As a historian of American evangelicalism, I thoroughly enjoyed last night’s PBS documentary “Billy Graham: Prayer. Politics. Power.” As as an evangelical Christian, I also enjoyed it. Billy Graham’s message–the Good News–changed my life. I will always have a deep […]
evangelism
Three Sundays in April (Part 4)
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOxuBs5sR_s&w=560&h=315] If you had thirty minutes to say something to the most powerful man in the world, what would you say? This is how I started our short series titled “Three Sundays in April.” On April 19, 2020, the […]
“A Pandemic Billy Sunday Could Not Shut Down”
Religion News Service is running my piece on Billy Sunday. I absolutely love the title they chose and the images they added! Here is a taste: (RNS) — As the United States deals with the social effects of COVID-19, several […]
What is Franklin Graham’s “Decision America” Tour All About?
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTVB2FJC-7k&w=560&h=315] In 1950, Billy Graham started a radio show called “Hour of Decision.” Cliff Barrows, Graham’s musical director, hosted the show. It featured Graham sermons and usually ended with a call to make a “decision” to accept Jesus Christ […]
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” And don’t forget to sue.
Last April, four Wheaton College students were distributing evangelistic literature in Chicago’s Millennium Park. They were doing so in an area of the park that does not allow “the making of speeches and passing out of written communications.” When a […]
Free Excerpt from *Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump*
What is perhaps most disturbing about [Dallas megachurch pastor Robert] Jeffress’s [book] Twlight’s Last Gleaming is the way in which his deeply held passion for sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others is neutralized by his political agenda. The book […]
I Found Common Ground with Darryl Hart for the Second Time This Year!!!
This is the second time this year that Darryl Hart has agreed with something I wrote. :-)(The first time was here). Here is a taste of his recent post at Old Life: Glad to see John Fea stand up for evangelism (in […]
The Author’s Corner with Donald Akenson
Donald Akenson is Douglas Professor of Canadian and Colonial History at Queen’s University. This interview is based on his new book Exporting the Rapture: John Nelson Darby and the Victorian Conquest of North-American Evangelicalism (Oxford University Press, 2018). JF: What led you to […]
The Author’s Corner with Adam Laats
Adam Laats is a professor of Teaching, Learning and Educational Leadership at Binghamton University. This interview is based on his new book, Fundamentalist U: Keeping the Faith in American Higher Education (Oxford University Press, 2018). JF: What led you to write Fundamentalist U? AL: Over […]
The Author’s Corner with Peter Moore
Peter Moore is Professor of History at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. This interview is based on his new book, Archibald Simpson’s Unpeaceable Kingdom: The Ordeal of Evangelicalism in the Colonial South (Lexington Books, 2018). JF: What led you to write Archibald Simpson’s Unpeaceable Kingdom: The […]
This Explains a Lot
According to Barna, 51% of churchgoers have never heard of the Great Commission. Here is a taste of Barna’s research: In partnership with Seed Company, Barna conducted a study of the U.S. Church’s ideas about missions, social justice, Bible translation […]
Are Evangelicals Bothered When They Are Called “Hypocritical?”
They should be. Recently I typed the word “hypocrite” and “evangelicals” into a search engine. Here are just some of the articles I found. Nearly all of them are written by non-evangelicals: Focus on hypocrisy: Evangelicals hush on the Trump’s […]
Grant Wacker on Billy Graham’s 1957 New York Crusade
I have always been fascinated by this Billy Graham crusade. When I was in divinity school I wrote an M.A. thesis on separatist Protestant fundamentalism in the 20th century. The 1957 crusade was a key part of my story. Over […]
Should "Trump-Loving" Evangelicals Apologize to Bill Clinton?
James Dobson made a strong case for the moral character of the President of the United States during the Clinton impeachment crisis in 1998. You can read about it here. So did Wayne Grudem. You can read about it here. […]
Forum on Grant Wacker's Biography of Billy Graham
Syndicate, a theology website, is running a symposium on Grant Wacker’s America’s Pastor: Billy Graham and the Shaping of a Nation. So far Wacker has responded to reviews by Wheaton College theology professor Vince Bacote and Dartmouth College religion professor […]
Billy Graham Ends His London Crusade
1954: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWO6e29qtq8] British Pathe videos
Billy Graham in Yankee Stadium
1957: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j31ptAfnebo] British Pathe Videos
Worthen: “Billy Graham has no successor”
Recently, while teaching a Sunday School class on American evangelicalism, I was asked who I thought would be the next great American evangelist now that Billy Graham is off the scene. We had just finished discussing the history of revivalism […]
The Importance of George Beverly Shea
Shea and Graham Billy Graham once told the New York Times that without singer George Beverly Shea “he would have had no ministry.” Shea died April 16, 2013 at the age of 104 and Douglas Harrison remembers him in a […]
Catholic Evangelism?
Some might say that “Catholic evangelism” is an oxymoron. Since I left the Catholic Church in my teenage years I have never had anyone make a serious attempt to win me back. Representatives of Evangelical churches have knocked on my […]