On our previous post, we asked the question: Was Yiye Ávila a false prophet?
By looking into what scripture says about who is a false prophet we could readily see that the Latino Billy Graham was far from being one of them. He dedicated his life to serving Jesus by calling people to repent and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. He also spent a lot of time educating the converted to lead saintly lives.
How about Billy Graham himself?
Who Was Billy Graham?
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| National Archives of Norway, CC BY 4.0, courtesy of wikipedia |
He was born in 1918, converted to evangelical Christianity at age 16 and already by 1950 he was a national personality. It would not pass 10 years for him to have international acclaim. According to his staff, more than 3.2 million people have responded to the invitation at Billy Graham Crusades to "accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior". As of 2008, Graham's estimated lifetime audience, including radio and television broadcasts, topped 2.2 billion.
According to Grant Wacker’s 2014 book, “America’s Pastor: Billy Graham and the Shaping of a Nation, ” Billy Graham spoke to more people directly — about 215 million — than any person in history.
This popularity did not stop members of the media from looking for ways to have a sensationalist light on Graham's life.
People within the media always looks for ways to find some new side to regular stories. In the case of Billy Graham, what more interesting than finding how members of his immediate family are not living up to heavenly expectations. An article in the washingtonpost.com, Divorce, drugs, drinking: Billy Graham's children and their absent father, posted on the very day Graham passed away, brings attention to problems in the Graham's family after his death; was the focus on trying to enlighten people and bring out the truth on trying to smear his legacy with situations that most family go through, or perhaps on simply attracting readers. Interesting that this article was composed by the author of “A Prophet with Honor: The Billy Graham Story,” William Martin. Sad that Martin could not create a title that shed light on how despite those family problems, many things happened in the Graham's family that can lead one to hope that everything will be resolved. Most importantly, through all the family challenges that he faced the Graham's kept their fidelity to one another.
I am not interested in listing any other of the outrageous accusations made against him.
Graham is not the only pastor who has had to make sacrifices as he follows what he believed to have been God's will. Though I do not reject the idea that he could have done a better job, and try to be more with his family, who can say what would have been the perfect balance? Many business leaders and politicians share the same guilt of not having been present during many important moment of their children lives; Graham followed that path not for monetary reward but seeking in faith to lead people to a personal encounter with God and Jesus.
However, was Graham a true representative of God? Was he leading people in the right direction, or was he as some critics have claimed a false prophet who led people astray.
We need to realize that if he was an evangelical and fundamentalist as some people take him to have been, he held some unorthodox beliefs.
These believes can be separated into two major sections:
a) Graham's relationship to other Christian Churches, most importantly the Catholic Church
b) Graham's own understandings on particular believes
Billy Graham's Relationship with other Churches
Among the evangelicals the Catholic Church have been traditionally seen as placing too much emphasis on both extra-biblical teachings and works. For evangelicals we are saved by faith alone and the Bible is sufficient for us to know God's character and Will. However, Billy Graham developed a very special relationship with the Catholic Church from the beginning of his ministry.
In an interview with Larry King on April 2, 2005, the day Pope John Paul II died, Billy Graham said that he believed the Pope to had been a great evangelical and that he was with God.
King asked at one point: There is no question in your mind that he is with God now?
Graham answered: Oh, no. ...I think he's with the Lord, because he believed. He believed in the Cross. Graham added that
"(Pope John Paul II) suffered as much as anybody you could ever imagine. His mother died when he was young. And he had that terrible assassination attack. And through it all, he taught us how to suffer. And I think in recent days he's taught us how to die."
Graham first heard the Pope in Canada in 1980, Graham's response: “I’ll tell you, that was just about as straight an evangelical address as I’ve ever heard. … He gives moral guidance in a world that seems to have lost its way.” Graham was silent for almost a decade about his meeting the Pope in 1981 because of the suspicions of many within his supporters of a misguided ecumenism.
Graham's sympathy towards the Catholic Church seem to have increased through the years. For instance, as early as 1967 Graham joked that he could be called "Father Graham" after having received an honorary doctorate from Belmont Abbey College.
