sealing of the Lord. In ''Desecration'', his dual-marking was justified in the storyline." This has led some readers to wonder "how a Christian can have the mark of the beast and still be saved has been asked many times by perplexed readers on the Left Behind messageboard, and was answered on the FAQ page at LeftBehind.com."[1]
Other Christians have criticized his series as a whole as protraying the book of Revelation with a selective literalism, choosing to take some things literally (such as the violence) and others as metaphor (the Beast) as it suits his point of view. In ''The Rapture Exposed,'' a number of criticisms are raised regarding the series. In particular, the excessive, almost voyeuristic, focus on violence appears to contradict the message of peace that Christ himself preached. Also, the type of dispensationalism in the Left Behind series tends to reinforce the point of view that the end of the world is near, so there is no need to be concerned about stewardship over the environment, care for the poor, or solving social ills. LaHaye's response to such criticisms is to write them off for not taking a literal, inerrant interpretation of scripture.
He has also been criticized for "pseudo-psychological" temperament theory and mixing in theology. [2] The basic ideas in this theory - that people have temperaments that can be described as sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic - are very old and actually go all the way back to Hippocrates. A common temperament theory is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).
In his book ''Rapture Under Attack (1998),'' LaHaye stated that he is "sympathetic to conspiracy theories," and in particular, he believes that the Illuminati is a secret society of liberals that seeks to undermine "true Christianity" through the media and government.

Bibliography

Fiction

Left Behind

''Left Behind Series''
# Oct. 1995, ''Left Behind: A Novel of the Earth's Last Days'' (ISBN 0-8423-2912-9)
# Oct. 1996, ''Tribulation Force: The Continuing Drama of Those Left Behind'' (ISBN 0-8423-2921-8)
# Oct. 1997, ''Nicolae: The Rise of Antichrist'' (ISBN 0-8423-2924-2)
# Aug. 1998, ''Soul Harvest: The World Takes Sides'' (ISBN 0-8423-2925-0)
# Feb. 1999, ''Apollyon: The Destroyer Is Unleashed'' (ISBN 0-8423-2926-9)
# Aug. 1999, ''Assassins: Assignment: Jerusalem, Target: Antichrist'' (ISBN 0-8423-2927-7)
# May. 2000, ''The Indwelling: The Beast Takes Possession'' (ISBN 0-8423-2929-3)
# Nov. 2000, ''The Mark: The Beast Rules the World'' (ISBN 0-8423-3228-6)
# Oct. 2001, ''Desecration: Antichrist Takes the Throne'' (ISBN 0-8423-3229-4)
# Jul. 2002, ''The Remnant: On the Brink of Armageddon'' (ISBN 0-8423-3230-8)
# Apr. 2003, ''Armageddon: The Cosmic Battle of the Ages'' (ISBN 0-8423-3236-7)
# Mar. 2004, ''Glorious Appearing: The End of Days'' (ISBN 0-8423-3237-5)
# Apr. 2007, ''Kingdom Come: The Final Victory'' (ISBN 0-8423-6061-1)
''Left Behind Prequels''
# March 2005, ''The Rising: Before They Were Left Behind'' (ISBN 0-8423-6056-5)
# November 2005, ''The Regime: Before They Were Left Behind'' (ISBN 1-4143-0576-1)
# June 6 2006, ''The Rapture'' (ISBN 1-4143-0580-X)

Babylon Rising

''Babylon Rising'' series:
# October 2003, ''Babylon Rising'' (ISBN 0-553-80322-0)
# August 2004, ''The Secret on Ararat''(ISBN 0-553-80323-9)
# September 2005, ''The Europa Conspiracy'' (ISBN 0-553-80324-7)
# August 29, 2006, ''The Edge of Darkness'' (ISBN 0-553-80325-5)

The Jesus Chronicles

''The Jesus Chronicles'' series:
# November 21, 2006, '' (ISBN 0-399-15389-6)
# 2007, '' (Working Title)

Other

★ ''How to Study the Bible for Yourself'' (Harvest House, 1976)

★ ''Revelation: Illustrated and Made Plain'' revised (Zondervan, 1975 {first printing 1973})

★ ''No Fear of the Storm'' (Zondervan, 1977) Re-released as ''Rapture Under Attack'' (Multnomah 1998)

★ ''The Power of the Cross'' (ISBN 1-57673-212-6, Multnomah 1998)

★ ''The Merciful God of Prophecy'' (First Warner Books 2002)

Non-fiction

★ ''The Battle for the Mind'' (Fleming H. Revell, 1980)

★ ''The Act of Marriage'' revised (Zondervan, 1998 {first printing 1976})

★ ''Spirit-Controlled Temperament'' revised (Tyndale House Publishers 1993)
He has also produced many self-help titles, some co-written with his wife, on topics such as sexuality, marriage, self-control, etc. His bibliography in this area far overshadows the ''Left Behind'' series in number.

Trivia

★ In 1992, Jerry Falwell's Liberty University gave Beverly LaHaye, Tim's wife, an honorary Doctorate of Humanities.

References

1. Leftbehind.com official website of book series. Accessed 2007-9-8
2. Time magazine. Accessed 2007-9-8

External links

★ Tim LaHaye Ministries

★ Babylon Rising Series

★ Left Behind Series

★ Brief biography

★ Pre-Trib Research Center

★ I, Antichrist?

★ Tim LaHaye's political donations

★ Who is Tim Lahaye? by Tom Sine, article in ''Sojourner Magazine''

★ WorldCat Identities page for 'LaHaye, Tim F.'

★ Reverend Doomsday Rolling Stone Profile

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