Franklin Graham: Speaking Truth or Hype?

Posted on May 10, 2010
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(324) comments

OK... I want your input on this. Franklin Graham has, of course, been in the spotlight recently over the whole National Day of Prayer dis-invitation thing. Last week, on the eve of the National Day of Prayer, Graham said this in a webcase from the offices of the Family Research Council:

"I think its coming to this country where we (will) have the freedom to preach inside a church wall, but we will lose the freedom to do it outside. That day will probably come – maybe in my lifetime."

I want to know what you think of this quote.

Do you agree or disagree?

Is it probably truth or purely hype?

Franklin Graham continues:

“(In the United States) we see everyday our rights being eroded. Just a little at a time, but its happening. Everyday. So let’s preach while we can. Let’s stand up and holler ‘Jesus Christ! King of Kings, Lord of Lords!’to the top of our voice... The secularists are going to get ticked off, the news media’s going to hate it. I don’t know, maybe the people in the White House are going to be mad. But you know what, I don’t care. Because God has called us to take the Gospel -- His Gospel, the power of God and His Salvation -- unto the ends of the Earth.”

Again... agree or disagree?

My take: I don't know. In some ways, I think it is the proverbial militant preacher that is preaching 'Jesus Christ! King of Kings, Lord of Lords' at the top of their voice that somehow is causing much of the turmoil and 'rights reduction' in America. Don't get me wrong... America was based on religious freedom, and we need to protect our right to proclaim the gospel without government intervention; but purposefully ticking off the people who are the ones who are in power over making the rules doesn't make sense to me either.

We can holler Jesus' name all day long at those we don't agree with; and at people who don't know Jesus. They'll just think we're nuts. (And they should... they don't know Jesus!) And if they think we're nuts, they probably WILL move to keep us quiet. After all, that's what we want to do with them, right?

What's the answer? Let the church be the church. Like it was in Nashville last week. The more we as churches (and individuals) can be the hands and feet of Jesus rather than trying to be the mouth of Jesus, the better off we are. Out of the opportunities that God gives us every day being the hands and feet, lives will be changed, and instead of having to 'holler' Jesus' name; we can whisper it. And my guess is that we'll be a lot more effective.

Am I all wet? It's Monday. Early. And I haven't had my coffee yet. (But that's no excuse... I hate coffee).

What do YOU think? Leave a comment below...

Todd

Comments

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Randy Willis on Sat, May 22, 2010

James, I think I agree with most of what you said ... as long as we’re talking about the original Scriptures (which is what those scriptures you quoted are referring to).

So, when you say God’s Word is inerrant, are you referring to the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament, or are you referring to ALL of the current translations in English and other languages of the world, or are you referring to one particular English translation?

Knowing that would help me know where you’re coming from, I think.

For me, there are two issues: The work of 1) copying and 2) translating.

On copying ...

Like Wendi, acknowledging the reality that there are minor differences among the best manuscripts available doesn’t cause me to question my faith in the least either or diminish my appreciation for God’s Word. If anything, it strengthens it. God entrusted his Word to his creation, fallible human beings. And all indications are (that I’m aware of anyway) that God’s Word has been greatly protected throughout its 2000+ year history. It’s really quite amazing!

On translating ...

The work of translation (an ongoing work!) will always be challenging as translators must communicate the original text into language that current generations can understand (in various languages and cultures).

Translation will always be a fallible practice because we all bring our theological biases to the Scriptures. This is true of our weekly “translating,” too (i.e., sermons). This is why we preachers/teachers must be students of the Word!

In the end, I believe God’s Word is inspired (i.e., God-breathed). It’s Truth. And while I have great trust in modern translations (I love the variety of translations), I don’t feel the need to say that any of my modern English translations is error-free.

Is it Monday yet?
4 Common Sense on Sun, May 23, 2010

OK. Let’s all understand something first. I am NOT trying to insult your spiritual knowledge of scripture. Please take no offense.

Out of those 50 years of the study of scripture, 13 of those years were Greek studies and 8 of those years were in Hebrew. Today I am more convinced of the inerrant and infallibility of our scripture then when I first started my journey.

