NEWS
Christianity in the World Today
For almost two months the San Francisco Bay area was subjected to an intensive bombardment of biblical theology and mass evangelism. Now that Billy Graham is gone, and the kerygma is no longer heard in the Cow Palace, pastors and laymen alike are beginning to survey the spiritual results.
During his stay Dr. Graham expounded a number of Christian doctrines. San Franciscans heard about justification, reconciliation, adoption, new birth, the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, sacraments, hell, the second advent of Jesus Christ, the last Judgment, the kenosis, the dual nature of Christ, the authority of Scripture, and the centrality of the Cross. Undoubtedly these doctrines, long absent from many bay area pulpits, are now being preached with a new earnestness. Testimonials from pastors point to more biblical sermons as a direct result of the crusade. Two ministers known for their liberal leanings made public decisions, one at the Cow Palace and the other in his own church during an invitation given by a Graham team member who was occupying the pulpit.
Other Protestant pastors were not as enthusiastic. Some labeled the doctrinal content of the Cow Palace messages shallow and superficial. Some felt that fanfare and publicity made it difficult for the Holy Spirit to do his most effective work. Still others held that tension created by Dr, Graham’s warning, “This may be your last chance!” made it impossible for the worshiper to be brought gently into a living relationship with the Saviour.
Classification of bay area theological types is a dangerous undertaking, but if inevitable shading and overlapping are assumed, certain colors can be detected in the theological spectrum.
Right wing fundamentalists. Extreme conservatives were vocal prior to Dr. Graham’s arrival, issuing tracts which asked, “Shall we obey the Bible or disobey God and follow Billy Graham?” During the crusade they remained quiescent, although no softening of attitudes came to light.
Evangelical conservatives. This group seems to have enjoyed the crusade greatly, and felt completely at home in the Cow Palace. It provided the heart of the praying and counseling ministry. Night after night the people turned out, filling buses with neighbors and friends. Their churches drew the largest number of referrals. They came from both the large and small denominations. Dr. Graham’s theology served to strengthen their convictions, while his prophetic message rebuked their walk, so that many came forward in response to his invitation. Some of the pastors in this group had misgivings about Dr. Graham’s associations, but most of them came to join in wholeheartedly.
Graham admirers. The term could describe many of evangelical conviction whose church backgrounds were often alien to mass evangelism but who were tremendously impressed by the Billy Graham mission. Among both pastors and laymen there was shifting in attitude as the crusade progressed and the results of changed lives became evident.
Evangelical Liberals. This group, drawn from many backgrounds and shades of churchmanship, made up much of the opposition to the crusade. Some represented a rather sophisticated evangelicalism which did not actively oppose, but did little to encourage attendance at the Cow Palace. Others likened what happened there more to a county fair than a church service and felt that it was contrary to the mind and spirit of Jesus. They disliked the “old-time religion” flavor of the meetings and such tools as the King James Bible. They charged that Graham over-simplified things; that he did not understand the world he lived in, or the modern-day dilemma of the “man in the gray flannel suit.” They considered his doctrine of the Church inadequate. They compared him unfavorably with other evangelists who have visited the bay area in years past, namely, Bryan Green and Charles Templeton.
A common accusation from this direction was that Graham preached a foreshortened and truncated Gospel. One seminary professor in a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle charged that Graham was preaching against the “wrong sins.” Some considered the evangelist’s approach to Scripture (“the Bible says”) as hopelessly outdated and obscurantist. Even more, perhaps, they objected to mass invitations; they feared that emphasis on sin and guilt might do serious damage to the mental health of the hearers. In general, it could be said for this group that while they considered Graham less harmful than Billy Sunday, they nevertheless maintained that crusade proceedings seemed to forego a genuine reverence for God in favor of exploiting feelings.
Secular liberals. The extreme left wing consisted of those who felt but slight interest in the Church. They looked upon Billy as a shouting fundamentalist whose ability to win public attention was something to be endured.
How did the bay cities crusade affect this constellation? There was a polarization of extremes; many of those opposed at the beginning were more so at the ending. Yet in the center, there seems to have taken place a wonderful warming and softening of hearts, probably because of many factors, not the least of which was Billy Graham himself. One suburban pastor spoke for many when he said, “I can’t agree with his whole theology, but I can’t get over the fact that God is with him.”
The obvious blessing of the Holy Spirit upon Dr. Graham’s ministry, when studied at first hand, pulled more than one bay area minister from the fence. Then there was the arrival of decision cards upon pastors’ desks; the strong social content of the nightly messages; the courageous facing of community evils; the affectionate relationships between those of diverse social origin, whether on the team, on the executive committee, in the choir, in the counseling room, or in the congregation; and above all the simple proclamation of the Word of God. All of this served to disarm suspicion and win over the reluctant.
At the end of eight weeks, the theological center was more united than it had been in the history of the West. There was a noticeable absence of things that have tended to separate Christians. A real secret of Billy Graham’s power was manifest—his ability to bring believers into touch with each other by omitting the things which divide them.
Today Christian unity in San Francisco is very real, for it is established at the cross of Christ. Yet at Seals Stadium, in his final message, Dr. Graham warned, “Satan would like nothing better than to get us at each other’s throats again!” How effective the churches will be in taking the initiative for Jesus Christ depends in good part on the zeal of the thousands of new Christians and the results of crusade follow-up. S. E. W.
Statistics
In seven weeks of meetings, the Cow Palace meetings drew an aggregate attendance of 696,525, according to official statistics released by crusade headquarters in San Francisco.
There were 25,544 recorded decisions at the Cow Palace.
