Billy Graham and the End of Evangelical Unity

BILLY GRAHAM AND THE END OF EVANGELICAL UNITY By FARLEY P. BUTLER, JR. A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE COUNCIL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 1976 For Patricia ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish here to express my appreciation to Father Michael V. Gannon, chairman, and to those who served on my supervisory committee: Arthur L. Funk, Del ton L. Scudder, R. Hunt Davis, and C. John Sommerville. m CONTENTS Page Acknowledgments iii Abstract • vi Chapter 1. Introduction 1 Notes 14 2. The National Association of Evangelicals 15 Notes 31 3. The Significance of Separation 33 Notes 50 4. The Role of Mass Evangelism ..-.. 52 Notes 65 5. The Sword and Billy Graham 66 Notes 90 6. Donald Grey Barnhouse 92 Notes 105 7. The Developing Division 107 Notes 123 8. "Is Evangelical Theology Changing?" 125 Notes 145. 9. The Turning Point: April, 1956 147 Notes 169 10. Christ ianity Today and the New Coalition 171 Notes 189 11. Ecumenical Evangelism 191 Notes 208 12. The Deepening Controversy . 210 Notes 228 TV Chapter Page 13. The New Theological Alignment .............. 230 Notes 248 14. Why the Division? 250 Notes - • • 268 v ' 15. The Lessening of Conservative Alienation 270 Notes • • • 287 16. Conclusion 289 Notes 302 Selected Bibliography 303 Biographical Sketch .... 309 Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate Council of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy BILLY GRAHAM AND THE END OF EVANGELICAL UNITY By Farley P. Butler, Jr. March, 1976 Chairman: Michael V. Gannon Major Department: History Fundamentalism is a religious movement which arose in the late nineteenth century espousing conservative, orthodox theology, and opposing the liberalism which was growing within American Protestant- ism. During the 1920s the fundamentalists engaged in an unsuccessful effort, the modernist-fundamentalist controversy, to rid American churches of liberal, non-orthodox influence. By 1940 fundamentalism had become strongly separatist, organized in a great variety of ex- plicitly orthodox fellowships, and convinced that the main-line denominations were apostate. Through that time "fundamentalism" was often used to describe conservative evangelicalism generally, and there was a broad spiritual unity among orthodox believers, typified in the found- ing of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). The NAE initially included within its leadership strong separatists, such as Bob Jones and John R. Rice, but was primarily led by men fully orthodox but less separatist, such as Harold John Ockenga. This study examines the process through which the unity of that conservative evangelicalism ended, producing two movements: evangelicalism and fundamentalism. vi Following their defeat in the denominational wars of the 1920s the fundamentalists worked in relative isolation, little noticed by those outside their group. In the years just after World War II, several fundamentalist evangelists began to succeed in attracting large crowds to evangelistic meetings. This trend was climaxed by the emergence of Billy Graham in 1949. Once again the fundamentalists had a spokesman who could fill stadiums, and speak to a national audience. They looked forward to a renewal of the crusade against liberalism. Graham's roots were in fundamentalism; in the early years he worked with Rice, Jones, and other fundamentalists; and his message was the fundamentalist gospel. Graham soon found, however, that it would be possible to enlist the main-line denominational churches to support his crusades if he moderated his fundamentalist stance. While he continued to preach the gospel, mention of "theological error" was eliminated from his message, and he moved toward ties with the broader church. Fundamen- talists urged separation from all non-orthodox, religious leaders, but generally continued to support Graham, until he became identified with the "new evangelicals." Between 1946 and 1956 the new evangelicals, led by men such as Ockenga, Carl F. H. Henry, and Edward John Carnell, emerged as a group. Encouraged by the overthrow of liberalism by neo-orthodoxy, the conservative mood of post-war America, the "revival of religion" of the 1950s, and the success of Graham, the new evangelicals hoped to remake fundamentalism, rendering its orthodox theology a viable competitor in the modern market. They wished fundamentalism to be less dogmatic in theology, more open to "conversations" with non-orthodox theologians, vn more concerned with social problems, and less insistent about matters of external ethics. They wanted greater emphasis on scholarship, and boosted their position by ridiculing the separatist fundamentalists, pressing their case through such