Link: http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/living/religion/15356674.htmBilly Graham far from evangelical firebrand rhetoric
In its Aug. 14 issue, Newsweek ran as its cover story a profile of the Rev. Billy Graham, now 87 and in poor health. I've been ruminating on it since.
When I was a Southern Baptist boy, Graham wasn't just a hero to the pastors and lay members of the conservative, rural and small-town congregations I attended. He was an icon, the nearest thing to a pope we low-church evangelicals had.
Newsweek's article, written by Jon Meacham, left me in a quandary. I was struck by how moderate -- or even, dare I say it, liberal -- Graham sounds today in comparison with other prominent evangelicals such as, for instance, the current Southern Baptist leadership.
After mulling it over, I'm still not sure whether he's drifted that far left or whether the evangelical subculture has wandered way to the right of where it once lay.
Graham's evangelical and conservative vita is impeccable. No one in history has preached to as many people. His massive crusades were famous for his impassioned pleas that sinners accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior. People flooded down the aisles to repent and be saved.
He was lauded for his squeaky-clean personal morality. As Meacham notes, "he is still slightly embarrassed that he kissed 'two or three girls' before he kissed his wife."
Graham railed against Communists. He dismissed those who demonstrated against the Vietnam War as attention-seekers. He was pals with Richard Nixon.
But the elderly Graham that Newsweek shows us, confined by health problems mainly to his North Carolina home, sounds much different from the preacher I recall -- or at least much different from today's ideal of a firebrand evangelical.
This Graham says Christians don't need to take every word of the Bible literally, and that equally sincere believers can find very different meanings in the Scriptures. "I'm not a literalist in the sense that every single jot and tittle is from the Lord," he says. "This is a little difference in my thinking through the years." He still loves the Bible and recites favorite passages to himself, but doesn't read it as if it's a scientific textbook for understanding the earth's origins or a blueprint for predicting Armageddon.
Instead of embracing biblical inerrancy, he prefers to ponder the mysteries inherent in our limited knowledge of God. He thinks there are a lot more truths we humans don't understand than truths we do.
Of his early pronouncements on political matters, Graham says "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." In any case, he says, ministers' primary message should never be about politics.
Asked whether he thinks God will accept Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and secularists into heaven, he responds: "Those are decisions only the Lord will make. It would be foolish for me to speculate on who will be there and who won't. ... I think he loves everybody regardless of what label they have."
When compared with many evangelical leaders today, Graham sounds strikingly moderate, self-effacing and humble. Clearly, Graham's thinking has evolved. A few years ago, as part of an apology to Jews for anti-Semitic comments he'd been caught making on old White House tapes, Graham said in a statement: "Much of my life has been a pilgrimage -- constantly learning, changing, growing and maturing."
Still, as I said, I'm having difficulty deciding how much of Graham's seeming moderation represents a dramatic shift in his own thinking, and how much represents a huge move to the right by other evangelicals. Probably it's some of both.
Appraising her father's beliefs, Anne Graham Lotz says: "When you get older, secondary things like politics begin to fall away, and the primary thing becomes primary again -- and for Daddy, the primary thing is, as Jesus said, to try to love God totally, and to love our neighbor as ourselves."
If that's an accurate assessment,Graham's message today might prove to be not only his last, but most important, sermon to us.
Former Herald-Leader religion writer Paul Prather is a Mount Sterling minister. Reach him at pratpd@yahoo.com.