At the climactic Seals Stadium service an additional 1,354 decisions were counted. The estimated attendance was 38,000.
Nineteen meetings at the Cow Palace drew capacity crowds. The largest crowds were counted at Sunday afternoon services and Thursday youth rallies.
Highlights
These were among highlights of the San Francisco Bay Cities Crusade:
April 27—Some 18,000 jam Cow Palace for crusade’s opening meeting. Graham speaks to 5,000 more who could not get in.
May 1—First Thursday night youth rally draws 16,500, with 989 decisions recorded. Many are teen-agers.
May 3—First of weekly Saturday night telecasts emanates from Cow Palace. Via 160 stations the Gospel is carried into millions of North American homes.
May 8—The Cow Palace sees the largest response to a gospel invitation as 1, 243 come forward on youth night.
May 15—Graham holds outdoor rally at San Quentin Prison. Nearly 4,000 of 4,500 inmates hear him explain the plan of salvation. More than 600 respond to his invitation to receive Christ.
May 20—Graham speaks to overflow crowd of 1,050 at San Francisco State College, where his invitation had prompted a sharp controversy.
May 21—At San Francisco Civic Auditorium, 4,000 delegates to the American Red Cross national convention hear the evangelist call for a foreign aid program based on “Christian compassion.”
May 23—The Berkeley campus of the University of California, world’s largest, becomes the scene of a gigantic rally as 11,000 gather to witness the North Carolinian’s message.
May 25—Graham travels to the Central California city of Turlock for a rally held in connection with the community’s 50th anniversary celebration. Some 15,000 turn out to hear him, a crowd almost twice the city’s population.
May 27—A noon meeting in the Oakland City Hall plaza attracts an estimated 12,000. City officials say it is the largest crowd ever to gather there.
June 15—The 19th full house of the Cow Palace meetings turns out for the final meeting there.
June 21—Half-hour program from San Francisco studio bids farewell to nationwide television audience until this fall’s Charlotte crusade.
June 22—About 38,000 jam Seals Stadium for climactic service. More than a third of the crowd sits on the outfield grass. Decisions total 1,354, highest of the crusade.
Worth Quoting: Billy Graham
Billy Graham’s remarks to Californians touched upon a variety of subjects. Here is a random sampling taken from his sermons:
“We are not a Christian nation. We are a nation with Christians living in it.”
“Teen-agers today know the statistics on Jayne Mansfield better than they know the First Commandment.”
“I agree with Mr. Nixon that our diplomats are spending too much time in white tie society and not enough with the intellectuals … and laboring people.”
“Some people don’t like the new sack dress. I like it because it has taken the sex out of women’s dresses. Dean Acheson said it looks like an Idaho potato. I happen to like Idaho potatoes.”
“An Englishman told me that Communism would be inconvenient for Britain, but would be easier to take than Americanism.”
“If we get to the moon, so what? We’ve only begun.”
“A generation ago we threw God and morality from education. We sowed the wind and now we are reaping the whirlwind.”
“The ultimate hope of the world is the coming of Jesus Christ.”
Engagements
Following the San Francisco meetings, an intensive week-long visitation evangelism program was undertaken by hundreds of churches which had cooperated in the crusade.
The entire Graham team then went to Sacramento for meetings June 29-July 6 at the state fairgrounds.
This week Graham has a speaking engagement at Mt. Hermon Bible Conference (July 11). He also has public meetings scheduled for Fresno (July 12–13), Santa Barbara (July 17), Los Angeles (July 18), San Diego (July 19–20), and San Antonio, Texas (July 25).
‘Sadder Than Funeral’
Thirteen professors were dismissed from the faculty of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, last month.
The dismissal action by the seminary’s board of trustees, unprecedented in the school’s 99-year history, climaxed a controversy between the 13 professors and Dr. Duke K. McCall, seminary president.
A list of charges leveled against President McCall had challenged his administrative policies. Last-ditch mediation efforts failed.
The way was left open for reinstatement of any of the 13 in the event of “genuine reconciliation.”
The dismissals were effective immediately, though salaries were to be continued until July 31 “or a later date if deemed wise by a committee of the board.”
The verdict reportedly was supported by an “overwhelming majority” of the 55-member board of trustees, who were to meet again this month to rebuild the faculty. The dismissal of the 13 left the theological faculty with 15 members.
Those who were told to leave are listed as follows with their official faculty status, home states and the years they joined the faculty:
J. J. Owens, professor of Old Testament, Oklahoma, 1948; William H. Morton, professor of archaeology, Missouri, 1948; Theron D. Price, professor of church history, Arkansas, 1948; Henry E. Turlington, associate professor of New Testament, Florida, 1949; T. C. Smith, associate professor of New Testament, Louisiana, 1950; J. Estill Jones, associate professor of New Testament, Oklahoma, 1951; Guy H. Ranson, associate professor of Christian ethics, Texas, 1952; William L. Lumpkin, associate professor of church history, Virginia, 1954; J. Morris Ashcraft, associate professor of archaeology, Arkansas, 1955; Heber F. Peacock Jr., associate professor New Testament, Arizona, 1956; John M. Lewis, associate professor of theology, Florida, 1956; Thomas O. Hall Jr., associate professor of Old Testament, North Carolina, 1956; Hugh Wamble, associate professor of church history, Georgia, 1956.
All are alumni of the seminary except Hall, who is a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.
Commented one observer: “A funeral atmosphere pervaded the whole affair. Indeed, to me, it was sadder than any funeral in my ministry. Many times there is a bright side to death, but no ray of light could be detected here.”