God's Machine Gun, as Graham was nicknamed for his rapid-fire delivery, began his approach to the Catholic Church back in 1957. Jon M. Sweeney, a former Baptist who became Catholic and frequent contributor to America: The Jesuit Review, explains that Graham had just finished a crusade in New York City at Madison Square Garden. Local Catholic priests warned parishioners to stay away from the gathering. .From then on, Graham made the decision of visiting local Catholic leaders of his future crusades beforehand, and inviting them as member of the Christian faith to be present with him. Moreover, Graham structured his famous Crusades so that those who came forward to receive Jesus into their lives would be led to return to their own local community of faith with a new sense of purpose and meaning. In other words, Catholics, would continue to be Catholics; there was no need to bring them into what some called true Christianity. This ecumenical effort was opened also to those of the Anglican, Orthodox and other Churches. We can see why fundamentalist would see Graham's approach as misguided.
In reality, religion in America was not an inclusive issue but was as divisive as politics or worse. In particular Graham's efforts to establish positive relationships with the Catholic faith placed him at odds with many of his supporters of an evangelical brand.. Though the majority of them simply disapproved of what they thought was a misguided ecumenical approach, some of a more belligerent fundamentalism began to see him as being in serious theological error, one that demonstrated disloyalty towards God.
Graham focused on bringing people to Jesus and not on theological debates with the Catholics or other denominations. Perhaps for this reason he is quoted by Mark Twain of the Catholic program The Son Rise Morning Show and author of Catholic Puzzles and Word Games.as having said:
“I feel much closer to Roman Catholic tradition than to some of the more liberal Protestants.”
The Catholic Church obviously saw him under a much more favorable ligh than closed minded evangelicals.. Catholic leaders saw him as the very definition of the word Evangelical.
Personal Opinion: As a member of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, which believes that God wants all religions to break down their walls and begin to work together as brothers and sisters, I regard Graham's approach to be ahead of his time. Unfortunately, I think he did not go far enough. But we will talk on another post. For instance, Pulitzer winner George F. Will criticed Graham of antisemitism quoting him as having said: “This stranglehold has got to be broken or this country is going down the drain.” And as having shared to Nixon that the Jews are the ones “putting out the pornographic stuff.”
Billy Graham's own understanding on particular theological believes
As an evangelical preacher Billy Graham’s message came straight from John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”.(https://billygrahamlibrary.org/billy-graham/)Graham first heard the Pope in Canada in 1980, Graham's response: “I’ll tell you, that was just about as straight an evangelical address as I’ve ever heard. … He gives moral guidance in a world that seems to have lost its way.” Graham was silent for almost a decade about his meeting the Pope in 1981 because of the suspicions of many within his supporters of a misguided ecumenism.
Graham's sympathy towards the Catholic Church seem to have increased through the years. For instance, as early as 1967 Graham joked that he could be called "Father Graham" after having received an honorary doctorate from Belmont Abbey College.
God's Machine Gun, as Graham was nicknamed for his rapid-fire delivery, began his approach to the Catholic Church back in 1957. Jon M. Sweeney, a former Baptist who became Catholic and frequent contributor to America: The Jesuit Review, explains that Graham had just finished a crusade in New York City at Madison Square Garden. Local Catholic priests warned parishioners to stay away from the gathering. .From then on, Graham made the decision of visiting local Catholic leaders of his future crusades beforehand, and inviting them as member of the Christian faith to be present with him. Moreover, Graham structured his famous Crusades so that those who came forward to receive Jesus into their lives would be led to return to their own local community of faith with a new sense of purpose and meaning. In other words, Catholics, would continue to be Catholics; there was no need to bring them into what some called true Christianity. This ecumenical effort was opened also to those of the Anglican, Orthodox and other Churches. We can see why fundamentalist would see Graham's approach as misguided.
In reality, religion in America was not an inclusive issue but was as divisive as politics or worse. In particular Graham's efforts to establish positive relationships with the Catholic faith placed him at odds with many of his supporters of an evangelical brand.. Though the majority of them simply disapproved of what they thought was a misguided ecumenical approach, some of a more belligerent fundamentalism began to see him as being in serious theological error, one that demonstrated disloyalty towards God.
Graham focused on bringing people to Jesus and not on theological debates with the Catholics or other denominations. Perhaps for this reason he is quoted by Mark Twain of the Catholic program The Son Rise Morning Show and author of Catholic Puzzles and Word Games.as having said:
“I feel much closer to Roman Catholic tradition than to some of the more liberal Protestants.”
The Catholic Church obviously saw him under a much more favorable ligh than closed minded evangelicals.. Catholic leaders saw him as the very definition of the word Evangelical.
