Billy Graham
|
---|
Graham in 1993
|
Born
| William Franklin Graham Jr.
(
1918-11-07
)
November 7, 1918
|
---|
Died
| February 21, 2018
(2018-02-21)
(aged 99)
|
---|
Nationality
| American
|
---|
Education
| Diploma in Biblical Studies, Florida Bible Institute (Trinity Bible College)
B.A. in Anthropology,
Wheaton College
|
---|
Occupation
| Evangelist
|
---|
Spouse
| Ruth Graham
|
---|
Children
| 5, including
Franklin
and
Anne
|
---|
|
Ordained
| Southern Baptist
[1]
|
---|
Offices held
| President, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
|
---|
Title
| Doctor (Honorary)
|
---|
|
Website
| www
.billygraham
.org
|
---|
|
|
William Franklin Graham Jr.
KBE
(November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018), better known as
Billy Graham
, was an
American
Evangelical
Christian
minister and
evangelist
. He was a member of the
Southern Baptist Convention
. Graham is most well known as the one of the most important and most famous preachers of the
20th Century
.
[2]
He was a
spiritual
advisor
to several
U.S. presidents
.
[3]
Graham
preached
in person to more people than any other American preacher in recorded history.
[3]
Until 2002, Graham's lifetime
audience
with
radio
and
television
broadcast
was more than two
billion
[
disambiguation needed
]
people.
[4]
Graham met every United States President since
Harry S. Truman
until his death. He received many honors including the
Congressional Gold Medal
and the
Presidential Medal of Freedom
.
[5]
Graham was born on November 7, 1918, on a
dairy
farm
near
Charlotte
,
North Carolina
. His mother and father Morrow Coffey and William Franklin Graham managed the farm.
[6]
They were devout Christians
[7]
and Graham's mother had a big influence on his faith.
[6]
In 1933 Graham's father forced Graham and his sister Catherine to drink
beer
until they
vomited
. This made them hate
alcohol
for the rest of their lives.
[8]
The
Billy Graham Center
says Graham was
converted
in 1934 during a
revival meeting
in Charlotte led by local evangelist
Mordecai Ham
.
[9]
In Graham's part of Christianity, "conversion" means having a big faith experience, not changing from one religion to a different religion.
[10]
However, he did not become a member of a local youth group because he was "too
worldly
."
[8]
After
graduating
from Sharon High School in May 1936 Graham went to Bob Jones College (now called
Bob Jones University
).
In his first year of college, he found both the schoolwork and
rules
too hard.
[8]
As a result, he almost had to leave school, but
Bob Jones, Sr.
, the founder of the college, said that in doing that, he would throw his life away. He told Graham, "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."
[8]
While he was at college, Graham would often take a
canoe
to a little
island
in the river. On that island he would preach to the
birds
,
alligators
, and
cypress
stumps. In 1937, Graham transferred to the Florida Bible Institute (now
Trinity College of Florida
) where the
Florida College
in
Temple Terrace, Florida
now stands. Graham later transferred to Wheaton College and in 1943, graduated from Wheaton in
Illinois
with a
degree
in
anthropology
. While he was at Wheaton College, Graham decided to take the
Bible
as the perfect Word of God. He accepted this as
truth
at the Forest Home Christian camp (now called
Forest Home Ministries
), southeast of the
Big Bear area
in Southern
California
. A
memorial
is there showing where Graham first made this choice.
[11]
In 1946, Graham
married
a girl who was in a class with him,
Ruth Bell
. Her parents were
Presbyterian
missionaries
in
China
. Her father, L. Nelson Bell, worked as a
surgeon
there. When talking about Bell, Graham said "She looked at me and our eyes met and I felt that she was definitely the woman I wanted to marry." Ruth said that he wanted to please God more than any man she had ever met. They married two months after they graduated from college. After marriage, they lived in a
log
cabin
that she had made. Ruth died on June 14, 2007, at age 87.
[12]
They had five children together:
[13]
[14]
Virginia (Gigi) Graham Foreman; Anne Graham Lotz; Ruth Dienert; Franklin Graham, and Ned Graham. They also had 19
grandchildren
and 28 great-grandchildren.
Graham became a
Southern Baptist
minister
in 1939. Then he took over and organized financing of the
radio
program "Songs in the Night". Afterwards, he made the
baritone
,
George Beverly Shea
director of
music
in his ministry. The program went well, but Graham left it in 1945. He wished to be a
chaplain
in the
armed forces
, but after trying to get in, he came down with
mumps
, so he had to not enlist. After some time, he
recovered
in
Florida
. Then he started
Youth for Christ
with evangelist
Charles Templeton
. He traveled all through the
United States
and
Europe
as an evangelist.
