Graham was born on November 7, 1918, to a wealthy dairy farmer in Charlotte, North Carolina. Though he grew up with Calvinist parents, he made his personal decision to become a Christian at 16, after attending a revival meeting hosted by Mordecai Ham. He attended Bob Jones College, which he found to be too rigid, and transferred to Florida Bible Institute. He continued his theological training at Wheaton College, where he met his wife, Ruth McCue Bell, and the two married after graduation.
Graham, ordained in 1939 at Southern Baptist Convention church, hopped from place to place, pastoring First Baptist Church in Illinois, then leaving to join Youth for Christ, and even becoming the president of a Christian school group in Minnesota, but his international notoriety was first sparked in 1949. He was invited to do a radio show with the group "Christ for Greater Los Angeles," and his message on revival captivated audience across the world. His surge popularity filled the circus tents that he often preached in, extending the Revival for 5 weeks.
Sociologists attribute Graham's fame to the culture following WWII and entering the Cold War; by addressing the American fear of communism, Graham provided a spiritual connection between Americans in unity against communism. Besides, his debut came at a crucial time for fundamentalists, evangelicals, and protestants, whose image had been damaged by the Scopes Trial in 1925. Despite this, Graham skillfully refrained from siding with one denomination or sector; rather, he kept his message short and to the point, a quality that characterized his sermons. However, Graham dabbled in politics throughout his career, forming relationships with presidents from Eisenhower to George W. Bush. He strongly believed that "those who have the greatest power always need the greatest divine guidance."Additionally, his popularity did not guarantee him a free pass from criticism. Some considered him too liberal for being non-partisan. Reinhold Niebuhr the theologian referred to his "homespun" gospel message as simplistic. President Truman was not a big fan of him either, calling him a "counterfeit." In spite of his detractors, Graham and his legacy are seen in an overall positive light, and his impact on American society and the world is undeniable.
Billy Graham finally retired in 2005, allegedly having reached 215 million people in over 185 countries with the Gospel. He passed away of natural causes in 2018, at 99 years old.
Sources:
https://billygraham.org/about/biographies/billy-graham/
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Billy-Graham
https://www.biography.com/religious-figure/billy-graham
I really enjoyed reading this post. I think this really goes to show how much influence one person can truly have. However, Graham was not always in the right. One example is his mild stance on segregation. While he desegregated his crusades, he ultimately took no action in the civil rights movement. If he had done so, America could have greatly advanced civil rights. Another example is in his 2010 edition of his book on the end of the world, he completely removed global warming (as compared to the 1992 version which dedicates a portion specifically to climate change). While it can be argued that Graham is strictly sticking to a theological interpretation of the Bible, this ultimately led to him being unable to significantly change society for the better, both in terms of race and the climate. While Graham is a testament to the power of an individual, his story also shows that individual decisions may not always be right.
ReplyDeleteSource:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/21/billy-graham-wrong-side-history
I don’t think I realized just how influential Billy Graham was to America by watching the documentary until I read your blog post and researched some more information about him. One interesting piece of information I found was the fact that Billy Graham initially segregated his rallies, but in 1953, he started to integrate rallies. He and Martin Luther King Jr. became extremely good friends (which I feel like probably was mentioned in the documentary, but I somehow missed it). Billy Graham also has met with every single president, from Truman to Trump.
ReplyDeleteSources:
https://billygraham.org/story/billy-graham-pastor-to-presidents-2/
https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2018/february/billy-graham-martin-luther-king-jr-friendship-civil-rights.html
As Ethan touched on briefly, Billy Graham did have a rather strong relationship with Dr. King. About Graham, King once said, "Had it not been for the ministry of my good friend Dr. Billy Graham, my work in the Civil Rights Movement would not have been as successful as it has been." While Graham has been criticized for never marching alongside King, King's praise for Graham's popularity never seized, nor did Graham's support for King. In fact, Graham never called him Martin or Dr. King; simply, "Mike." (*Fun Fact: This was because Martin Luther King Jr.'s birth name was actually Micheal, before his father decided to change it to Martin Luther after the German Protestant leader.)
ReplyDeleteSource:
https://www.newsobserver.com/living/religion/article201319074.html