Example: In the Greek Language it’s all written in a line without punctuation marks of any kind. It is call a case ending language. Let’s take a simple sentence. “Godisnowhere” There two translations of just this one phrase. 1. “God is no where” or 2. “God is now here” When looking at the original text you have to decide to whom was the writer talking to and what was the text of the passage. In the 1. case the unbelievers were saying that God is no where. In the 2. case. The believers in Corinth were testifying that “God is now here”. When you read it in the proper text and setting of the time and where they were. It makes sense of the translation. So when you studied the original Greek and could see how they came to translate our Bible, the conclusion has to be that we have a Bible that is without error.

Now, if you would like to show me where you find error in scripture. I would need to know what the alleged contradiction is and the book, chapter and verse. I would be glad to dig out my Greek and Hebrew Bibles and see what the original Greek and Hebrew words has to say.
Wendi Hammond on Mon, May 24, 2010

James � To provide you some examples to answer your question, I pulled out my textual criticism textbooks from seminary.

1. Matt 6:13 � some of our manuscripts contain the words �For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever; Amen,� others do not.
2. Matt 5:22 � Jesus condemns the person who is angry �without a cause,� while in other manuscripts the prohibition is total.
3. Jn 1:18 � some manuscripts read �the only Son,� while others read, �the only God.�

These variants arose because scribes made copies from other copies, creating errors. We are unable to correct the errors because we do not have the original autographs. They do not exist. No one has suggested that these errors compromise the truth of scripture. Most of the differences are insignificant and have very little effect on doctrine. Nevertheless, the fact that there are mistakes, errors, in what has been persevered for us today is something all bible scholars agree upon.

Many use the term inerrant referring to the original, unavailable manuscripts. This is what you do. Since we can�t compare the variant manuscripts we have against original autographs, I choose not to use that term.

Surely this isn�t a bit deal . . .

When I wake up there will be something new to talk about.

Wendi
Chip Anderson on Mon, May 24, 2010

http://chipanderson.blogspot.com/2010/05/it-should-be-what-not-how.html
Randy Willis on Mon, May 24, 2010

BTW, a good online Bible translation with excellent textual notes is Bible.org’s NET Bible: http://net.bible.org/

Many notes discuss the differences between various manuscripts.
Deb Bush on Tue, May 25, 2010

Growing up in a church where I was “yelled” at did me no good. Moving to a church where the preaching was “Love God, love people” made a huge difference.
I, as a 50 year old, can see where things have changed. But I also believe that we Christians can take those changes and use them to Christ’s good. When people see Christ through us, where ever we are in the world, it will can be a huge difference.
No one and no law can stop you from praying. No one can stop what goes on in your head between you and Jesus Christ! So what if there is no day of prayer! We have 24 hours 365 days a year to pray! Pray!
4 Common Sense on Tue, May 25, 2010

Weather we have our freedoms all taken away from us or not. It comes down to the fact of is God in control? If we believe that God is in control, then we need to stay focused on what God has called us to be. “Salt and Light” in a darkened world. We need to remember what John wrote in John 15:18-19. “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love it’s own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

This world can take away a lot of things away from us and maybe they will some day, but they CAN’T take away our Spirit and our Love for the Lord.

Your life that you live every day may be the only Bible that someone will ever read. So go and be that Light on that hill.

James
Pastor Gary Hill on Fri, June 04, 2010

I don’t think we should be shouting at people about Jesus but I’m not sure that’s what Mr. Graham meant. We do need to boldly proclaim the good news of the Gospel.

I do believe that we are in danger of losing the privilege of speaking outside of the church walls but at the same time believe we might be able to do something about it. We need to take a more active role in how our country, state, and city is governed. Become more knowledgeable about the candidates, issues, etc. and cast our vote for the ones we believe are best suited for the job (and by all means pray about your decision).
4 Common Sense on Fri, June 04, 2010

Where in the Bible does it give us the right to judge another man’s method of speech. I would be more concerned about his message rather that his method. Let’s not get into “some are of Paul and some are of Apollos”. Bless you FG.