Tim and Beverly LaHaye The Christian Power Couple:
In his role as minister and organizer, the Rev. Tim LaHaye, who will
turn 79 in April, somehow never achieved the name recognition of,
say, Jerry Falwell—or for that matter of his wife Beverly LaHaye,
75, founder of Concerned Women for America, one of Washington's most
influential antiabortion and anti-gay-marriage organizations. But it
is a measure of Tim LaHaye's reach that his role in founding
Falwell's Moral Majority is only his second most notable venture.
(Falwell was inspired to start the group in 1979 after seeing how
LaHaye had organized scores of fellow pastors to work for
conservative political causes in California in the '70s.) It wasn't
until 15 years later that LaHaye got the idea for a novelized account
of the Second Coming. The result, Left Behind: A Novel of the Earth's
Last Days (1995), launched a literary empire. The book and its 11
sequels have sold more than 42 million copies (not counting spin-offs
like kids' books, CDs and greeting cards) and set the image that many
people—believers and non-believers alike—now have about how the
world will end. "In terms of its impact on Christianity," says
Falwell, "it's probably greater than that of any other book in modern
times, outside the Bible.
Text David Van Biema, Cathy
Booth-Thomas/Dallas, Massimo Calabresi and John F.
Dickerson/Washington
John Cloud and Rebecca Winters/New York, and Sonja Steptoe/Los
Angeles.
With reporting by Amanda Bower/New York, Rita Healey/Denver,
Sean Scully/Philadelphia and Elaine Shannon/Washington
FROM THE FEBRUARY 7, 2005 ISSUE OF TIME MAGAZINE; POSTED SUNDAY, JANUARY 30, 2005
