Religious figure Billy Graham: biography, books, family and interesting facts

William (Billy) Franklin Graham, Jr. is an American missionary who gained international fame through his grandiose sermons, called "crusades", and friendship with many US presidents.

Billy Graham: Biography

The religious figure and evangelical Christian Baptist was born on November 7, 1918 in Charlotte, North Carolina, to the William and Morrow family of Graham. He was the first of four children who grew up on their dairy farm. The early years of Billy Graham's life spoke little about how he would one day preach the Christian gospel to 215 million people in more than 185 countries around the world. He was listened to by more people than anyone in history, not counting the millions to which he addressed by radio, television and books.

Graham's parents were strict Calvinists, but on a deep spiritual path he was directed by an unfamiliar wandering preacher. At the age of 16, Billy attended a number of meetings of the Renaissance, held by the evangelist Mordechai Ham. Despite the fact that Graham was a good teenager, Ham's sermons about sin shocked the young man. After graduating from high school, he moved to Tennessee to enroll in a conservative Christian school, Bob Jones College. But here he felt the alienation of rigid school doctrine and soon transferred to the Bible Institute of Florida. During his studies, Graham joined the Church of the Southern Baptist Convention, where he was ordained in 1939.

After graduating from the Bible Institute, after receiving a bachelor's degree in theology, Billy moved to Illinois and entered the Wheaton College for further spiritual education. Here he will meet his future wife Ruth McCue Bell. She was the daughter of a missionary and lived with her family in China until the age of 17. Having received diplomas of anthropologists, Graham and Bell got married on August 13, 1943. Together they raised five children.

Working with Christian youth

Graham was a short time pastor of the First Baptist Church in Western Springs, Illinois. Then he joined the Baptist missionary group "Youth for Christ", which advocated the appeal of servicemen and youth to God. In 1947, Billy Graham became president of the Northwest Schools, a group of Christian schools in Minnesota. In 1948, he left the mission group and focused on schools until 1952, when he decided to engage in preaching.

Charisma preacher

Soon many were imbued with the charismatic and heartfelt preaching of the Gospel of Billy Graham. In 1949, a group called "Christ for the Greater Los Angeles" invited him to preach in the second most populous city in the United States. After Graham took part in the radio show Stuart Hamble, his popularity began to grow. The public filled the tent of the preacher, and the evangelical services were extended for another five weeks. At the urging of the newspaper tycoon William Hirst, newspapers throughout the country covered this event in detail.

Preacher-superstar

As a consequence, Billy Graham became a Christian superstar. Sociologists believe that his success was directly related to the cultural climate in the United States after the end of World War II. Graham opposed the evil of communism - one of the greatest fears that gripped the American mind. In 1954, in his interview, he stated that "either communism must die, or Christianity, because in reality it is a struggle between Christ and the Antichrist." With the advent of nuclear weapons, which demonstrated the fragility of human life, people turned to religion as a means of reassurance, and Graham illuminated their path.

Thus, he helped unite the country through her religious revival. Drawing attention to the subtlest details of Christianity and using moderate doctrines, Graham made the Baptists attractive, safe, even convenient, and the media made his messages accessible to millions.

Televangelist

In order to expand and maintain the ministry, the preacher and his colleagues created the Billy Graham Evangelical Association (EABG). He began to broadcast his sermons on the radio during the Christian show "Songs in the Night". He also ran a weekly program on ABC's "Hour of Decision". Initially, it was transferred to 150 stations, but then the number of them increased to 1200 across America.

Eventually, this program turned into a television show that went on for three years. The success of the radio and television programs of the preacher speaks of his role as a Christian media-visionary. Billy Graham, whose sermons were heard by millions of people around the globe, used the media as a means of spreading the gospel.

Mass evangelism

With the success of Graham, EABG opened numerous international offices and began to produce periodicals, records, tapes, films and books. The Association also accepted invitations from religious leaders around the world to conduct evangelical "crusades" abroad. Representatives were sent there to reserve a place, organize volunteer choirs and draw up lists of speakers. At the end of these events, the audience was invited to turn to Christ and meet with their spiritual mentors.

New recruits received textbooks on home Bible study and referrals to local Baptist pastors. Eventually, EABG began broadcasting these crusades on national television. In 1952, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association created the Baptist Film Commission to distribute personal stories of treatment through films. EABG also purchased several radio stations across America, so that broadcasts of the radio show of the preacher reached a wider audience.

Billy Graham: books and magazines

Speaking about print media, in 1955 EABG launched the publication "Christianity Today". This journal continues to be the leading organ of evangelical Christian Baptists. In 1958 the monthly magazine "Decision" began to be printed. It published biblical studies, articles, church stories and a chronicle of new "crusades". This magazine was published in Spanish, French and German. The books authored by Billy Graham are Peace with God (1953), The Secret of Happiness (1955, 1985), My Answer (1960), Angels: The Secret Agents of God (1975), How to Be Born Again (1977), The Holy Spirit (1978), The Storm Warning (1992), Death and Life After (1994), The Key to Personal Peace (2003), Journey: Life in Faith in a Choppy The world "(2006), etc.

Impact and criticism

Graham's detractors criticized him for his excessive liberalism and his refusal to participate in politics. Fundamentalists denied him after he condemned the violent actions of the group of opponents of abortions "Operation of Salvation." The theologian Reinhold Niebuhr called it "simplistic", and the Baptist Bob Jones believes that Graham brought "more harm to the work of Jesus Christ than any other living now." President Truman even called him a "liar." In 1972, some anti-Semitic comments by the preacher and Nixon were recorded on tape.

Nevertheless, the succession of the preacher encouraged millions of people to listen to his spiritual leadership, including Martin Luther King, Bono, Muhammad Ali and US presidents from Eisenhower to Bush. The Gallup organization called him one of the ten most respected people in the world 51 times. Contemporaries consider him a man with a sense of humor, an unbiased, sincere, innocent and receptive.

Awards

Billy Graham received the Freedom Award of the Presidential Foundation of Ronald Reagan, the Gold Medal of Congress, the Templeton Foundation Award for Progress in Religion, the Big Brother Prize and the Orator of the Year award. In addition, the National Conference of Christians and Jews for promoting mutual understanding between faiths honored him with the title of Honorary Chevalier of the Order of the British Empire.

Privacy

In 1992, the preacher announced that he was diagnosed with hydrocephalus. His son William Franklin Graham III was elected successor to his father as head of the EABG after his departure. In 2005, Billy and his wife retired to their home in Montritt, North Carolina. In 2007, Ruth died of pneumonia and degenerative osteoarthritis. She is remembered by her husband, five children and 19 grandchildren. In 2008, the famous preacher turned 90 years old.

In 2013, Graham distributed one of his last sermons. In the video titled "My Satisfied America", he expressed concern about the spiritual health of the nation. "Our country badly needs a spiritual awakening," he said. "There were times when I cried, moving from city to city, and I saw how far people have moved away from God."

Interesting Facts

Over the long years of Billy Graham's life, in most cases he was presented in a positive light. The "Time" reporter even called him "the Pope of Protestant America." Another reporter from the USA told that Graham "was a Baptist who did not rip off millions (like Jim Becker), did not communicate with prostitutes (like Jimmy Swaggart), did not build a megachurch (like Joel Austin), did not He ran for president (like Pat Robertson) and did not organize a Christian political lobby (like Jerry Falwell). "

In November 2013, Billy Graham, rarely leaving his home, took part in the celebration of his 95th birthday in Asheville, North Carolina. The event was attended by about 900 people.