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Christian Universalism is a school of Christian theology which includes the belief in the doctrine of universal reconciliation, the view that all human beings or all fallen creatures will ultimately be restored to right relationship with God.

The term "Christian Universalism" was used in the 1820s by Russell Streeter of the Christian Intelligencer of Portland - a descendant of Adams Streeter who had founded one of the first Universalist Churches in September 14, 1785.^[1][2][3] Christian Universalists believe this was the most common interpretation of Christianity in Early Christianity, prior to the 6th century.^[4] Christians from a diversity of denominations and traditions believe in the tenets of this belief system, such as the reality of an afterlife without the possibility of eternal presence in hell.^[5]

As a Christian denomination, Christian Universalism originates in the late 18th century with the Universalist Church of America. There is currently no single denomination uniting Christian Universalists, but a few denominations teach some of the principles of Christian Universalism or are open to them. In 2007, the Christian Universalist Association was founded to serve as an ecumenical umbrella organization for churches, ministries, and individuals who believe in Christian Universalism.

Unitarian Universalism historically grew out of Christian Universalism but is not a Christian denomination. It formed from a 1961 merger of two historically Christian denominations, the Universalist Church of America and the American Unitarian Association, both based in the United States.

Beliefs[link]

The two central beliefs which distinguish Christian Universalism from mainstream Christianity are universal reconciliation (all will eventually be reconciled to God without exception, the penalty for sin is not everlasting, i.e. doctrines of everlasting damnation to hell and annihilationism are rejected) and theosis (all souls will ultimately be conformed to the image of divine perfection in Christ).

The remaining central beliefs of Christian Universalism are compatible with Christianity in general:

• God is the loving Parent of all people, see Love of God.
• Jesus Christ reveals the nature and character of God and is the spiritual leader of humankind, see New Covenant.
• Humankind is created with an immortal soul which death does not end, and which God will never destroy.^[6]
• Sin has negative consequences for the sinner either in this life or the afterlife

In 1899 the Universalist General Convention, later called the Universalist Church of America, adopted the Five Principles: the belief in God, Jesus Christ, the immortality of the human soul, the reality of sin and universal reconciliation.^[7] The inclusion of Theosis as a sixth point is found in the statement of faith adopted in 2007 by the Christian Universalist Association.^[8]

History[link]

The Universalist Church of America, originally called the Universalist General Convention, emerged in the late 18th century from a mixture of Anabaptists, Moravians, liberal Quakers, and people influenced by Pietist movements such as Methodism.^[9] Americans from these religious backgrounds gradually created a new denominational tradition of Christian Universalism during the 19th century. The Universalist Church of America grew to be the sixth largest denomination in the United States at its peak.^[5]

John Murray, who is called the "Father of American Universalism," was a disciple of James Relly and promoted Relly's Universalist form of Methodism in America.^[10] He was a central figure in the founding of the Universalist Church of America in 1793. He served as pastor of the Universalist Society of Boston and wrote many hymns.

Another important figure in early American Christian Universalism was George de Benneville, a French Huguenot preacher and physician who was imprisoned for advocating Universalism and later emigrated to Pennsylvania where he continued preaching on the subject. De Benneville was noted for his friendly and respectful relationship with Native Americans and his pluralistic and multicultural view of spiritual truth which was well ahead of his time. One of his most significant accomplishments was helping to produce the Sauer Bible, the first German language Bible printed in America. In this Bible version, passages teaching universal reconciliation were marked in boldface.^[11]

Other significant early modern Christian Universalist leaders include Elhanan Winchester, a Baptist preacher who wrote several books promoting the universal salvation of all souls after a period in purgatory, who founded the first Universalist church in Philadelphia, and founded a church that ministered to African American slaves in South Carolina;^[12] Hosea Ballou, a Universalist preacher and writer in New England;^[13] and Hannah Whitall Smith, a writer and evangelist from a Quaker background who was active in the Holiness movement as well as the women's suffrage and temperance movements.^[14]

A separate branch of Christian Universalism that arose in the early 20th century was the Primitive Baptist Universalists, also called "No-Hellers." They were a group of Baptists in the central and southern Appalachian Mountain region of the United States that taught universal reconciliation and, like Hosea Ballou, embraced the "Ultra-Universalist" position that there is no literal hell beyond earth.^[15]

The Unity School of Christianity, founded in 1889 by Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, has taught some Universalist beliefs such as God's total goodness, the divine nature of human beings, and the rejection of the traditional Christian belief that God condemns people to hell.^[16]

The Universalist Church of America gradually declined in the early to mid 20th century and merged with the American Unitarian Association in 1961, creating the modern-day Unitarian Universalist Association, an interfaith church that does not teach Christian theology. Christian Universalism largely passed into obscurity for the next few decades with end of the Universalist Church as a separate denomination. However, the Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship remains as an organization for Christians from the Unitarian Universalist tradition and liberal Christians interested in Unitarianism and Universalism.^[17]

Some Christians from a Pentecostal background who were involved in the Latter Rain Movement of the 1940s and 1950s came to believe in the ideas of Christian Universalism on their own, separately from the Universalist Church tradition. They emphasized the teachings of universal reconciliation and theosis. These ideas were spread primarily through newsletters and traveling evangelists from the 1950s to 1980s, and were not typically identified by the term "Universalism." The only significant organization representing these beliefs that emerged within the Charismatic movement|Charismatic tradition was Home Missions Church, a loosely organized network of ministers and house churches founded in 1944.

