Billy Graham dies

Events occurring and how they relate/affect Anabaptist faith and culture.
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Bootstrap
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Re: Billy Graham dies

Post by Bootstrap »

Wayne in Maine wrote:In many ways the reaction to Billy Graham's death is similar to the reaction to the death of Agnes Bojaxhiu ("Mother" Theresa). It is not polite in American society to speak ill of popular religious figures, and so "we" will all avoid any critical analysis of the actual message and "theology" behind Billy Graham's life work.
When someone dies, we usually celebrate what was good about their life work, and there was much good in what Billy Graham did. Among other things, he was a major figure in breaking down some of the denominationalism that kept Christians from being able to work together, he worked against racial segregation in conservative Christian circles, and he had a huge effect on evangelism. His personal integrity and charm were also important.

I don't think he was a great theologian, but that wasn't his calling, either.

To me, some of that is simply that we should focus on what we can learn from people like Billy Graham or Mother Theresa or the other people listed here, and that's mostly what they did well. Those are the things we should imitate.
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MaxPC
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Re: Billy Graham dies

Post by MaxPC »

Will there ever be another Billy Graham, an evangelist so beloved worldwide and whose reputation is unsullied by sexual and financial scandals? In 1989, Graham humbly reflected upon who might be his successor:
“I keep remembering the words of someone I heard years ago, ‘God buries His workmen and carries on His work.’ I do not think any of us are indispensable, whatever field of the Lord’s work we are in. . . . I am convinced that there are thousands of evangelists throughout the world that are more faithful and more capable than I am. . . . They may not be Americans, and they may not have big organizations, but they have the anointing of the Holy Spirit.”
"First Things" Article
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Szdfan
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Re: Billy Graham dies

Post by Szdfan »

Twitter being Twitter and the Internet being the Internet, there have been some really nasty things written about Billy Graham. Slate columnist Ruth Graham (no relation) reflects on this:

https://slate.com/human-interest/2018/0 ... ghter.html
But being Ruth Graham has meant more to me than an occasional laugh or frisson of reflected glory. It has nudged me to periodically re-evaluate the evangelical world I was raised in, and which Billy Graham presided over unofficially for decades. Having to clarify that I’m not biologically related to Graham means I’ve had to do a lot of thinking about whether I might be spiritually related to him anyway.

These days I no longer consider myself an evangelical. I’m not an “ex-evangelical,” I just don’t believe it anymore—no drama! But as far as I’ve drifted from the fold, I have to admit that I still reflexively view Graham’s style of Christianity as the one against others are measured. He emphasized a personal relationship with Jesus, a literal Heaven and Hell, and other basic tenets of theologically conservative Christianity. For as much as his legacy in the secular world rests of his political influence, the theme he returned to over and over was the saving grace of a loving God.

I winced, then, as I scrolled through the dismissive burns proliferating online after Graham’s family announced his death this week
[M]any of his critics this week seem to be conflating him with the generation of politically aggressive conservative Christian leaders who rose in the late 1970s and ’80s, including Jerry Falwell and, later, Falwell’s and Graham’s sons. It was a problem he anticipated. “It would be unfortunate if people got the impression that all evangelists belong to that group,” he told Parade magazine in 1981. “I don’t wish to be identified with them. I’m for morality. But morality goes beyond sex to human freedom and social justice.” He supported contraception as early as the 1950s, and after Roe v. Wade, he convened a meeting to “determine a proper Biblical response to abortion-on-demand”— meaning abortion for any reason rather than just due to, say, rape or incest—suggesting a relatively nuanced approach. He preached to American evangelicals about global poverty and advocated for an expansion of foreign aid in the 1950s. He visited South Africa in 1973 under the condition that his gatherings be fully integrated. He said in 1997 that “we’re closer to Islam than we really think we are.” And he didn’t promise wealth or health in return for piety or donations. A low bar, perhaps, but his cultural stature outlived the sleazy televangelists and GOP minions who competed for the attention of the faithful in his era.

Outlived until now, that is. When President Obama tweeted his respects on Wednesday, his mentions lit up with rebukes for honoring a “monster” like Graham. Decency, respectability, civility—lately it feels like these qualities are sometimes read as code words for a failure to speak truth to power. Indeed, it’s tempting to daydream about what theologically conservative Christianity might look like in 2018 if Graham had been just slightly more willing to afflict the comfortable. Instead, he was a natural moderate who had the misfortune to die in a moment in which fence-sitting has fallen out of favor. Perhaps that’s for the best, at least for this moment in history. But I believe something will be lost if Graham is remembered warmly only by his fellow theological conservatives. Call it self-interest, but I hope his good name endures.
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Ernie
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Re: Billy Graham dies

Post by Ernie »



I find it interesting that Intermediate-conservative and Moderate-conservative Mennonite choirs today still sing like this choir of 2000 singers in 1954 in London.
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RZehr
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Re: Billy Graham dies

Post by RZehr »

Ernie wrote:

I find it interesting that Intermediate-conservative and Moderate-conservative Mennonite choirs today still sing like this choir of 2000 singers in 1954 in London.
Interesting in what way?
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