[8]
Graham held many revival meetings in
Los Angeles
in 1949. These revivals are thought to be the time when Graham became a
national
religious
figure.
[15]
This is because he got help from the powerful
newspaper
man
William Randolph Hearst
. Many people believe that Hearst liked Graham for his love of his
country
. It is also believed that he may have thought that Graham could help with his
conservative
, anti-
communist
views.
[16]
Hearst sent a
telegram
to his newspaper editors reading "Puff Graham" during Graham's late 1949 Los Angeles crusade.
[8]
Therefore, one could read much more about Graham now in Hearst's newspaper chain and national magazines. That meant that his crusade event could run for eight full weeks ? five weeks longer than planned.
Henry Luce
put Graham on the cover of
Time magazine
in 1954.
[17]
Graham had missions in both
London
and the
Madison Square Garden
in 1957. The London mission lasted 12 weeks and the New York mission was about 16 weeks. He also led his first crusade in
Australia
in 1959.
Graham was the president of
Northwestern College
in
Minnesota
from 1948 to 1952. He began many
organizations
, such as the
Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
. He also spoke against
racial segregation
during the 1960s. Graham did not want to speak to segregated
auditoriums
. He even once tore down ropes that had been put up to split the
audience
. Graham paid
bail
money to get Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
out of
jail
. That was during the 1960s
American Civil Rights Movement
. He asked King to join him in the
pulpit
at the revival meeting at
New York City
in 1957. During that 16-week tour, he was heard by many people, who came to hear him at
Madison Square Garden
,
Yankee Stadium
and the
Times Square
.
[4]
Because they became good friends, Graham was one of the few white people King let call him by his birth name "Michael".
[18]
During the
Cold War
, Graham was the first evangelist to speak behind the
Iron Curtain
.
[19]
During the
Apartheid
times, Graham would not go to
South Africa
until the
government
let all people sit together.
[20]
He finally preached his first crusade there in 1973, during which he taught that apartheid was not right.
Graham went to China, where his wife Ruth was born. He also appeared in
North Korea
in 1992. On September 14, 2001, shortly after the
September 11 attacks
, Graham led prayer at the
Washington National Cathedral
. President
George W. Bush
went to this service. On June 24, 2005, he began what he said would be his last
North American
crusade. On the weekend of March 11 and March 12, 2006 Graham held the "Festival of Hope". It was held in
New Orleans
, which was recovering from
Hurricane Katrina
.
Graham said that he had to
retire
because of his failing
health
. He had had
Parkinson's disease
for about 15 years, as well as many other problems. In August 2005, though weak, he used a
walker
to go to at the start of his
library
in Charlotte, North Carolina. On August 18, 2007, Graham, aged 88, was treated for
intestinal
bleeding.
[21]
Graham preached
Christianity
to nearly 215 million people in more than 185 countries and territories. He also preached to hundreds of millions more through
television
,
videos
,
movie
, and
webcasts
.
[22]
He went to over 41 evangelistic crusades. He began this ministry in 1947, and kept doing it until recently. He would often use a big area, such as a
stadium
,
park
, or a large
street
to speak at. Groups of up to 5,000 people would often
sing
in
choir
at his meetings. Graham would preach the
gospel
and then invite people to come forward. In 1992, one-quarter of the 155,000 in his
Moscow
audience came for
salvation
upon his request.
[8]
Graham died on February 21, 2018, at his home in Montreat, North Carolina, at the age of 99, 259 days before his 100th birthday.
[23]
In
politics
, Graham was a member of the
Democratic Party
, but changed to
Republican
during the presidency of his friend
Richard Nixon
. Though he did not support people running on politics in general, he gave his support in some cases over the years.
[
source?
]
Graham met every
United States President
from
Harry Truman
to
Donald Trump
.
[24]
[25]
He became close friends with Vice-President
Richard Nixon
while on a
golf
course.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
asked to see Graham while on his deathbed.
[26]
Graham also worked with
Lyndon B. Johnson
,
Gerald Ford
,
Jimmy Carter
,
Ronald Reagan
,
Bill Clinton
, the Bush family,
[15]
and
Barack Obama
when he visited Rev. Graham at his home in
Montreat, North Carolina
where they “had a private prayer.”
[27]
Graham played golf with
John F. Kennedy
, even though Kennedy was a
Roman Catholic
. Graham spent the last night of Johnson's presidency in the
White House
. He was also there for the first night of Nixon's.
