Customer Reviews

Billy: The Untold Story of a Young Billy Graham and the Test of Faith that Almost Changed Everything

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The plot of the book is this: a reporter is interviewing a person on his deathbed. In flashbacks, Charles Templeton is talking about the early days of Billy Graham. The reporter is trying to find scandal in Graham's life. Templeton is trying for one last time in the spotlight.

Templeton had been a colleague and mentor to Billy Graham. Eventually, however, he decided that he had too many questions about his faith and gave up his pastorate, gave up his preaching, identified himself as an agnostic, and had a second career as a newspaper reporter.

Templeton talks, in answer to questions by the interviewer, about Graham's early life, decision to be a Christ follower, college mishaps, dating and marriage, and major struggle with his own faith in the Bible.

By focusing on the early years, the years before his big success, this book shows the pieces of Graham's life that can be overshadowed by later years. He attended three colleges before ending up at Wheaton (full disclosure, my college, too). He dealt with people who were pretty legalistic about what counted as church. He was a preacher and then a speaker and then a college president before ending up in the crusade preaching career that most of us know him for. These sections, this thread through the book, is great.

I struggle, however, with other elements.

1. Style of writing. It reads like a book that was written to describe what was on the screen. I want a book to be a book, not an adaptation of a screenplay. I want a book to be about the subject, not about what you are seeing on the screen.

2. Fictionalization. This book is a story about Billy, with elements made up to tell the story. Thus, there are parts of Graham's story that I recognize. There are parts that I think, "Ah, that's how it happened." However. The whole reporter/flashback element of the book is made up to tell the story. As far as I know, there never was this interview with Templeton. I'm guessing that the scene at the end, where the adult Billy comes to visit the adult Charles, never happened. As a result, I'm not sure what is true about conversations that Billy may have had and what isn't.

3. Dramonic License - One part of Graham's biography that is particularly compelling is his decision to depend on the Bible as true and trustworthy. If you ever have heard him preach, the phrase "the Bible says" is a foundation of his argument. And I know that there was a time early in his ministry that he made a conscious decision to trust. In this book, that decision is dramatized as a scene on a hilltop, with the devil as a character having lines and stage directions. And it feels strange.

I liked what was novel about the Grahams, but less novelization would help.Billy: The Untold Story of a Young Billy Graham and the Test of Faith that Almost Changed Everything

Billy Graham remains one of the most iconic figures of our age: a man who has loved & devotedly followed Jesus Christ and worked his entire life to make Him known, while keeping his integrity & humility intact. Any book that shared his early life & crisis of faith would be a worthwhile read.

Or so I thought, until I read this book.

The entire book is framed around an entirely fictional interview of Charles Templeton, an early friend of Billy Graham who turned away from Christianity. Why such a literary device for either this book or the original movie? If the writer's purpose was to simply communicate moral truth via drama, then use historical fiction (Mel Gibson's The Patriot is an obvious example). But if he wanted to let people know what great things God has done in a real person's life, why mix truth with fantasy? I don't know.

And if you are going to chronicle a person's life, by all means do not suddenly put in a sudden imaginary conversation among angels and description of titanic spiritual warfare including Satan personally targeting young Billy's soul which is pure fantasy speculation. Awful. I sincerely hope that Reverend Graham never reads this book; I am convinced he would be deeply hurt.

My advice: if you really want to learn about this man of God, skip this book and instead read Graham's own excellent autobiography Just As I Am.

I recently was sent a manuscript for the book Billy: The Untold Story of a Young Billy Graham and the Test of Faith that Almost Changed Everything by Bill McKay and Ken Abraham. I've read and reviewed other books about Billy Graham, but not any that restricted itself to the beginning stages of his ministry told in narrative form. This book is meant to coincide with a soon-to-be-released movie titled "Billy: The Early Years." In the book, the authors tell the story of Billy Graham's ministry through the eyes of his one-time partner, Charles Templeton. The scene is a hospital, where Templeton is living out his last days with Alzheimer's. An aging reporter, eager to revive her flagging career, has been told to interview Templeton in order to get some dirt on Graham... be it scandals, hypocrisy, or whatever. She sets up in the hospital room with a camera crew and starts the interview, trying to get Templeton to turn on his former colleague. But much to her dismay and amazement, Templeton's cynicism over what Graham believes and preaches is not enough to overcome the fact that he can find no fault in Graham. He knows that however much he belittles the beliefs he used to share, he can't deny that Graham has accomplished far more that should have been humanly possible given his background and skills.