Current trends[link]

This article may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (April 2011)

The rise of the internet in the 1990s has led to discussion, and promotion of Christian Universalism through various online ministries and websites. In 2005, Rick Spencer founded Restoration Nation, a ministry which holds annual conferences of believers from across North America.^[18] The conversion of Bishop Carlton Pearson to a form of Universalism and his subsequent excommunication by the Joint College of African-American Pentecostal Bishops in 2004 caused Christian Universalism to gain increased media attention because of Pearson's popularity and celebrity status.^[19] Numerous books about Christian Universalism have been written since the 1990s by authors from a diversity of denominations and religious backgrounds.^[15]

In 2007, Eric Stetson and Kalen Fristad gathered a group of thirteen ministers and evangelists from several denominations to found the Christian Universalist Association, an interdenominational organization for churches, ministries, and individuals who believe in Christian Universalism.^[20]

Universal reconciliation in the New Testament and pre-modern Christianity[link]

Modern types[link]

Christian Universalism today can be classified into three general types – Evangelical Universalism, Charismatic Universalism, and Liberal Christian Universalism – which by themselves or in combinations with one another describe the vast majority of currently existing and identifiable versions of Christian Universalist belief and practice.

Evangelical Christianity[link]

The type of Christian Universalism that departs the least from orthodox or traditional Christian doctrines is Evangelical (Christian) Universalism, also called Biblical or Trinitarian Universalism. Evangelical Universalists hold to conservative positions on most theological or doctrinal issues except for the doctrine of hell, in which case they assert universal reconciliation instead of eternal torment.^[21] They tend to emphasize the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ for the sins of all humanity as the basis for their Universalism.

In 2006 a mainstream evangelical writer, revealed^[22] as Robin Parry in 2009, under the pseudonym of "Gregory MacDonald" released a book The Evangelical Universalist.^[23] In 2008 this inspired the creation of a forum,^[24] featuring "Gregory MacDonald" and Thomas Talbott, to discuss Evangelical Universalism and related topics. From both the book and the forum, it can be seen that Evangelical Universalists often derive a large part of their beliefs from Evangelicalism and Reformed theology. Many of them come from an Evangelical Christian background, but they may or may not identify with this movement and seek to remain with it.

Some Evangelical Universalists avoid using the word "Universalism" to describe their beliefs, perhaps because of the negative connotations of this word among conservative Christians. Alternative terms that are in use among Evangelical Universalists include the "Larger Hope" or "Blessed Hope" and the "Victorious Gospel."^[25]

Charismatic Christianity[link]

Some Christians with a background in the Charismatic movement or Pentecostalism have developed a version of Universalism which could be called Charismatic (Christian) Universalism. Charismatic Universalists usually do not call their theology "Universalism" but commonly refer to their specific beliefs by the terms "Reconciliation" (shorthand for universal reconciliation, the doctrine of apocatastasis) and "Sonship" (shorthand for "Manifest Sonship" which is a variant of the doctrine of theosis).^[26] The term "Feast of Tabernacles" is used by some Charismatic Universalists as a term for their post-Pentecostal spiritual tradition, reflecting a symbolic interpretation of this Jewish festival as an entrance into a fuller knowledge and relationship with God and understanding of God's plan for humanity.^[27]

Charismatic Universalism is marked by its emphasis on theosis; the idea that the return of Christ is a body of perfected human beings who are the "Manifested Sons of God" instead of a literal return of the person of Jesus;^[28] the idea that these Sons will reign on the earth and transform all other human beings from sin to perfection during an age that is coming soon (a version of millennialism);^[29] and the absolute sovereignty of God, the nonexistence or severe limitation of human free will, and the inevitable triumph of God's plan of universal reconciliation.^[30]

Many Charismatic Universalists meet in house churches or do not belong to a church at all. Most of the evidence of Universalism existing as a school of thought within the Charismatic movement is found in a large number of internet-based ministries that are informally networked with one another.^[31]

Liberal Christianity[link]

A variety of people who have liberal interpretations of Christianity hold Universalist beliefs and can be considered Liberal Christian Universalists. This category of Christian Universalism includes some members of mainline Protestant denominations, some people influenced by the New Age and New Thought movements, some people in the emerging church movement, some Unitarian Universalists who continue to follow Jesus as their primary spiritual teacher, and some Christians from other religious backgrounds who may or may not attend church.