Personal Opinion: As a member of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, which believes that God wants all religions to break down their walls and begin to work together as brothers and sisters, I regard Graham's approach to be ahead of his time. Unfortunately, I think he did not go far enough. But we will talk on another post. For instance, Pulitzer winner George F. Will criticed Graham of antisemitism quoting him as having said: “This stranglehold has got to be broken or this country is going down the drain.” And as having shared to Nixon that the Jews are the ones “putting out the pornographic stuff.”
Billy Graham's own understanding on particular theological believes
In other words, contratry to Yiye Avila, Graham did not focus on the Second Coming, though he would obviouisly speak of it on occasions since as he said once the Christian faith rests on the return of Christ. Moreover, contrary to Avila, Graham never said that Christ would come at any specific moment. Instead he reminds us that about the exact moment of his return "I do not know, and neither does anyone else. In fact, Jesus warned us against trying to make precise predictions about His coming, or even to claim that we know, although over the centuries some have tried (and failed),"
Yet Graham does not call anyone necessarily a false prophet for doing it; he may regard the person somewhat pretentious.
"But I do know this: Someday Christ will come again - and then it will be too late for us to repent and be saved. And even if death comes to us before then, now - not later - is the time to put our faith and trust in Him."
Regarding the concept of salvation, however, Grahams' statements seem to not have been so clear to his most fundamentalist followers. For instance in an interview with Robert Schuller, founding pastor of the Crystal Cathedral and lifelong friend Graham spoke in a manner that suggested that anyone, including non-Christians perhaps, could be saved. A brief part of this interview has been posted on youtube by people saying that Graham actually denied Jesus when he spoke like that.
Graham's evangelical group would deny such conclusions. However, his words do suggest he was thinking that somehow God would work to save people who even remaining followers of other religions would come to recognize the position of Jesus.
How can that be against Jesus when Jesus himself on the Sermon on the Mountain called people who had not accepted him yet as the Messiah, and that most likely included Greeks and Romans and anyone else living in the Decapolis at that time, "children of God". Jesus even created the parable of the Good Samaritan. When he first spoke in a synagogue he severely criticized his listeners after rejecting with the following words:
“no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.” Luke 4:25-27 NIV.
Graham seemed to have been able to reach a profound level of understanding of the message of Jesus that few other ministers have. Sadly, his own ministry could not fully grasp what Graham had done and later changed the meaning of his words.
Rev. Sun Myung Moon shares the understanding that Jesus did not come just for the Jews but for the whole world, and taught that the world had been prepared by other religions, philosophies, and ethical systems to receive Jesus.
Regarding the concept of salvation, however, Grahams' statements seem to not have been so clear to his most fundamentalist followers. For instance in an interview with Robert Schuller, founding pastor of the Crystal Cathedral and lifelong friend Graham spoke in a manner that suggested that anyone, including non-Christians perhaps, could be saved. A brief part of this interview has been posted on youtube by people saying that Graham actually denied Jesus when he spoke like that.
Graham's evangelical group would deny such conclusions. However, his words do suggest he was thinking that somehow God would work to save people who even remaining followers of other religions would come to recognize the position of Jesus.
How can that be against Jesus when Jesus himself on the Sermon on the Mountain called people who had not accepted him yet as the Messiah, and that most likely included Greeks and Romans and anyone else living in the Decapolis at that time, "children of God". Jesus even created the parable of the Good Samaritan. When he first spoke in a synagogue he severely criticized his listeners after rejecting with the following words:
“no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.” Luke 4:25-27 NIV.
Graham seemed to have been able to reach a profound level of understanding of the message of Jesus that few other ministers have. Sadly, his own ministry could not fully grasp what Graham had done and later changed the meaning of his words.
Rev. Sun Myung Moon shares the understanding that Jesus did not come just for the Jews but for the whole world, and taught that the world had been prepared by other religions, philosophies, and ethical systems to receive Jesus.
One Final Important Point: Graham insisted on his revivals to have racial integration in this way he was also on the side of God. He became close friend of Martin Luther King Jr.
The great Evangelist Billy Graham was not anything like a false prophet. His message and views are very similar to that of Jesus. Unfortunately he missed a very important chance to speak of another man sent by God to work for world salvation: the Rev. Sun Myung Moon.
Let us not turn to take a look at this man of God, who was much more than just a prophet of his age.
The great Evangelist Billy Graham was not anything like a false prophet. His message and views are very similar to that of Jesus. Unfortunately he missed a very important chance to speak of another man sent by God to work for world salvation: the Rev. Sun Myung Moon.
Let us not turn to take a look at this man of God, who was much more than just a prophet of his age.
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