Humble Beginnings
Known to have preached the gospel to more people than anyone in the history of Christianity, William (“Billy”) Franklin Graham, Jr. is one of the key figures in the 20th-century evangelical movement. Hailed as “the world’s preacher,” some estimate that Graham preached to nearly 3 billion people through various media during his illustrious ministry. Throughout his preaching career, Graham used the King James Version as the basis for his sermons.
Graham was the eldest of four children, born on a dairy farm outside Charlotte, North Carolina. While the young Billy was prone to mild rebellion, at 16 he became “born again” upon hearing the fiery southern evangelist Mordecai Ham. This Biblical language of rebirth became a hallmark of Graham’s later preaching and evangelism.
A Bible-Based Education for Worldwide Ministry
Graham attended Bob Jones University in South Carolina but transferred a semester later to Florida Bible Institute, where he received his calling to ministry. In 1943, he followed up his Bachelor’s degree in theology with a degree in Anthropology from Wheaton College, where he met his wife, Ruth Bell.
Ordained as a Southern Baptist minister in 1940, Graham became a pastor in the western suburbs of Chicago after graduating from Wheaton. He pastored for a shor time before joining the recently-formed Youth for Christ in 1945, becoming its first full-time evangelist. A seven-week crusade in 1949 in Los Angeles kickstarted Graham’s national popularity. His Greater London Crusade in 1954 gave him an international reputation. Two decades later, a crusade in Seoul, Korea, would attract nearly three million people. Billy Graham transformed mass evangelism in just a few decades.
A Movement to Challenge Christians
Graham rose to prominence during a time when conservative Christians often advocated retreating from secular society to pursue an insular life surrounded by fellow believers. Someone could be raised in a Christian home, attend a conservative church and Christian college, and work at a Christian company, seldom engaging with unbelievers.
Graham saw how such a scenario would negatively impact the gospel. Instead of withdrawing from society, Christians needed to actively engage with it. In response, Graham spearheaded the evangelical movement in the late 1940s. In 1956, he helped to establish Christianity Today, one of the most influential evangelical magazines to this day.
Graham’s desire was to preach the gospel to as many people as possible, which meant his crusades and conferences were more inclusive than most. He was an early supporter of the Civil Rights Movement and took a strong stand against segregation. He was also unwilling to shut out leaders from Christian denominations deemed “liberal” by conservative Christians, often inviting them to participate in his crusades.
Graham’s Ministry Network
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) incorporated in 1950 and formed the backbone of an evangelical empire that included Graham’s signature crusades and conferences both in America and abroad, as well as his radio, television, and film ministry. The BGEA estimates that Graham preached in person to nearly 215 million people in 185 countries during his 60-year ministry.
Graham wrote numerous newspaper articles and nearly three dozen books. Decision magazine became the flagship publication of the BGEA, and its film arm, World Wide Pictures, has produced more than 130 films. He hosted the “Hour of Decision” radio show from 1950 to 1954, and the program was active for 66 years.
Unprecendented Evangelism
At the heart of this varied ministry lay a desire bring the gospel to unreached peoples. Graham co-founded the Lausanne worldwide evangelism movement in 1974, and in the late 1970s became the first Western evangelist invited to preach behind the Iron Curtain during the Soviet Union, first in Eastern Europe and then in Russia.
Graham’s messages always involved an “altar call” to make Jesus your personal Lord and Savior. His ministry also involved extensive follow-up with those who made commitments. As a result, millions of converts came to faith through Graham’s preaching and were directed to Bible-believing churches to be discipled.
A Man of the Word
An unapologetic commitment to the Bible as God’s Word drove Graham’s life and work. Interestingly, Graham endorsed three Bible translations in three different ways. He used the King James Version as his text for all sermons throughout his preaching ministry. However, after it was created in the 1970s, Graham switched to using the New International Version in all his subsequent publications. That same decade, Kenneth Taylor’s paraphrase The Living Bible was published. Graham publically endorsed it for its clear language, and he used it in his personal devotions.
A Life Defined by Service
Graham met with many prominent leaders of the 20th century, including Winston Churchill, Queen Elizabeth, the Shah of Iran, and twelve consecutive American presidents from Harry S. Truman to Barack Obama. He was the recipient of dozens of awards including the Ronald Reagan Foundation Freedom Award, the Templeton Foundation Prize, and the Congressional Gold Medal. He also received at least twenty honorary degrees. As one Protestant pastor put it, “Billy Graham is about the closest thing we have to a pope.”
Billy Graham died of natural causes in 2018. His life spanned nearly a century. He became the fourth private citizen to lie in honor at the United States Capitol rotunda in Washington, D.C., and the first religious leader so honored.
Graham’s tombstone is as humble as the man. Along with his name and years, it simply reads, “Preacher of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ” and includes the reference John 14:6: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” These words, as well as the simple cross etched at the top, encapsulate the Christ-centered goal of his entire ministry.
Want to learn more?
Check out the New York Times #1 bestseller Just as I Am: The Autobiography of Billy Graham for more about Graham’s prolific ministry. Although originally published two decades before his death, this 800-page autobiography captures the highlights of Graham’s life and ministry up until about eight years before he officially retired.