Liberal Christian Universalism emphasizes the all-inclusive love of God and tends to be more open to finding truth and value in non-Christian spiritual traditions compared to the attitude of other forms of Christian Universalism, while remaining generally Christ-centered.^[32] In contrast to Evangelical Universalism, Liberal Christian Universalism views the Bible as an imperfect human document containing divine revelations, is not necessarily Trinitarian, and often downplays or rejects blood atonement theology in its view of the crucifixion of Jesus.^[33] Some Liberal Christian Universalists believe in mystical philosophies such as panentheism and process theology, Gnostic or New Age ideas such as the preexistence and reincarnation of the soul,^[34] and New Thought ideas such as the law of attraction.^[35]

The Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship is an organization for Liberal Christian Universalists, especially those who belong to the Unitarian Universalist Association. The Liberal Catholic Church and the Unity Church are liberal Christian denominations which teach some Universalist beliefs.^[36][37][38]

Hybrid types[link]

This section may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (March 2010)

Former Pentecostal Bishop Carlton Pearson's "Gospel of Inclusion" appears to be a hybrid between Charismatic and Liberal Christian Universalism. He is now a minister in the United Church of Christ, a liberal Christian denomination, but continues to believe in some ideas and practices of Pentecostal or Charismatic forms of Christianity. Pearson has also incorporated some New Age and New Thought teachings into his message.^[39] Brian McLaren is a Christian leader in the emerging church movement who is sympathetic to the idea of Universalism but does not embrace it.^[40]

A number of ministers and evangelists connected with Restoration Nation conferences are Universalists who draw from both the Evangelical and Charismatic traditions.^[41] One notable example is Robert Rutherford, a minister from Georgia who was a finalist on The Learning Channel's 2006 reality TV series "The Messengers."^[42] Another example is Dick King, an independent Charismatic Baptist pastor in North Little Rock, Arkansas, whose church left the Southern Baptist Convention in 2004.^[43]

The Christian Universalist Association is putting forth a message which seeks common ground among all major contemporary types of Christian Universalism.^[44]

Disagreements[link]

There are many religious issues on which Christian Universalists disagree with each other, depending on their theological background and denominational tradition. Some examples include:

• A wide range of ways of understanding the Bible, such as Biblical inerrancy, Biblical infallibility, Biblical criticism and higher criticism. Also various views of the Biblical canon and apocryphal texts.
• Whether God's oneness is best described by the orthodox Christian concept of Trinity or in some other way, such as classical unitarianism, Socinianism, modalism, etc.
• Whether Jesus Christ will literally return at some future time to consummate his reign on Earth (futurism and millennialism), or only returns metaphorically in the present or future, or whether these prophecies were fulfilled in ancient times and we now live during the Messianic Age (preterism and amillennialism).
• The specific nature of the afterlife (literal versus metaphoric heaven and hell, purgatory, reincarnation, other ideas).
• Whether the shed blood of Christ on the cross is a literal atonement for the sins of the world or whether this is metaphorical, and what the atonement accomplished – Anselm of Canterbury's satisfaction (Roman Catholic view), John Calvin's penal substitution (Reformed and common evangelical view), Hugo Grotius' moral government (classical Arminian and Methodist view), Gustaf Aulen's Christus Victor (Eastern Orthodox view, commonly held by Anabaptists), or Peter Abelard's moral influence (modernist-liberal theological view), etc.
• Whether non-Christians can be saved in Christ (inclusivism), whether salvation in Christ is even necessary for all people (pluralism), or whether salvation occurs only after profession of belief in the Lordship of Jesus Christ (exclusivism).
• Whether Christian Universalists should attend denominational churches in the hope of transforming them, or should start their own new churches, or should leave the organized church entirely.^[45]

See also[link]

• Apocatastasis
• Catechetical School of Alexandria
• Liberal Christianity
• List of early Christian universalists
• Panentheism
• Primitive Baptist Universalist
• Problem of Hell
• School of Antioch
• School of Nisibis and Edessa
• Theosis
• Trinitarian Universalism
• Unitarian Universalism
• Universalism
• Universalist Church of America
• Universalist Herald
• Universal reconciliation

References[link]

Further Reading

Bressler, Ann Lee. The Universalist Movement in America, 1770-1880. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.

External links[link]

• Tentmaker Ministries – A large website full of articles, online books, and other resources promoting Christian Universalism.
• Christianity as the Universal Religion, Chapter Eight in Stephen Palmquist, Kant's Critical Religion (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2000) – Demonstrates that the 18th century philosopher, Immanuel Kant, regarded the Christian religion as the only "natural religion" that has the potential to be spread to all human beings.
• Evangelical Universalism – A website with articles, books, and other materials promoting the biblical doctrine of Evangelical Universalism.
• Universalism and the Bible – Keith DeRose, Professor of Philosophy at Yale University, defends universalism on biblical grounds.
• A Case for Christian Universalism – A website devoted to supporting Christian Universalism biblically.
•  "Universalists". The American Cyclopædia. 1879. 

Billy Graham
Billy Graham in 2008.
Born	William Franklin Graham, Jr. (1918-11-07) November 7, 1918 (age 93) Charlotte, North Carolina
Education	Diploma in Biblical Studies, Florida Bible Institute (Trinity Bible College), 1940 B.A. in Anthropology, Wheaton College, 1943
Occupation	Evangelist
Religion	Evangelical Christian
Spouse	Ruth Graham (m. 1943–2007; her death)
Children	Franklin, Nelson, Virginia, Anne Ruth
Signature
Ordained	Southern Baptist[1]
Offices held	President, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
Title	Doctor (Honorary)
Website
www.billygraham.org

William Franklin "Billy" Graham, Jr. (born November 7, 1918) is an American evangelical Christian evangelist, ordained as a Southern Baptist minister, who rose to celebrity status with national media backing of William Randolph Hearst and Henry Luce in 1949. His sermons were broadcast on radio and television, with some still re-broadcast today.

