Left Behind

Left Behind is a multimedia franchise of apocalyptic fiction written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, released by Tyndale House Publishers from 1995 to 2007. The bestselling novels are Christian eschatological narratives expounding LaHaye's dispensationalist interpretation of the New Testament's Book of Revelation. This includes the rapture of Christian believers prior to a tumultuous seven-year period known as the Great Tribulation, the main conflict narrated by the original 12 books. After rising to power, the Antichrist installs a new world order that oppresses Christian converts and forces them into hiding until Jesus's Second Coming, preceding a thousand years of peace.

The series has achieved significant commercial success, with multiple titles reaching the top of The New York Times Best Seller list and over 65 million copies sold worldwide by 2016. Critically, the series has been both influential and controversial, reflecting shifts in American evangelicalism, particularly a move toward political and social activism and a more divisive view of non-Christians. Scholars and critics have noted its triumphalist theology, perceived anti-Catholicism, sensational depictions of violence, and alignment with conspiratorial fears of globalism and one-world government, themes that some link to later movements, including QAnon. While praised by figures such as Jerry Falwell for its religious impact, others have criticized its theology, political messaging, and literary quality, with some viewing it as representative of American exceptionalism and neoliberal values.

The series has been adapted into five films. The original series of three films are Left Behind: The Movie (2000), Left Behind II: Tribulation Force (2002), and Left Behind: World at War (2005). A reboot starring Nicolas Cage, entitled Left Behind, was released in 2014 through Cloud Ten Pictures. A sequel, Left Behind: Rise of the Antichrist, directed by and starring Kevin Sorbo, was released in 2023. The series inspired an audio drama as well as the PC game Left Behind: Eternal Forces (2006) and its several sequels.

Left Behind tells an apocalyptic story about the ending of Earth (set in the contemporary era) over a period of seven years. The true believers in Jesus Christ have been raptured (taken instantly to heaven), leaving non-believers behind on Earth, now a shattered and chaotic world. As people scramble for answers, an obscure Romanian politician named Nicolae Jetty Carpathia rises to become secretary-general of the United Nations, promising to restore peace and stability to all nations. What most of the world does not realize is that Carpathia is actually the Antichrist foretold in the Bible. Coming to grips with the truth and becoming born-again Christians, airline pilot Rayford Steele, his daughter Chloe, their pastor Bruce Barnes, and young journalist Cameron "Buck" Williams begin their quest as the Tribulation Force to help save the lost and prepare for the coming Tribulation, in which God will rain down judgment on the world for seven years.

According to James Bielo, it is based on a dispensationalist interpretation of prophecies in the Biblical books of Revelation, Daniel, Isaiah and Ezekiel.

LaHaye and Jenkins cite the influence of Russell Doughten, an Iowa-based filmmaker who directed the Thief in the Night series, a series of four low-budget but popular feature-length films in the 1970s and 1980s about the Rapture and Second Coming, starting with 1972's A Thief in the Night. Indeed, the title Left Behind echoes the refrain of Thief's early Christian rock theme song by Larry Norman, "I Wish We'd All Been Ready," in which he sings, "There's no time to change your mind, the Son has come and you've been left behind."

The success of Frank Peretti's pioneering Christian spiritual warfare thrillers in the 1980s and 1990s was a significant influence on the authors as well.

Multiple books in the series have been on the New York Times Bestseller List. Starting in 2000, Books 7 and 8 reached number one on the list followed by book 10, which debuted at number one.