[26]
Nixon appeared at one of Graham's revivals in East
Tennessee
in 1970. It had one of the biggest crowds ever to gather in Tennessee. However, their friendship got weaker because Graham did not approve of Nixon's post-
Watergate
behavior. They became better friends again. Graham said at that time, "I'm out of politics."
[20]
When Graham went to the
hospital
in 1976, three
Presidents
called in one day to wish him well: former President Nixon, President Ford, and President-Elect Carter.
[26]
He was at the start of Reagan's presidency, and gave the speech at
George H.W. Bush
's presidency.
[26]
Bill Clinton
went to one of Graham's
New York
[
disambiguation needed
]
revivals in 2005. He also said that he had gone to Graham's revival as a boy in
Little Rock, Arkansas
, in 1959.
[28]
Graham spoke at many
funerals
over the years, but he was unable to do
Reagan
's on June 11, 2004, because of recent hip
surgery
. Graham had been Reagan's first choice. Bad health also kept Graham from doing the funeral of President
Gerald R. Ford
in
Washington D.C.
, on January 2, 2007.
Graham spoke against
communism
. He was in favor of the
U.S.
Cold War
policy, including the
Vietnam War
. However, in a 1999 speech, he talked about his
relationship
with the late
North Korean
dictator
Kim Il-Sung
. He said that he was a "different kind of communist" and "one of the great fighters for freedom in his country against the
Japanese
." Graham went on to say that even though he had never met Kim's son and former North Korean dictator
Kim Jong Il
, he had "exchanged gifts with him."
[29]
Graham gave a
globe
covered with
doves
to the
North Korean Friendship Museum
.
Agreement with Richard Nixon's antisemitism
[
change
|
change source
]
In 1994, the people read in the diaries of
H. R. Haldeman
that Graham had talked with President Nixon about "
Jewish
domination
of the
media
". (H. R. Haldeman worked with
Richard Nixon
at the White House). Because what Haldeman had written was different from things that Graham usually said in public, most Jewish groups did not really believe it. Graham
released
a statement that he never spoke "publicly or privately about the Jewish people, including
conversations
with President Nixon, except in the most
positive
terms
." He said, "Those are not my words." In 2002, however, "Richard Nixon tapes" showed that Graham had talked about it, in the 1970s. This was like Haldeman had written. On the tapes, Graham agreed with Nixon that Jews had control over the
American
media. He called it a "
stranglehold
" in 1972.
[30]
Graham said "This stranglehold has got to be broken or the country's going down the drain."
[31]
When the videotapes were released, Graham said he was sorry for his remarks, saying, "although I have no memory of the occasion, I deeply regret comments I apparently made ... They do not reflect my views, and I sincerely apologize for any offense caused by the remarks."
[32]
He also said that "If it wasn't on tape, I would not have believed it. I guess I was trying to please... I went to a meeting with Jewish leaders and I told them I would
crawl
to them to ask their
forgiveness
."
[33]
In 1970, Graham said
feminism
was part of a society with fewer rules and that women did not want to compete with men.
[34]
[35]
He also said that a women should be a wife, mother, and homemaker. This idea of the role of women was published in the
Ladies' Home Journal
. Many people sent letters of protest. The magazine added a section called "The New Feminism" after a sit-in protest at the
Journal
.
[36]
[37]
[38]
[39]
Graham was never alone with any woman except his wife. This was called the
Billy Graham rule
.
[40]
Billy's daughter Bunny said that her father did not allow her and her sisters higher education.
[41]
Between 1950 and 1990, Graham appeared many times on
Gallup's list of most admired people
.
[42]
The
United States Postal Service
has said that he is one of the few Americans, along with the current President, who can get
mail
that simply says his name and country: "Billy Graham, America".
[42]
He received the "Congressional Gold Medal" from the
United States Congress
and the "Presidential Medal of Freedom"
[5]
from Reagan, America's highest civilian
honors
.
[42]
President
Bill Clinton
and former
Senate
Majority Leader
Bob Dole
gave Graham the "Congressional Gold Medal" at a
ceremony
in
Washington D.C.
, in 1996. The
George Washington Carver
Memorial Institute has honoured his work to help make better relationships between people of different
races
.
In 1971, Graham's hometown of
Charlotte
held a "Billy Graham Day", to which
President
Richard Nixon
came.
[43]
On May 30, 1999, Graham was invited to speak right before the
Indianapolis 500
. On May 31, 2007, the $27 million
Billy Graham Library
was officially started in Charlotte. Former Presidents
Jimmy Carter
,
George H. W. Bush
, and
Bill Clinton
came.
[44]
In 1990, the
band
"The Swirling Eddies" gave homage to Graham with its song "Billy Graham" on the album
Outdoor Elvis
.