Graham is notable for having been a spiritual adviser to several United States Presidents; he was particularly close to Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard M. Nixon.^[2] During the civil rights movement, he began to support integrated seating for his revivals and crusades; in 1957 he invited Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. to jointly preach at a huge revival in New York City, where they appeared together at Madison Square Garden, and bailed the minister out of jail in the 1960s when he was arrested in demonstrations.

Having built an evangelical empire and organized huge events worldwide, Graham has personally preached the Gospel to more people than any other person in history. His institutions include a variety of media and publishing outlets.^[3] 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.^[3]

With his renown and international travel, Graham has repeatedly been on Gallup's list of most admired men and women. He has appeared on the list 55 times since 1955 (including 49 consecutive years), more than any other individual in the world.^[4]

Early life[link]

Named after his father and born November 7, 1918, he is the first son of Morrow Coffey (1892–1981) and William Franklin Graham, Sr. (1888–1962); he grew up on the family dairy farm near Charlotte, North Carolina. Called Billy, he was raised in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church by his parents and was of Scottish descent.^[5][6] In 1933, when Prohibition in the United States ended, Graham's father forced Billy and his sister Katherine to drink beer until they got sick, which created such an aversion that both avoided alcohol and drugs the rest of their lives.^[7]

After Graham was turned down for membership in a local youth group because he was "too worldly,"^[7] Albert McMakin, who worked on the Graham farm, persuaded the youth to go see Mordecai Ham, an evangelist.^[3] According to his autobiography, Graham was converted in 1934 at age 16 during a series of revival meetings in Charlotte led by the evangelist.^[8]

After graduating from Sharon High School in May 1936, Graham attended Bob Jones College, located in Cleveland, Tennessee. After one semester, he found it too legalistic in both coursework and rules.^[7] At this time, he was influenced and inspired by Pastor Charley Young from Eastport Bible Church. He was almost expelled, but Bob Jones, Sr. warned him not to throw his life away: "At best, all you could amount to would be a poor country Baptist preacher somewhere out in the sticks.... You have a voice that pulls. God can use that voice of yours. He can use it mightily."^[7]

In 1937, Graham transferred to the Florida Bible Institute (now Trinity College of Florida). (Today's Florida College is now located at that site in Temple Terrace, Florida.) In his autobiography, Graham wrote of receiving his "calling on the 18th green of the Temple Terrace Golf and Country Club," which is immediately in front of today's Sutton Hall at Florida College. Reverend Billy Graham Memorial Park was established on the Hillsborough River directly east of the 18th green and across from where Graham often paddled a canoe to a small island in the river, where he would preach to the birds, alligators, and cypress stumps. Graham eventually graduated from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois with a degree in anthropology in 1943.^[9]

It was during his time at Wheaton that Graham decided to accept the Bible as the infallible word of God. Henrietta Mears of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood (Hollywood, California) was instrumental in helping Graham wrestle with the issue. He settled it at Forest Home Christian camp (now called Forest Home Ministries) southeast of the Big Bear area in Southern California.^{[citation needed]} A memorial there marks the site of Graham's decision.

Family[link]

On August 13, 1943, Graham married Wheaton classmate Ruth Bell (1920–2007), whose parents were Presbyterian missionaries in China. Her father L. Nelson Bell was a general surgeon. Graham met Ruth at Wheaton: "I saw her walking down the road towards me and I couldn't help but stare at her as she walked. She looked at me and our eyes met and I felt that she was definitely the woman I wanted to marry." Ruth thought that he "wanted to please God more than any man I'd ever met."^[10] They married two months after graduation and later lived in a log cabin designed by Ruth in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Montreat, North Carolina.^[7] Ruth died on June 14, 2007, at the age of 87.

They had five children together: Virginia Leftwich (Gigi) Graham Tchividjian (born 1945; an inspirational speaker and author); Anne Graham Lotz (born 1948; runs AnGeL ministries); Ruth Graham (born 1950; founder and president of Ruth Graham & Friends, leads conferences throughout the U.S. and Canada); Franklin Graham (born 1952), who serves as president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and as president and CEO of international relief organization, Samaritan's Purse^[11]; and Nelson Edman Graham (born 1958; a pastor who runs East Gates Ministries International,^[12] which distributes Christian literature in China). Graham has 19 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren. His grandson Tullian Tchividjian is senior pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

To ensure no one mistook his actions, Graham had a policy to avoid being alone with any woman other than his wife Ruth. This has come to be known as the Billy Graham Rule.^[13]

Ministry[link]

Career[link]

While attending college, Graham became pastor of the United Gospel Tabernacle and also had other preaching engagements.

