LaHaye and Jenkins are a team of American authors best known for a series of popular Christian religious thrillers known as “Left Behind.” Tim F. LaHaye (1926-2016) and Jerry Bruce Jenkins (1949-…) based their series on a literal interpretation of certain passages in the Bible. Jenkins wrote the novels, and LaHaye served as religious consultant. The series has sold millions of books.
The 12 “Left Behind” novels portray the battle between a group of Christians called the Tribulation Force and the Antichrist, an evil person who opposes Jesus Christ. The Tribulation Force is led by Rayford Steele and Cameron “Buck” Williams. The Antichrist is portrayed as a villainous Romanian diplomat named Nicolae Carpathia.
The series began with Left Behind: A Novel of the Earth’s Last Days (1995). The story begins after many human beings ascend to heaven in a phenomenon known as the Rapture. Those left behind must fight the Antichrist. The final novel is Glorious Appearing: The End of Days (2004). At the end of the series, Jesus returns to Earth, the evil forces are defeated, and a new era of peace and righteousness begins. A sequel to the series, Kingdom Come: The Final Victory, was published in 2007. The authors also wrote three books that describe the early lives of the main characters in the “Left Behind” series. The books are The Rising and The Regime (both 2005) and The Rapture (2006). Jenkins and LaHaye also wrote a companion series for young readers called “Left Behind: The Kids.”
LaHaye and Jenkins began another series, called “The Jesus Chronicles,” set during Biblical times. The series opened with John’s Story: The Last Eyewitness (2006).
Both LaHaye and Jenkins have produced many books individually. LaHaye has written numerous nonfiction books on Bible study and Christian living. Early in his career, Jenkins assisted several sports celebrities in preparing autobiographical books, including the baseball stars Hank Aaron and Nolan Ryan and the football star Walter Payton. Jenkins has also written dozens of novels, many of them as series, such as the “Margo Mystery” series, the “Bradford Family Adventure” series, and the “Dallas O’Neil and the Baker Street Sports Club” series.
LaHaye was born on April 27, 1926, in Detroit. He received a B.A. degree from Bob Jones University in 1950 and a doctorate from Western Conservative Baptist Seminary in 1977. He was senior pastor at the Scott Memorial Baptist Church in San Diego from 1956 to 1981, when he decided to devote himself to writing. LaHaye was president of Christian Heritage College from 1970 to 1976. He died on July 25, 2016.
Jenkins was born on Sept. 23, 1949, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He worked for a number of newspapers in the Chicago area from 1967 to 1971. Jenkins joined the staff of the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago in 1974, serving as managing editor of its magazine and then vice president of publishing from 1985 to 1989. He has been writer-in-residence at the institute since 1990.