The flow of the story starts back in Graham's teen years, before he became a Christian. After going forward at a tent-style revival, he decides that he wants to attend a bible college and move into some sort of ministry work. Much to his shock and surprise, he's asked to speak in front of a church. Terrified, he covers the breath of his Bible knowledge in rapid-fire fashion... taking an entire seven minutes. But there's something there, and he's asked to speak in more locations, eventually leading to a full-time pastor position. Along the way, he meets and marries his wife Ruth, who gives up her dream of becoming a missionary to Tibet to support Graham in his ministry. As his preaching and evangelism starts to pick up speed, he's eventually teamed with Charles Templeton, an extremely popular and well-known evangelist at the time. They seem to make a good team, but Templeton's life is getting much darker...

Templeton is starting to question his faith, and it comes to a head at the end of World War II. He sees a newsreel showing Holocaust survivors, and decides he can't believe in a loving God any more. Graham is crushed by his decision to leave the ministry and study at Princeton. This turning away by Templeton starts Graham down the path of questioning his own commitment. The story moves to a moment in time where Graham struggles with his fears and doubts by himself out in the woods at a conference. The ultimate outcome of that war would end up changing the face of world evangelism as we know it.

Unlike some of the other books on Graham that attempts to analyze all his works and actions, this is a more story-driven treatment of his early life. I'm sure that once the movie is released, I'll find that this book follows very closely to the timing and direction of the film. Still, it's an inspirational look at someone who has committed everything to what he believes. It also shows that particular moments in time can have ramifications *far* beyond what one might expect at the moment.

Title: Billy: The Untold Story of a Young Billy Graham and the Test of Faith That Almost Changed Everything
Authors: William Paul McKay and Ken Abraham
Published by Thomas Nelson, 2008
264 pages

Billy is an unauthorized, true account of young Billy Graham, picking up when he is about 15 years old. It is as much a story of the man who became, for some years, his best friend: Charles Templeton, who, by his own account, was better looking, more articulate and a better preacher than Billy Graham. A popular evangelist, Templeton could command audiences of tens of thousands, when Billy could hope for only a few thousand, on his own. Yet, the two men took different paths in response to severe testing of their faith. Their stories, separate and joined, bring to mind that classic poem by Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken":

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by.
And that has made all the difference.

As the book opens, Templeton is in his early 80's, hospitalized with Alzheimer's. Deborah Matthews, a middle-aged, has-been reporter, is under orders to interview Templeton to "get the dirt" on Graham. Matthews' boss will not accept her assurance that there is no scandal to dig up, and she knows her job is on the line. Throughout the book, her interview provides a springboard for stories from Graham's life, including his awkward attempts to communicate coherently with girls who had caught his eye and his heart; his conversion and growing sense that he was called to preach the gospel; and the beginning and maturing of the love between Billy and his life's mate, Ruth Bell.

Both through Templeton's responses to Matthews' questions and in the narrative of the story, we read of the friendship that developed between Templeton and Graham, as they traveled and preached together. Their unity began to unravel as their evangelistic efforts in post-WWII Europe brought Templeton's pre-existing doubts into sharper focus. His response to those seems tragic; in contrast, how God blessed Graham's evangelistic efforts serves to show how God blesses those whose faith is in Him, at all costs. Matthews' questions often trigger outbursts of Templeton's frustration, as he looks back on all that he has lost: the wide acclaim he once enjoyed, the intellect that he had relied on at the expense of his faith, his two failed marriages, and the astounding success of the man he had called his best friend, the man whose intellect, eloquence of speech, and preaching Templeton still considered inferior to his own.