Graham served briefly as pastor of the Village Church in Western Springs, Illinois, not far from Wheaton, in 1943-44. While there, his friend Torrey Johnson, pastor of the Midwest Bible Church in Chicago, told Graham that his radio program "Songs in the Night" was about to be canceled for lack of funding. Consulting with the members of his church in Western Springs, Graham decided to take over Johnson's program with financial support from his parishioners. Launching the new radio program on January 2, 1944, still called Songs in the Night, Graham recruited the baritone George Beverly Shea as his director of radio ministry. While the radio ministry continued for many years, Graham decided to move on in early 1945. In 1947, at age 30, he was hired as president of Northwestern Bible College in St. Paul, Minnesota, the youngest person to serve as college president. Graham served as the president of Northwestern Bible College from 1948 to 1952.^[14]

Initially, Graham intended to become a chaplain in the armed forces but, shortly after applying for a commission, contracted mumps. After a period of recuperation in Florida, Graham was hired as the first full-time evangelist of the new Youth for Christ International (YFCI), co-founded by Torrey Johnson and the Canadian evangelist Charles Templeton. Graham traveled throughout both the United States and Europe as an YFCI evangelist. Unlike many evangelists, Graham had little formal theological training. Templeton applied to Princeton Theological Seminary for an advanced theological degree and urged Graham to do so as well, but the evangelist declined. He was already serving as the president of Northwestern Bible College.^[7][14]

Hearst bubble[link]

Graham scheduled a series of revival meetings in Los Angeles in 1949, for which he erected circus tents in a parking lot.^[3] He was given national coverage by the news mogul William Randolph Hearst. Scholars such as Ben Bagdikian believe that Hearst liked Graham's patriotism and appeals to youth; he thought the evangelist would help promote Hearst's conservative anti-communist views.^[15] The scholar Randall E. King notes that Hearst and Graham never met.^[16] Hearst sent a telegram to his newspaper editors: "Puff Graham" during the Los Angeles crusade and within five days, he gained national coverage.^[16][17] With such media attention, the crusade event ran for eight weeks—five weeks longer than planned. Graham became a national figure.^[18] Henry Luce also promoted Graham with coverage at this time, and by 1954 featured him on the cover of his magazine TIME.^[19]

Crusades[link]

Since his ministry began in 1947, Graham conducted more than 400 crusades in 185 countries and territories on six continents. The first Billy Graham Crusade, held Sept. 13-21, 1947, in the Civic Auditorium in Grand Rapids, Mich., was attended by 6,000 people. Graham was 29 years old. He called them crusades, after the medieval Christian forces who tried to conquer Jerusalem. He would rent a large venue, such as a stadium, park, or street. As the sessions got larger, he arranged a group of up to 5,000 people to sing in a choir. He would preach the gospel and invite people to come forward (a practice begun by Dwight L. Moody). Such people were called inquirers and were given the chance to speak one-on-one with a counselor, to clarify questions and pray together. The inquirers were often given a copy of the Gospel of John or a Bible study booklet. In Moscow in 1992, one-quarter of the 155,000 people in Graham's audience went forward at his call.^[7] During his crusades, he has frequently used the altar call song, "Just As I Am".^[20]

Graham was offered a five-year, $5 million contract from NBC to appear on television opposite Arthur Godfrey, but he turned it down in favor of continuing his touring revivals because of his prearranged commitments.^[10] Graham had missions in London, which lasted 12 weeks, and a New York City mission in Madison Square Garden in 1957, which ran nightly for 16 weeks.

Billy Graham Evangelistic Association[link]

In 1950, Graham founded the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association with its headquarters in Minneapolis. The association later relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina. BGEA Ministries have included:

• Hour of Decision, a weekly radio program broadcast around the world for more than 50 years
• Mission television specials broadcast in almost every market in the US and Canada
• A syndicated newspaper column, My Answer, carried by newspapers across the United States and distributed by Tribune Media Services
• Decision magazine, the official publication of the Association
• Christianity Today was started in 1956 with Carl F. H. Henry as its first editor
• Passageway.org, the website for a children's program created by BGEA
• World Wide Pictures, which has produced and distributed more than 130 films

Civil rights movement[link]

Graham with Martin Luther King

Graham had shown little concern for segregation until the civil rights movement began to receive national attention in the early 1950s. Many of his early crusades were segregated. In response to the civil rights movement, Graham began to adjust his approach but was inconsistent, refusing to speak in some segregated auditoriums, while speaking to segregated audiences at others. In 1953 he tore down the ropes that organizers had erected to separate the audience into racial sections; he recounted in his memoirs that he told two ushers to leave the barriers down "or you can go on and have the revival without me.".^[21] But, he later acceded to segregated seating at Dallas, Texas and Asheville, North Carolina. He sometimes preached that the Bible said nothing about segregation,^[22] but another time warned a white audience, "we have been proud and thought we were better than any other race, any other people. Ladies and gentlemen, we are going to stumble into hell because of our pride."^[23] After the 1954 US Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education that public school segregation was unconstitutional, Graham insisted on integrated seating at his revivals. His inconsistent approach in the early years has led to differing assessments by historians of his career and complicated his legacy.^[24]

From the mid-1950s on, Graham became increasingly opposed to segregation and racism, while keeping his eye on public opinion. For instance, in 1957 he invited Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. to join him in the pulpit at his 16-week revival in New York City, where 2.3 million gathered at Madison Square Garden, Yankee Stadium, and Times Square to hear them.^[3] Graham never appeared publicly again with King, but he posted bail for the minister to get him released from jail in 1963 during the civil rights protests in Birmingham.^[25]