magazines as Eternity , Christian Life , and Christianity Today . Graham had attempted to retain fundamentalist support, but during 1956 he fully identified himself with the new evangelical campaign against fundamentalism, and in preparations for his New York crusade worked closely with the non-orthodox, Protestant leadership. Fundamentalists responded with sustained attacks on Graham and the new evangelicals. Though aggressive in evangelism and growing numerically, fundamentalism emerged from the conflict in near total isolation, with- drew from all except separatist organizations, and placed even greater emphasis on those distinctives to which the new evangelicals had ob- jected. Many conservative evangelicals rejected parts of the new evangelical program, but most refused to withdraw support from Graham and thus fell into the "evangelical" group. With the fundamentalists eliminated, the new evangelicals solidified their position, and evangelicalism moved steadily in the direction which they had wished. vm CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION During the last quarter of the nineteenth century many factors came to bear on the American situation which together successfully challenged the dominant position of conservative orthodoxy within many Protestant denominations. Many historians have pointed to that period as a watershed in American history. During those years the importation of ideas from Europe, and the domestic elaboration of those ideas, prompted the overthrow of accepted systems in many areas. In economics, politics, and religion the new ideas challenged the old. In American Protestantism a movement called "fundamentalism" arose-to oppose those new ideas in religion. Usually identified as "liberalism" or "modernism," the complex of new religious ideas was based upon German biblical criticism and a religious rationalism. Among the important elements of religious liberalism were the following: de-emphasis and'even denial of the supernatural, skepticism concerning the reliability of the Christian scriptures as a record of historical events and rejection, of any claim of supernatural inspiration, optimism concerning human nature and the possibility of perfecting man through education, rejection of the con- cept that human nature was in a "fallen" state and therefore in need of some kind of supernatural salvation, denial of virtually all traditional Christian doctrine, and presentation of Jesus as a great teacher and example. Religious liberalism often associated itself with 1 political and social liberalism, and liberals, believing that the key to improving the condition of man was to improve his environment, were often active in promoting plans for social engineering. Set off sharply from this liberalism was the fundamentalism which came into being to oppose it. Shaped largely through a series of pro- phetic conferences in the 1870s and 1880s, fundamentalism joined a strong biblical literalism with an apocalyptic, premillenial eschatology and by the turn of the century had a well -developed ideology on which to base its attack against liberalism. Fundamentalism cannot be identified by any doctrinal description, despite the enthusiasm of all fundamentalists for constructing doctrinal statements. George W. Dollar, a foremost fundamentalist historian, defines historic fundamentalism as the "literal exposition of all the affirmations and attitudes of the Bible and the militant exposure of all non-Biblical affirmations and attitudes." The most important thing to understand about fundamentalists is that they believe themselves to be the repre- sentatives of biblical Christianity, and they insist that a divinely inspired Bible gives them authority for such a claim. Doctrinal ly, fundamentalists subscribe to what can be defined as traditional, Protestant orthodoxy. They assert vigorously belief in the inspiration of the Bible, the direct creation of man by God as described in Genesis, the fall of man in Adam, God's provision for the salvation of mankind through the death of His sinless, virgin-born Son, Jesus Christ, the bodily resurrection of Christ and His Second Coming, and salvation 2 through personal faith in Jesus Christ. However, many Christians believe these same doctrines but would not be described as fundamentalists, At no point has fundamentalism been a well-organized movement, and at no point has an exact description of its boundaries been possible. In the early years fundamentalism shaded evenly into general conservative Protestantism, but fundamentalists eventually became an isolated group. During the early years of the century religious leaders of liberal views had moved into positions of influence within most of the major denominations, but in the

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