Billy Graham: Liberals More Helpful than Fundamentalists!

Billy Graham often spoke well of radical unbelieving preachers such as Norman Vincent Peale who did not believe the virgin birth was required for salvation and did not believe the New Birth was necessary; apostate Leslie Weatherhead who taught that Christ was a bastard and Mary was a temple prostitute; and Bishop G. Bromley Oxnam who called God a “dirty bully” and was identified at a Congressional Hearing as one “who served God [not the God of the Bible] on Sunday and the Communist front for the balance of the week.”

Graham had kind words to say about preachers Henry Van Dusen (who did not believe that Christ was God and who committed suicide with his wife); John Sutherland Bonnell, who did not believe in the virgin birth, physical resurrection, etc.; and Bishop Pike who was a drunken adulterer, married three times plus had three mistresses, disbelieved the major doctrines about Christ, and died during a fall while wandering alone in the Israeli desert near the Dead Sea while on his honeymoon. (I don’t think I would want Graham to say anything good about me! Sounds dangerous.)

Graham honored as chairman of the Los Angeles Crusade Bishop Gerald Kennedy who was a rank unbeliever. He called Kennedy one of the “ten greatest preachers in America” even though he did not believe in the virgin birth and had endorsed Nels Ferre’s blasphemous book that posited the possibility that Christ was the son of a German soldier, making Mary a whore and Christ a bastard. Graham promoted E. Stanley Jones who denied the virgin birth, the trinity, etc. Graham referred to Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury, as a “giant of a man.” Mike didn’t believe in the virgin birth and said he expects to see atheists in Heaven. Afraid he won’t see anyone in Heaven!

Graham told USA Today that he looked forward to seeing Roman Catholic Bishop Fulton Sheen in Heaven along with Elvis Presley!

It should be noted that all the leaders in his crusades were leaders in the National and World Council of Churches. In 1948, Graham opined he thought the World Council of Churches would “nominate the antichrist” at their August meeting! That attitude changed very quickly.

Graham often spoke of Godless Communism (into which the NCC and WCC were hip deep) even declaring in 1949, “Communism is inspired, directed, and motivated by the Devil himself.” But that didn’t play well in Peoria so he modified his stand on Communism. He was even invited to Communist Russia, North Korea, and China where he had kind words to say about those massive slave camps where freedom is only a word!

The Associated Press reported Graham saying, “For years I have not spoken about that [Communism]…I cannot go around the world and say who is right and who is not right.” Then in 1973, he was quoted by the Tokyo Mainichi Daily News, as saying, “Mao Tse-tung’s eight precepts are basically the same as the Ten Commandments. In fact, if we can’t have the Ten Commandments read in our schools, I’ll settle for Mao’s precepts.” Hand me a barf bag.

He even said that evolution is possible and that belief in the virgin birth was not necessary to be a Christian. Furthermore, he said the Bible is inspired but refused to say it was infallible or inerrant. Modernists are willing to say it is inspired. Graham seemed to always play to the gallery; after all, it opened numerous religious, social, and political doors.

Graham often declared that he did not respond to criticism; however, he often asked others to come to his defense! And he had paid defenders as well, even one professor who wrote Cooperative Evangelism that was an unabashed defense of Graham-type mass evangelism. However, we were not supposed to know he was Graham’s paid hack. The book was given away by the thousands.

Graham’s defenders often charge that his critics are unscriptural because they did not speak with him before their criticism. That is not true. I have evidence that his friends such as Rice, Jones, Riley, Bennett, and others spoke with him face to face about his defense of unbelieving pastors and their support of his crusade. Plus, his sending of decision cards to apostate churches! Moreover, a personal contact before criticism is not required since the issue was not personal. It was a public issue involving people across the nation and statements in books, letters, news releases, etc. That criticism with no scriptural justification is a red herring used by unprincipled men.

It is often said that Graham has been the “pastor” to all presidents since Harry Truman. His infamous interview with Truman in the summer of 1950 was hilarious and Graham frankly mentions this in his autobiography, Just as I am. He and three of his team showed up at the White House, wearing white suits, white bucks, and floral ties. They immediately antagonized the President. Truman told them that he was a Baptist and was trying to obey the Golden Rule and Graham started preaching to him. Truman used profanity interrupting Graham and cut off the meeting, but not before Graham put his arm around him and asked if he could pray with him.

The Graham team left the White House and met with reporters to whom they revealed the whole conversation! The reporters asked them to reenact their prayer meeting which they obediently did! I have a photo showing the four men kneeling on the White House grounds reenacting for the photographers how they prayed for the President. Not a good scene. Truman was furious!

But Graham learned quickly how to snuggle up to powerful people using them and being used of them.

Boys’ new ebook The Rise and Decline of Billy Graham: He Tried to do Right the Wrong Way! is available here.

EVOLUTION

Fact, Fraud or Faith?

by Don Boys, Ph.D.

Only an uninformed fanatic says that evolution or creation can be proved scientifically. Christians believe in creationism because we believe in the veracity of the Bible but we also have scientific evidence to support our position. In every debate I’ve had with evolutionary scientists, the arrogant, asinine accusation is made, “Well, evolution is scientific while creationism is religion.” Evolution is about as scientific as a voodoo rooster plucking ceremony in Haiti. Almost.

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