Graham's faith prompted his maturing view of race and segregation; the minister told one member of the KKK that integration was necessary primarily for religious reasons: "there is no scriptural basis for segregation," Graham argued, "The ground at the foot of the cross is level, and it touches my heart when I see whites standing shoulder to shoulder with blacks at the cross."^[26]

Later years[link]

Graham with his son, Franklin, at Cleveland Stadium, June 1994

Graham's visibility and popularity extended into the secular world. He created his own pavilion for the 1964 New York World's Fair.^[27] He appeared as a guest on a 1969 Woody Allen television special, where he joined the comedian in a witty exchange on theological matters.^[28] During the Cold War, Graham became the first evangelist of note to speak behind the Iron Curtain, addressing large crowds in countries throughout Eastern Europe and in the Soviet Union, calling for peace.^[29] During the Apartheid era, Graham consistently refused to visit South Africa until its government allowed integrated seating for audiences. During his first crusade there in 1973, he openly denounced apartheid.^{[citation needed]}

Billy Graham at the Feyenoord-stadion in Rotterdam, The Netherlands (June 30, 1955)

In 1984, he led a series of summer meetings in the United Kingdom, called Mission England, using outdoor football grounds as venues.

Graham was interested in fostering evangelism around the world. In 1983, 1986 and 2000 he sponsored, organized and paid for massive training conferences for Christian evangelists from around the world; with the largest representations of nations ever held until that time. Over 157 nations were gathered in 2000 at the RAI Convention Center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. At one revival in Seoul, South Korea, Graham attracted more than one million people to a single service.^[10] He appeared in China in 1988—for Ruth, this was a homecoming, since she had been born in China to missionary parents. He appeared in North Korea in 1992.^[26]

On September 22, 1991 Graham held his largest event in North America on the Great Lawn of New York's Central Park. City officials estimated more than 250,000 in attendance. In 1998, Graham spoke at TED (conference) to a crowd of scientists and philosophers.

On September 14, 2001, in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, Graham was invited to lead a service at Washington National Cathedral, which was attended by President George W. Bush and past and present leaders. He also spoke at the memorial service following the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.^[26] On June 24–26, 2005, Billy Graham began what he has said would be his last North American crusade, three days at the Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in New York City. But on the weekend of March 11–12, 2006, Billy Graham held the "Festival of Hope" with his son, Franklin Graham. The festival was held in New Orleans, which was recovering from Hurricane Katrina.

Retirement[link]

Graham said that his planned retirement was because of his failing health. He has suffered from Parkinson's disease for about 15 years, has had hydrocephalus, pneumonia, broken hips, and prostate cancer. In August 2005, Graham appeared at the groundbreaking for his library in Charlotte, North Carolina. Then 86, Reverend Graham used a walker during the ceremony. On July 9, 2006, Graham spoke at the Metro Maryland Franklin Graham Festival, held in Baltimore, Maryland, at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

There had been controversy over his proposed burial place; he announced in June 2007 that he and his wife would be buried alongside each other at the Billy Graham Library in his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. Graham's younger son Ned had argued with older son Franklin about whether burial at a library would be appropriate. Ruth Graham had said that she wanted to be buried not in Charlotte but in the mountains near Asheville, North Carolina, where she had lived for many years; Ned supported his mother's choice.^[30] Novelist Patricia Cornwell, a family friend, also opposed burial at the library, calling it a tourist attraction. Franklin wanted his parents to be buried at the library site.^[30] At the time of Ruth Graham's death, it was announced that they would be buried at the library site.

Graham has been admitted to the hospital for treatment in 2007 and 2011.^[31][32]

In April 2010, Graham, at 91 and with substantial vision and hearing loss, made a rare public appearance at the re-dedication of the renovated Billy Graham Library.^[33]

Billy Graham has preached Christianity to live audiences of nearly 215 million people in more than 185 countries and territories through various meetings, including BMS World Mission and Global Mission. Graham has also reached hundreds of millions more through television, video, film, and webcasts.^[34]

Politics[link]

Politically, Graham is a registered member of the Democratic Party.^[35] He leaned Republican during the presidency of Richard Nixon.^[16] He did not completely ally himself with the religious right, saying that Jesus did not have a political party.^[7] He did not openly endorse political candidates, but he gave his support to some over the years.^[16]

He refused to join Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority in 1979, saying: "I'm for morality, but morality goes beyond sex to human freedom and social justice. We as clergy know so very little to speak with authority on the Panama Canal or superiority of armaments. Evangelists cannot be closely identified with any particular party or person. We have to stand in the middle in order to preach to all people, right and left. I haven't been faithful to my own advice in the past. I will be in the future."^[26]

According to a 2006 Newsweek interview, "For Graham, politics is a secondary to the Gospel.... When Newsweek asked Graham whether ministers—whether they think of themselves as evangelists, pastors or a bit of both—should spend time engaged with politics, he replied: 'You know, I think in a way that has to be up to the individual as he feels led of the Lord. A lot of things that I commented on years ago would not have been of the Lord, I'm sure, but I think you have some—like communism, or segregation, on which I think you have a responsibility to speak out.'".^[36]

Pastor to presidents[link]

President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan greet Graham at the National Prayer Breakfast of 1981

Graham has had a personal audience with many sitting US presidents from Harry S. Truman to Barack Obama. Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton sought his counsel, as did the Bush family.^[18] After meeting with Truman in 1950, Graham told the press he had urged the president to counter communism in North Korea. Later he always treated his conversations with presidents as confidential.^[16] Truman disliked him and did not speak with him for years after that meeting.^[7] Graham was criticized by some for being too attracted to the seat of political power.