[45]
Graham got the "Big Brother of the Year Award" for his work on behalf of children. He also got the "Templeton Foundation Prize for Progress in Religion" and the
Sylvanus Thayer Award
for his commitment to "Duty, Honor, and Country."
[22]
The "Billy Graham Children's Health Center" in Asheville is named after him. There is a special chair named after him at the
Southern Baptist
Samford University
; the "Billy Graham Chair of
Evangelism
and Church Growth."
[46]
- ↑
"Indepth: Billy Graham"
. CBC. Archived from
the original
on January 19, 2011
. Retrieved
December 1,
2011
.
- ↑
Billy Graham: American Pilgrim
. Oxford University Press. 26 June 2017.
ISBN
978-0-19-068352-8
.
- ↑
3.0
3.1
"Pastor to Power: Billy Graham and the Presidents"
.
ABC news
. Archived from
the original
on 2012-01-20
. Retrieved
2009-10-25
.
- ↑
4.0
4.1
Horstman, Barry M. (June 27, 2002).
"Billy Graham:A Man with a Mission. (Special section)"
. Cincinnati Post. Archived from
the original
on 2015-03-28
. Retrieved
2009-10-25
.
- ↑
5.0
5.1
"Billy Graham Awards"
. Highbeam. Archived from
the original
on 2015-03-28
. Retrieved
2009-10-05
.
- ↑
6.0
6.1
"Billy Graham's mother dies at Charlotte home"
.
Wilmington Morning Star
. Associated Press. 15 August 1981.
- ↑
Johnson, Jewell (2011). "Morrow Graham".
Daily Devotions for Women: Inspiration from the Lives of Classic Christian Women
. Barbour Publishing.
ISBN
9781616265090
.
- ↑
8.0
8.1
8.2
8.3
8.4
8.5
8.6
"God's Billy Pulpit"
.
Time
. Archived from
the original
on 2011-10-24
. Retrieved
2009-10-25
.
- ↑
"Graham's Mentor To Share Pulpit"
.
The Robesonian
. Associated Press. 29 May 1958.
- ↑
Luke Cawley.
"What Is Conversion?"
. Intervarsity Evangelism
. Retrieved
February 26,
2024
.
- ↑
"About Billy Graham: A Biography"
.
DrBillyGrahamMinistries.org
. Archived from
the original
on 2011-01-26
. Retrieved
2008-11-14
.
- ↑
Marshall Shelley (June 14, 2007).
"Ruth Graham Dies at 87"
. ChristianityToday
. Retrieved
2009-10-25
.
- ↑
Roger A. Lee.
"Biofiles: Billy Graham"
. HistoryGuy.com
. Retrieved
2009-10-25
.
- ↑
"Obituary"
.
- ↑
15.0
15.1
Harold Bloom (June 14, 1999).
"TIME 100: Billy Graham"
.
Time
. Archived from
the original
on 2009-05-04
. Retrieved
2009-10-25
.
- ↑
"In 1949, for example,
William Randolph Hearst
, head of one large publishing empire, and Henry Luce, chief of another, Time, Inc., were both worried about communism and the growth of liberalism in the United States." "Billy Graham, an obscure evangelist holding poorly attended tent meetings in Los Angeles. (...) Hearst and Luce interviewed the obscure preacher and decided he was worthy of their support. Billy Graham became an almost instantaneous national and, later, international figure preaching anticommunism. In late 1949, Hearst sent a telegram to all Hearst editors: "Puff Graham." The editors did ? in Hearst newspapers, magazines, movies, and newsreels. Within two months Graham was preaching to crowds of 350,000." (from Ben Bagdikian,
The Media Monopoly
, Boston, Mass Usa: Beacon Press, 2000 6th ed., p. 39 ff)
- ↑
Duffy, Michael; Nancy Gibbs (2007).
The preacher and the presidents: Billy Graham in the White House
. Center Street. p.
413
.
ISBN
978-1-5999-5734-0
.
- ↑
"Billy Graham"
. Encyclopedia.com. Archived from
the original
on 7 February 2008
. Retrieved
2009-10-05
.
- ↑
Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy (May 31, 2007).
"Billy Graham: "A Spiritual Gift to All"
"
.
Time
. Archived from
the original
on 2013-08-24
. Retrieved
2009-10-25
.
- ↑
20.0
20.1
Shelley, Marshall; Harold Myra (2005).
The leadership secrets of Billy Graham
. Zondervan. p.
348
.
ISBN
978-0-3102-5578-9
.
- ↑
The Associated Press (August 19, 2007).
"Evangelist Billy Graham hospitalized"
. ABC12.com. Archived from
the original
on 18 October 2007
. Retrieved
2009-10-25
.