Near the end of the book we read of Templeton's emotional crisis as he faces his demons. Reading of his breakdown before the reporter and her crew, confessing (speaking of Jesus) that "I miss him," we want him to reclaim that faith in God that he had renounced, so long before. Then, as Templeton struggles to regain control, Matthews tells him someone wants to say, "hello." Billy Graham enters the room and in their reunion, Templeton seems to respond to the unconditional love, forgiveness and grace of God, shown through his old friend.

I was rather disappointed by Billy. I was expecting a biography. I got a novel.

Many of the quotes attributed to Templeton were simply pulled from other writings and put in different contexts. Several statements made to Deborah Matthews in the book were actually pulled from Lee Strobel's interview with Templeton. Others were pulled from Templeton's memoirs and Farewell to God.

This is not the compare and contrast biography that it appears to be. It is a well written religious novel based on real people and events. I was unaware that it was part of a movie tie in. The key story is interesting and would have been inspirational if told as a straight bio. The friendship between Graham and Templeton would have been good enough with no embellishments.

Before Billy Graham became "America's Pastor", he was simply known as Billy. His best friend, Charles Templeton, was an evangelist and the two young men began strategizing on how to win the world for Christ. That plan takes a turn when Templeton leaves the faith and becomes an atheist. Charles would later become the great intellectual for agnosticism and atheism. Billy would become one of the greatest messengers for the Christian Gospel. It is a story between friends regarding Atheism vs Christianity, betrayal and hope.

Billy Graham has always been one of my favorite evangelists. As I was growing up, whenever his crusades were on television, my parents somehow knew, and we would make sure to watch. When I was a teenager, my parents and I took a trip to North Carolina to visit Billy's childhood home, which had been relocated. It was fascinating to tour the home of such a powerful yet humble man of God.

When I found out his biography was available for review, I was excited to read more about his life, from childhood to the present. I loved reading about how he knew God was calling him to be an evangelist, and how he and his wife, Ruth Bell-Graham (now deceased), fell in love.

I also found it interesting and sad to read about his former friend, Charles Templeton, who turned from the faith to become an agnostic. The two men, Templeton and Graham, who were so similar in the beginning of their evangelistic days, couldn't be more different at the end of their lives.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good biography and is interested in reading more about this humble man of God.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from BookSneeze. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Billy,
William Paul McKay and Ken Abraham share a compelling look into the life of Billy Graham in the book Billy! The writers take the reader in an interesting dialog between the perspective of Charles Templeton, early evangelist with Billy Graham, and an interesting walk through the life of Billy Graham.
Graham stated early on that is was his desire that Jesus would be the focus and I believe this book did just that! This book shared an interesting look into the early travels of Billy Graham and Charles Templeton as they travelled around the world sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The book focuses on many trials and triumphs these men faced through the eyes of Templeton. What I liked about the book was how it brought out many of Mr. Grahams characteristics allowing the reader to really get to know him, his love for his family and his love for Jesus Christ as he shared the Gospel.
It contrasted two men who ended up with two different viewpoints on life. One had a confidence in what he believed and one who later struggled and ultimately turned his back on what he believed to be true. Billy shares the importance of Faith and remaining true to what you believe!

An amazing biography of a man so many people in the world today idolize. He is upheld as a man of God, closer to God than anyone today in most people's books. But this story brings him back down to earth. This story makes Billy Graham into the man next door, faults and all. McKay and Abraham tell the story of how Billy struggled with his call and how he sought out other avenues before he finally surrendered to God and became the evangelist we know him as today.

A very well written story of suspense, Billy captures you into the life of a man who struggled with his own faith, and turned from God to become an atheist. The story of two friends who part ways and struggle to find their own way is a page-turner. Even though I knew the rest of the story, it was heart-wrenching to read. It's like a movie you have seen time and time again. You are begging the main character NOT to walk in the room, not to pick up the phone, not to turn from a God who loves him enough to send His own Son, Jesus Christ, to die.

This message is clear, although not concise. God's call is God's call. You can run away, but God will find you. God will mold you into the person He needs you to be to do His will. He will allow you to follow a path that you may or may not want to follow, but the person you will become is far greater because of that path. Read the book. You will not be sorry.

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