Merle Miller quotes Truman on Graham in his oral biography Plain Speaking:

But now we've got just this one evangelist, this Billy Graham, and he's gone off the beam. He's...well, I hadn’t ought to say this, but he’s one of those counterfeits I was telling you about. He claims he's a friend of all the Presidents, but he was never a friend of mine when I was President. I just don’t go for people like that. All he's interested in is getting his name in the paper.^[37]

Graham became a regular visitor during the tenure of Dwight D. Eisenhower. He purportedly urged him to intervene with federal troops in the case of the Little Rock Nine to gain admission of black students to public schools.^[7] At that time he met and would become close friends with Vice President Richard Nixon.^[16] After a special law was passed in 1952, Graham conducted the first religious service on the steps of the Capitol building.^[7] Eisenhower asked for Graham while on his deathbed.^[38]

The preacher enjoyed a friendship with Nixon and supported him over Kennedy in the 1960 presidential election.^[7] Graham was more sympathetic to Republican administrations.^[16][39] He spent the last night of Johnson's presidency in the White House, and he stayed for the first night of Nixon's.^[38]

After Nixon's victorious 1968 presidential campaign, Graham became an adviser, regularly visiting the White House and leading the president's private worship services.^[16] In a meeting they had with Golda Meir, Nixon offered Graham the ambassadorship to Israel, but he refused.^[7] In 1970 Nixon appeared at a Graham revival in East Tennessee, which they thought safe politically. It drew one of the largest crowds in Tennessee and protesters against the Vietnam War. Nixon was the first president to give a speech from an evangelist's platform.^[16] Their friendship became strained in 1973 when Graham rebuked Nixon for his post-Watergate behavior and the profanity heard on the Watergate tapes;^[40] they eventually reconciled after Nixon's resignation.^[16]

1966

Graham officiated at one presidential burial and one presidential funeral. He presided over the graveside services of President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1973 and took part in eulogizing the former president. Graham officiated at the funeral services of former First Lady Pat Nixon in 1993^[7] and the Richard Nixon in 1994.

Billy Graham meeting with President Barack Obama in Montreat, 2010

On April 25, 2010, President Barack Obama visited Rev. Graham at his home in Montreat, North Carolina where they “had a private prayer.”^[41]

Foreign policy views[link]

Graham has been outspoken against communism and supportive of US Cold War policy, including the Vietnam War. In a 1999 speech, Graham discussed his relationship with the late North Korean dictator Kim Il-sung, praising him as a "different kind of communist" and "one of the great fighters for freedom in his country against the Japanese." Graham went on to note that although he had never met Kim's son and former North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il, he had "exchanged gifts with him."^[42] Graham gave a globe surmounted with doves to the North Korean Friendship Museum.^[40]

In March 1991, Graham said in reference to the Persian Gulf War, "As our President, President Bush, has said, it is not the people of Iraq we are at war with. It is some of the people in that regime. Pray for peace in the Middle East, a just peace."^[43] Graham had earlier said that "there come times when we have to fight for peace." He went on to say that out of the war in the Gulf may "come a new peace and, as suggested by the President, a new world order."^[44]

Controversy[link]

Discussion of Jews with Nixon[link]

During the Watergate affair, there were suggestions that Graham had agreed with many of Nixon's anti-Semitic opinions, but he denied them and stressed his efforts to build bridges to the Jews. In 2002, the controversy was renewed when declassified "Richard Nixon tapes" confirmed remarks made by Graham to President Nixon three decades earlier.^[45] Captured on the tapes, Graham agreed with Nixon that Jews control the American media, calling it a "stranglehold" during a 1972 conversation with Nixon.^[46] He went considerably beyond that in offensive remarks characterized as anti-Semitic by Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League^[45] and evangelical author Richard Land.^[47]

When the tapes were made public, Graham apologized ^[48][49] and said, "Although I have no memory of the occasion, I deeply regret comments I apparently made in an Oval Office conversation with President Nixon ... some 30 years ago (...). They do not reflect my views and I sincerely apologize for any offense caused by the remarks."^[50] According to Newsweek magazine, "[T]he shock of the revelation was magnified because of Graham's longtime support of Israel and his refusal to join in calls for conversion of the Jews."^[49]

In 2009, more Nixon tapes were released, in which Graham is heard in conversation with Nixon referring to Jews and "the synagogue of Satan." A spokesman for Graham said that Graham has never been an anti-Semite and that the comparison (in accord with the context of the quotation in the Book of Revelation) was directed specifically at those claiming to be Jews, but not holding to traditional Jewish values.^[51]

Fundamentalists[link]

After Crusade in New York (1957) fundamentalists criticized Graham for his ecumenism (he was even called "Antichrist").^[52]

North Carolina Amendment 1 (2012)[link]

