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JimR-OCDS
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How, where and who Jesus reveals himself through, is never polluted.AMEN!!!
~Liza
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AbideWithMe
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twf
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Firstly, I have already agreed that it is not intrinsically wrong to listen to Billy Graham. I am advising practicing Catholics to draw from the vast library of rich Catholic sources rather than look elsewhere - I am not condemning non-Catholics for listening to Billy Graham. I understood this thread to concern the interior life of the Church, not evangelizationā¦Iām a convert myself and am well aware of the role Protestant preachers played in my own spiritual journey - I just now see how much richer the fulness of the Catholic tradition is. If you consider that religious superiority, weāll have to agree to disagree - it is the understanding of the Church that she, and she alone, possesses the fulness of divine truth for only she was established by Christ as His living body on earth.
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JimR-OCDS
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Until a person is ready to understand the riches in Catholic spirituality, the Lord Jesus will lead them to where He can enter their hearts and feed the best.
Iāve seen so many, including myself, who left the Church and returned after a protestant minister, turn them toward Jesus Christ.
Christ leads, we follow. Itās the way itās always been.
Jim
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Cat
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Amen.
Dr. Graham, when he was still preaching, taught at a very simple level that appealed to many people, including me. Although I respect and love our Holy Father, I personally find Pope Benedict XVIās speaking and writing quite advanced and difficult to followāI have never yet managed to wade through one of his books, as I always give up.
For those of you who have no trouble following him in his preaching or writings, I salute you and respect your greater bra(name removed by moderator)ower. But all of us are not like you. A preacher/writer like Billy Graham reaches us where we are.
I think this is one reason why so many of the convert Catholic apologists (e.g., Tim Staples, Scott Hahn, Jeff Cavins, etc.) are so incredibly popular among Catholicsāthey are very good speakers who appeal to people who are just regular folks, not aspiring theologians. Although Dr. Hahn especially is capable of addressing the best theologians in the world at their level, heās also really good at communicating with people like me, who donāt have a background in classical languages, history, apologetics, theology, etc.
As for those who say that Dr. Graham does not preach the Full Gospel as the Catholic Church doesāof course he doesnāt. But if you have actually read any of Dr. Grahamās books or listened to him speak, I think you will find that he is definitely not anti-Catholic, and he preaches the very basic Christianity that is part of Catholic Church teaching, too; i.e., we need to follow Jesus Christ. This is a message that all of us should never lose sight of.
I think even those who choose to not listen to or read Dr. Grahamās teachings should at least be aware of what he says and writes, as hundreds of millions of people HAVE heard him speak or read his books. Whenever anyone captures that much of an audience, it is worth having some basic working knowledge about such a person.
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kmaaj
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I have heard, that whenever a Catholic would come forward to an altar call at a Billy Graham Crusade, that Billy would pray with them just as he would anyone else, and then admonish the Catholic to then return to their parish. I believe it was James Robison who was talking about this.
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Doxiemom
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This is trueā¦
His crusades were not about joining his church but about coming to Jesus Christ.About giving up a live full of sin. And the forgivness of those sins that could have only been done through the shed Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Not having another phrase to use, I am going to use the word āholyā. Billy Graham is a āholyā man. It is fair to say this. you can recgonize when the Spirit is there. Just as Pilotās wife, a pagan, knew Jesus was a "holyā man.
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CopticChristian
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Billy Graham is a revivalist as I understand it and not an evangelist. I understand that his altar calls do not direct you to āa bible believing churchāā¦he directs you back to your church.
If we believe that Protestants are brothers and sisters through Baptism and if we believe that Faith/Hope/Charity abide in them by virtue of that Baptism then we should expect that we should hear some elements of Faith/Hope/Charity when they speakā¦you just gotta understand when they are speaking about their theology and not elements we share in common.
I have no problem listening to Billy Graham.
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JohnSWren
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I was baptised in a Southern Baptist Church when I was 9, for some reason not long after that my parents started going to a Methodist Church, but wouldnāt let me go to confirmation class. Since then Iāve been a Unitarian, Congregationalist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, and maybe a couple of others before being confirmed as a Catholic 12 years ago, for which Iām very grateful.
Through it all, the one constant voice has been Billy Graham.
So I was surprised when the Billy Graham crusade was in our town a couple of years ago that there was no cooperation from the Catholic Church in our area. Do some Bishops encourage Catholics to participate?