- ↑
22.0
22.1
"Media:Bios ? Billy Graham"
. BillyGraham.org. Archived from
the original
on 2010-03-23
. Retrieved
2009-10-25
.
- ↑
"Evangelist Billy Graham dies at age 99; reached millions"
.
Associated Press
. Retrieved
February 21,
2018
.
- ↑
Al Sharpton, host (February 21, 2012). "Politics Nation".
Politics Nation
. MSNBC TV.
...Billy Graham is a major evangelical leader in this country. He met with every U.S. president since Harry Truman.
- ↑
Markkula Center for Applied Ethics.
"Resources for Teachers and Students on Billy Graham"
. Santa Clara University
. Retrieved
1 October
2018
.
- ↑
26.0
26.1
26.2
26.3
"The President Preacher; In Crisis, White House Turns to Billy Graham"
.
The Washington Post
. January 18, 1991. Archived from
the original
on 2011-05-16
. Retrieved
2009-10-25
.
- ↑
Baker, Peter (April 25, 2010).
"Obama Visits the Rev. Billy Graham"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
April 25,
2010
.
- ↑
"Pastor to Power: Billy Graham and the Presidents"
. ABC News
. Retrieved
2009-10-05
.
- ↑
"Independent Article, Preacher power: America's God squad"
.
The Independent
. July 25, 2007. Archived from
the original
on 17 August 2007
. Retrieved
2009-10-05
.
- ↑
"BBC,
Graham Regrets Jewish Slur
"
. BBC. 2 March 2002
. Retrieved
2009-10-05
.
- ↑
"Slate Article by David Greenberg, Assistant Professor Journalism & Media Studies at Rutgers University"
. Slate. 12 March 2002
. Retrieved
2009-10-05
.
- ↑
"Eric J Greenberg, United Jewish Communities"
. Archived from
the original
on 2006-10-18
. Retrieved
2009-10-24
.
- ↑
"
Newsweek
,
Pilgrim's Progress
"
. MSN. p. 5. Archived from
the original
on 22 April 2007
. Retrieved
2009-10-05
.
- ↑
Graham, Billy (December 1970). "Jesus and the Liberated Woman".
Ladies' Home Journal
.
87
: 40?4.
- ↑
"Billy Graham Enters Women's Lib Controversy"
.
The Kokomo Tribune
. November 28, 1970. p. 7.
- ↑
"Feminist Chronicles - 1970"
. Feminist Majority Foundation
. Retrieved
May 19,
2015
.
- ↑
Dow, Bonnie J. (2014).
Watching Women's Liberation, 1970: Feminism's Pivotal Year on the Network News
. p. 112.
ISBN
978-0-252-09648-8
.
- ↑
Alston, ShaKea (May 24, 2015).
"1970: Feminist Sit in at Ladies Home Journal"
.
- ↑
Marshall, Ellen Ott (2008). "A Matter of Pride, A Feminist Response". In Long, Michael G. (ed.).
The Legacy of Billy Graham: Critical Reflections on America's Greatest Evangelist
. pp. 79?91.
ISBN
978-0-664-23656-4
.
- ↑
Taylor, Justin (March 20, 2017).
"Where Did the 'Billy Graham Rule' Come From?"
.
The Gospel Coalition
. Retrieved
April 2,
2017
.
- ↑
Martin, William (February 21, 2018).
"Divorce, drugs, drinking: Billy Graham's children and their absent father"
.
The Washington Post
. Retrieved
February 23,
2018
.
- ↑
42.0
42.1
42.2
"The Billy pulpit: Graham's career in the mainline"
.
Christian Century
. November 15, 2003
. Retrieved
2009-10-25
.
[
dead link
]
- ↑
"When worlds collide: politics, religion, and media at the 1970 East Tennessee Billy Graham Crusade. (appearance by President Richard M. Nixon)"
. Journal of Church and State. March 22, 1997. Archived from
the original
on 2011-05-17
. Retrieved
2007-08-18
.
- ↑
"Billy Graham Library beginning"
. CBS News. 2007-05-31
. Retrieved
2009-10-05
.
- ↑
"Billy and Ruth Graham awarded Congressional Gold Medal for service"
. Knight-Ridder News Service. May 2, 1996. Archived from
the original
on 2007-10-04
. Retrieved
2007-08-18
.
- ↑
William Nunnelley.
"Billy Graham Biography by Lewis Drummond Explores Evangelist's Life, Impact and Legacy"
.
Samford News
. Samford University, Office of Communication. Archived from
the original
on 2012-05-14
. Retrieved
2012-02-27
.
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