Someone brought up Billy Graham and I said I would post something about him. People seem to be divided as to whether Graham was a great evangelist or not. I'm going to provide some facts about Graham for your consideration. All quotes from the book Billy Graham and His Friends, A Hidden Agenda? by Dr. Cathy Burns.
1) Norman Vincent Peale
“In 1957 at the Madison Square Garden Crusade Graham had Peale on the platform with him...Almost 400 decision cards were turned over to Peale for follow-up and nearly 100 of these people later joined his church. No other church had received as many cards as Peale did. In fact, ‘Peale’s church received more cards (373) than ALL of the 14 conservative Baptist churches COMBINED (311).’”
Pg. 26“On a 1984 Phil Donahue program, Peale said: ‘It’s not necessary to be born again. You have your way to God: I have mine. I found eternal peace in a Shinto shrine....Christ is one of the ways. God is everywhere.’”
Pg. 30
“Even though Peale denies Christ’s virgin birth, deity, and resurrection, Graham said on December 6, 1966, at a National Council of Churches luncheon, ‘I don’t know anyone who has done more for the kingdom of God than Norman and Ruth Peale, or have meant more in my life - the encouragement they have given me.’”
Pg. 31
2) John Marks Templeton
"Billy Graham is so popular that he was selected as the recipient of the Templeton Prize in 1982. In the address that Templeton gave during this ceremony he said: 'Every person is created by God, is a child of God and the Holy Spirit dwells in each human being...Evangelism is a duty for every person who worships God in any form. Dr Graham has originated more new ideas in evangelism than any other living person.'"
Pg. 13 (Graham was selected for the Templeton prize by leaders from "all five major religions worldwide.")
(Templeton says) “No one should say that God can be reached by only one path.”
Pg. 23
“Templeton is also a leading advocate of the heresies of the mind science cults like Religious Science, Science of Mind, Unity, Christian Science, etc. In fact Templeton’s book, Discovering the Laws of Life, is pure Science of Mind.”
Pg. 23 (This book was endorsed by Norman Vincent Peale and Robert Schuller and was advertised twice on CT magazine)
(Billy Graham also endorsed Templeton’s books saying) “Truly a legend in our time, John Templeton understands that the real measure of a person’s success in life is not financial accomplishment but moral integrity and inner character. In this books he draws upon a variety of sources - including the Bible - to reveal the moral and spiritual principles which have shaped his own life.”
Pg. 24
“Robert Schuller’s 1986 Possibilities magazine had Templeton’s photo on the cover. “The lead article quoted Templeton that ‘nothing exists except God’ (that’s pantheism) and that ‘the Christ spirit dwells in every human being whether the person knows it or not’ (that’s universalism).”
Pg. 25
3) Robert Schuller
“Schuller teaches there is no need for one to recognize his own personal sin, no need for repentance, and no need for the crucifixion of self.”
Pg. 113
“Schuller goes even further in his assertion that we are gods. He writes in his Possibilities magazine that ‘nothing exists except God’ and ‘The Christ spirit dwells in every human being whether the person knows it or not.’”
Pg. 114
Pg. 116 (*MY NOTE* Christianity Today magazine - founded by Graham - examined Schuller’s doctrine and concluded he’s not a heretic!)
“Schuller himself is a 33 Mason.”
Pg. 120
“In fact, Graham encouraged Schuller to start his own TV program, ‘Hour of Power.’”
Pg. 121
“Graham invited Schuller to speak at Amsterdam ‘83. Worse yet, he allowed Schuller to present copies of his Self-Esteem book ‘to the thousands of evangelists who attended the conference.’”
Pgs. 121-122
“To be born again means that we must be changed from a negative to a positive self-image - from inferiority to self-esteem, from fear to love, from doubt to trust.”
Pg. 113 (Quote from Self-Esteem)
“And we can pray, ‘Our Father in heaven, honorable is our name.”
Pg. 113 (Quote from Self-Esteem)
“Robert Schuller is a great man of God, whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop and loose.”
Pg. 121 (Graham)
4) Graham's Approach to Evangelism and Other Religions
“In an interview on Good Morning America, ‘Graham told host Charles Gibson that Muslim and Jews can be saved by finding God in their own worship systems.’”
Pg. 18
"On the January 2, 2000 program on Fox News, Graham said: 'I have never targeted Muslims. I have never targeted Jews.'"
Pg. 19
On Pg. 36 it describes how respondents at Graham's Crusades would be turned over to Catholic churches if Catholic and even Jewish synagogues as well as liberal congregations where fundamentals of the faith are denied.
"In fact, the counselors are specifically warned: 'There is to be no proselytizing...'"
Pg. 38
(Graham on Islam) “I think that we’re closer to Islam than we really think we are.”
Pg. 116
“A few years prior to this, Graham had gone to India and he assured the Indians that he was ‘not going to proselytize any Hindus.’”
Pg. 121"Graham also stated that 'as an American, I respect other paths to God - and, as a Christian, I am called to love them.'"
Pg. 360
"Each time a President has asked me to lead the Inagural prayer, I have argued that I should not do it alone, that leaders of other religions should be there too."
Pg. 359 (Graham)
"In a pre-crusade television interview in 1993... 'the idea is to bring you back to your faith, no matter what it is, and to use the Crusade as a catalyst to bring you back to that faith.'"
Pg. 426
5) Graham and Morality
(Graham on Bill Clinton) "I forgive him. Because I know the frailty of human nature, and I know how hard it is, and especially a strong, vigorous, young man like he is; he has such a tremendous personality. I think the ladies just go wild over him."
Pg. 7
"At a luncheon for 500 newspaper editors at their annual convention in Washington, D.C., Graham said that the President's personal life and character are 'irrelevant.' At the luncheon...he promoted Clinton as a man of God."
Pg. 7
Pg. 65
(Graham’s biographer states) “Graham is just a regular guy who can skinny dip with Lyndon Johnson or flip through Playboy at a barber shop without embarrassment.”
Pg. 75
"Graham has even 'attended cocktail parties given for stars..."
Pg. 127
(Graham) "I have so many gay friends, and we remain friends."
Pg. 375 (Graham's ghost writer, Mel White was a practicing homosexual who said, "I am gay, I am proud, and God loves me without reservation.")
(From an interview on Larry King in 1998) "People say that the Bible teaches there's no sex in Heaven. If sex is necessary for our happiness and fulfillment, it'll be there...If certain other things that we think are pleasurable - it'll be there."
Pg. 427
(In reference to a $23 million slush fund disclosed in 1977)
"People were giving support to Graham thinking it was being used for radio and television time as well as ministry expenses to reach the lost. If they would have known that he was accumulating large amounts of money to invest in land and stocks and to give away to other organizations, do you think they would have continued to support him? So, he needed to "hide" this extra cash under another name which was called the World Evangelism and Christian Education Fund (WECEF) located in Texas."
Pg. 453
