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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An insightful look at Billy Graham, the person..., December 20, 2007
This review is from: Billy Graham: His Life and Influence (Hardcover)
There's little doubt that Billy Graham has had a significant impact on culture and world evangelism. In the book Billy Graham: His Life and Influence, David Aikman explores Graham's life and philosophies that led him to become one of the most influential voices of our time. What I appreciated most about Aikman's work is that he doesn't attempt to paint Graham as the perfect saint who could do no wrong. Like all men, Graham had his struggles and trials...
Contents:
A Life Of Influence; A Child of the 1920s; Conversion and the First Steps; A National Phenomenon; Harringay and the World; Theology and Race; Communism - A New Approach; The Presidents - Part 1 - Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon; The Presidents - Part 2 - Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan; The Presidents - Part 3 - George H. W. Bush, Clinton, George W. Bush; National Consoler; Family and Legacy; Acknowledgments; Notes; Index
Aikman defines his territory and goal for the book and sticks with it very well. Rather than attempt to be a comprehensive biography of Graham's life, he recommends you read William Martin's A Prophet with Honor. Instead, he delves into how Graham grew from a small-town fundamentalist evangelist to become a globally-known evangelist and respected statesman, with regular access to every president since Eisenhower as well as many world leaders. Graham's ever-present goal was to be able to preach the gospel wherever he was, with no restrictions on what he could and couldn't say. That's easier said than done, as he broke new ground by being allowed to preach in Russia and China, places where freedom of religion was not practiced. The balancing act was trying to not offend his hosts by denouncing their governments, while trying not to offend the American government who didn't want him to be used as a propaganda tool during the Cold War. While ultimately he was able to preach, his attempts to balance those conflicting forces were not always well executed.
Within American culture, he gained a level of accessibility to presidents not duplicated by any other single person in history. While his relationships with each president varied in terms of closeness and trust, he was always there to provide counseling and wisdom when needed. In his later years, this counseling and consoler role played out in public during the 9/11 tragedies and his addresses given during national remembrances. Given the American public's disdain for mixing politics and religion, it's amazing that Graham was accepted in this role. If you were to try and replicate his experience in today's society, my guess is that the media would shred him over any minor misstep or misstatement. But given that his stature was developed and earned in a much different atmosphere than today, he's been able to retain his dignity and honor in these more cynical times.
Aikman is sympathetic to Graham's image, but he's not afraid to look at areas where things didn't work out as Graham would have believed. For instance, Graham was very close friends with Richard Nixon, and still has problems reconciling the Nixon he thought he knew as a friend with the Nixon revealed on the Watergate tapes. Overseas trips to communist countries often had him giving views on religious freedom that didn't accurately portray the reality of the persecution that was occurring. Aikman summarizes many of these issues as the outcome of Graham's apparent need to be liked by people. Rather than be blunt and confrontational on issues where it might have been warranted, he often sidestepped the issue to avoid dissension. But measured against the whole person, Graham comes across as a sincere man of God, far from perfect, but always willing to follow God's leading and commands to share the gospel with others.
I'd recommend this book for both Christians and non-Christians who are interested in Billy Graham, the person. You'll come away with a much deeper appreciation for someone who has given their life for what they believe...
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
America's Pastor, December 13, 2007
This review is from: Billy Graham: His Life and Influence (Hardcover)
Billy Graham: His Life and Influence
David Aikman, former Time Magazine senior correspondent, has written a very readable and comprehensive life of the famous evangelist. Graham's progress from farm boy to friend and counselor for presidents is an American success story on one level. On another, his career illuminates the Protestant religious temper of a majority of the people in the United States during the twentieth century. That temper contributed to Graham's success, but as an evangelist, Graham also shaped the spirit and direction of his times.
The book is well balanced. Aikman notes both Billy Graham's strengths and weaknesses as he chronicles Graham's life and its impact on society in America and in other nations over more than fifty years. He also portrays Ruth Graham Bell, Billy's remarkable wife, and gives the reader insights into the partnership which enabled Graham to succeed.
The book is fascinating reading whether one is a devoted Graham admirer or not since it offers a remarkable analysis of Graham's influence on culture and events during the last century
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Balanced and Educational, Though not Inspiring, May 31, 2010
In Billy Graham: His Life and Influence, David Aikman gives a detailed account of the life of the world's most well-known, and perhaps influential, evangelist. We might expect a biographer to be biased in favor of his subject, but not so here. Though Aikman greatly admires Graham, his book is surprisingly balanced.
In chapter one, Aikman tells us that Graham's "manifest weakness" was that he "went out of his way to avoid offending people," and he uses much of the remainder of the book to convince us of that. To his credit, Graham is a supporter of civil rights, and he was a friend of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. But according to Aikman, his early stand on segregation depended upon which part of the country he was in. While his evangelistic crusades were integrated in the North, crusades in the South were conspicuously segregated. "We follow existing social customs in whatever part of the country in which we minister," Graham stated. When asked why he refused to speak out on the issue of segregation, he said that, "Communists were behind most of the civil rights agitation in the United States."
Despite his distaste for the communists while on American soil, Graham, according to Aikman, outdid himself in courting them on their own turf. While on a tour of the Soviet Union, Graham was asked to respond to the imprisonment of 150 Baptist preachers. "We detain people in the United States if we catch them doing something wrong," he said to the disappointment of the Christians. During a trip to communist Romania, he thanked the government for being one "which gives full and genuine freedom to all religious denominations." Graham apparently had not read Haralan Popov's Tortured for His Faith. Graham later praised North Korean leader Kim Il Sung as being "a gentle man and a logical thinker." We could continue. As I said, Aikman's prevailing theme is Graham's desire to be liked by all.
Another theme that Aikman develops is Graham's departure from fundamentalism, which, according to Aikman, is characterized by belief in such doctrines as scriptural inerrancy, the deity of Christ, and the blood atonement. While Graham himself doesn't seem to have departed from these beliefs (though the book doesn't make that clear), he was often criticized for being associated with clergy who went "on record as believing neither in the virgin birth, nor the Trinity, nor even Christ's resurrection." As for his own convictions, we learn little other than that he had a very inclusive and liberal view of salvation. When Graham was asked in an interview if one must hear the gospel in order to be saved, he said that he no longer believed that. "I believe there are other ways of recognizing the existence of God--through nature, for instance." Despite Graham's overly liberal views on many points, his avoidance of genuine, contentious fundamentalism can be admired. As he said: "If this extreme type of fundamentalism was of God, it would have brought revival long ago. Instead, it has brought dissention, division, strife and has produced dead and lifeless churches."
Aikman brings several strengths to his biography, including an impressive knowledge of recent history and political events, which is to be expected considering that he is former senior correspondent for Time magazine. His knowledge of church history and doctrine, however, is more limited. For instance, he incorrectly calls the Westminster Confession a catechism, and he says that the Shorter Catechism is an abbreviation of the Confession (rather than the Larger Catechism). His linking the belief in such essential doctrines as the resurrection to "fundamentalism," and at times his discussion regarding the nature of the gospel itself, gives us reason to wonder if he is qualified to write on such subjects.
Still, I enjoyed reading Billy Graham. It is rich in recent history; I particularly enjoyed the more personal look into the lives of the U.S. presidents with whom Graham had close relationships. And certainly I learned much about the life and influence of Graham himself. Perhaps the most inspiring character of all is Rev. Graham's late wife, Ruth Bell Graham. The author's admiration for her is contagious, and we are left wanting to know more about her. Overall, Aikman's work is educational and enjoyable, though not necessarily inspiring.
I received a review copy of this book from Thomas Nelson Publishers.
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