Billy Graham ran an ad in 14 North Carolina newspapers expressing his support for North Carolina Amendment 1 (2012), which would define marriage in the state constitution as a union of one man and one woman.^[53][54]

Books[link]

Graham has written the following books:^[55] Many have become bestsellers and been extremely successful. For instance, in the 1970s, "The Jesus Generation sold 200,000 copies in the first two weeks after publication; Angels: God's Secret Agents had sales of 1 million copies within 90 days after release; How to Be Born Again was said to have made publishing history with its first printing of 800,000 copies."^[10]

Awards and honors[link]

Graham has frequently been honored by surveys, including "Greatest Living American" and has consistently ranked among the most admired persons in the United States and the world.^[10] He has appeared most frequently on Gallup's list of most admired people (.^[56] Since 1955, Graham was recognized by Gallup a record 55 times (49 times consecutively)—more than any other individual in history.

In 1967, he was the first Protestant to receive an honorary degree from Belmont Abbey College, a Roman Catholic school.^[57]

Graham received the Big Brother of the Year Award for his work on behalf of children. He has been cited by the George Washington Carver Memorial Institute for his contributions to race relations. He has received the Templeton Foundation Prize for Progress in Religion and the Sylvanus Thayer Award for his commitment to "Duty, Honor, Country". The "Billy Graham Children's Health Center" in Asheville is named after and funded by Graham.^[58]

For hosting many Christian musical artists, Graham was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1999 by the Gospel Music Association.^[59] Singer Michael W. Smith is active in Billy Graham Crusades as well as Samaritan's Purse.^[60]

In 2000, former First Lady Nancy Reagan presented the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award to Graham. Graham has been a friend of the Reagans for years.^[61]

A professorial chair is named after him at the Alabama Baptist-affiliated Samford University, the Billy Graham Professor of Evangelism and Church Growth.^[45] His alma mater Wheaton College has an archive of his papers at the Billy Graham Center.^[3] The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth. Graham has received 20 honorary degrees and refused at least that many more.^[10] In San Francisco, CA, the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, has often erroneously been called the Billy Graham Civic Auditorium and falsely considered to be named in his honor, but is actually named after the rock & roll promoter Bill Graham.

On May 31, 2007, the $27 million Billy Graham Library was officially dedicated in Charlotte. Former Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton appeared to celebrate with Graham.^[62] A highway in Charlotte bears Graham's name,^[30] as does I-240 near Graham's home in Asheville.

The movie Billy: The Early Years premiered in theaters officially on October 10, 2008, less than one month before Graham's 90th birthday.^[63] Graham has yet to comment on the film, but his son, Franklin released a critical statement on August 18, 2008, noting that the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association "has not collaborated with nor does it endorse the movie."^[64] Graham's eldest daughter Gigi, however, has praised the movie and has also been hired as a consultant to help promote the film.^[65]

Other honors

• The Salvation Army's Distinguished Service Medal
• Who's Who in America annually since 1954
• Freedoms Foundation Distinguished Persons Award (numerous years)
• Gold Medal Award, National Institute of Social Science, New York, 1957
• Annual Gutenberg Award of the Chicago Bible Society, 1962
• Gold Award of the George Washington Carver Memorial Institute, 1964, for contribution to race relations, presented by Senator Javits (NY)
• Speaker of the Year Award, 1964
• American Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award, 1965
• Horatio Alger Award, 1965
• National Citizenship Award by the Military Chaplains Association of the U.S.A., 1965
• Wisdom Award of Honor, 1965
• The Torch of Liberty Plaque by the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, 1969
• George Washington Honor Medal from Freedoms Foundation of Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, for his sermon "The Violent Society," 1969 (also in 1974)
• Honored by Morality in Media for "fostering the principles of truth, taste, inspiration and love in media," 1969
• International Brotherhood Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews, 1971
• Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of Broadcasters, 1972
• Franciscan International Award, 1972
• Sylvanus Thayer Award from United States Military Academy Association of Graduates at West Point (The most prestigious award the United States Military Academy gives to a U.S. citizen), 1972
• Direct Selling Association's Salesman of the Decade award, 1975
• Philip Award from the Association of United Methodist Evangelists, 1976
• American Jewish Committee's First National Interreligious Award, 1977
• Southern Baptist Radio and Television Commission's Distinguished Communications Medal, 1977
• Jabotinsky Centennial Medal presented by The Jabotinsky Foundation, 1980
• Religious Broadcasting Hall of Fame award, 1981
• Templeton Foundation Prize for Progress in Religion award, 1982
• Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award,1983
• National Religious Broadcasters Award of Merit, 1986
• North Carolina Award in Public Service, 1986
• Good Housekeeping Most Admired Men Poll, 1997, #1 for five years in a row and 16th time in top 10
• Congressional Gold Medal (along with wife Ruth), highest honor Congress can bestow on a private citizen, 1996
• Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Freedom Award, for monumental and lasting contributions to the cause of freedom, 2000
• Honorary Knight Commander of the order of the British Empire (KBE) for his international contribution to civic and religious life over 60 years, 2001
• Many honorary degrees including Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minnesota, where Graham was once president, named its newest campus building the Billy Graham Community Life Commons.^[66]

Notes[link]