I went to one of the organization meetings with the blessing of my parish priest, the Billy Graham people seemed eager to have our Catholic parish participate, but I backed away when the priest who told me it was ok to attend didnāt want to take it any further.
Just a week or so I stumbled across a You Tube video of Billy Graham in 1957, edited down to a very powerful 10 minutes or so. Made me want to start calling myself a Billy Graham Catholic. What do you think of that?
Through it all, the one constant voice has been Billy Graham.
So I was surprised when the Billy Graham crusade was in our town a couple of years ago that there was no cooperation from the Catholic Church in our area. Do some Bishops encourage Catholics to participate?
I went to one of the organization meetings with the blessing of my parish priest, the Billy Graham people seemed eager to have our Catholic parish participate, but I backed away when the priest who told me it was ok to attend didnāt want to take it any further.
Just a week or so I stumbled across a You Tube video of Billy Graham in 1957, edited down to a very powerful 10 minutes or so. Made me want to start calling myself a Billy Graham Catholic. What do you think of that?
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JohnSWren
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Good point. Thanks.
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Hello_All
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well,i once saw billy graham being interviewed by larry king on cnn.he chastised the cc for focusing only on crucifixion .not on the resurrection of christ.he even scolded john f kennedy jr ,when he was still alive ,for not having personal relationship w/ jesus christ.since then,i didnt want to listen to his messages anymore.
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johnnyc176
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I have no interest in listening to Billy Graham. I enjoy my parish priestās homilies very much and Father Robert Barron, Father Larry Richard, Barbara McGuigan, Scott Hahn and quite a few more Catholic speakers will do just fine for me.
brandonvogt.com/scsm12/
brandonvogt.com/scsm12/
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Rocky24
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Iād rather watch Mother Angelica hit the nail right on the head and teach the Catholic faith. Itās 2000 years of Tradition! As a previous poster has said, it is better to drink fresh water rather than contaminated water which may hydrate you but still may make you sick.
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GaryTaylor
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He has done a lifetime of amazing work. I have watched him several timeās and use to read his daily newspaper column till I switched papers. I thought some of his articles which became much more personal, revealed a very dedicated follower of the Lord. He seemed to have a special way of reaching all Christians and by being respectful to all Christian areas. Love Thy Neighbor.Billy Graham is a revivalist as I understand it and not an evangelist. I understand that his altar calls do not direct you to āa bible believing churchāā¦he directs you back to your church.
If we believe that Protestants are brothers and sisters through Baptism and if we believe that Faith/Hope/Charity abide in them by virtue of that Baptism then we should expect that we should hear some elements of Faith/Hope/Charity when they speakā¦you just gotta understand when they are speaking about their theology and not elements we share in common.
I have no problem listening to Billy Graham.
I agree.
I have listened to his son speak a few times, on the other I just get a different impression of him. Different topic for a different day.
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MartinJordan
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Never heard of himā¦just kidding! 
Since Im not from the USA but lived Hawaii for 4 years, Ive seen him once or twice on tv. But as a Catholic Itās hard for me to think of anyone other than a Catholic priest or anyone connected with the Church preaching.
However, I am happy to support anyone who is inclined to hear his preaching. I mean If he can bring people back to the Church, why not?
MJ
Since Im not from the USA but lived Hawaii for 4 years, Ive seen him once or twice on tv. But as a Catholic Itās hard for me to think of anyone other than a Catholic priest or anyone connected with the Church preaching.
However, I am happy to support anyone who is inclined to hear his preaching. I mean If he can bring people back to the Church, why not?
MJ
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rinnie
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When People want to read and teach about Jesus I donāt care what faith they are. I have an open ear.
God never said he only talks through Catholicās
My husband and I are working on a house and every Sunday after church we listen to a local Protestant Preacher on the radio, Its the station we usually listen to, so we donāt turn it.
He is great. There is much I donāt agree with totally that he teaches, but he is GREAT in teaching about God and his word. He is a very good Preacher.
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emarc
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Listen to him, by all means. Letās not display the Pharisees āholier than thouā attitude. Billy Graham is a man of God, has devoted his whole life in preaching the Gospel, has brought
many to Christ. His life exemplifies what every Catholic should be doing. Yes, heās not a Catholic, and has not received Christ in Communion. But only God knows whatās in his heart.
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Marybeloved
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I agree with this. Our house is very charismatic, evangelical protestant, all God TV and TBN all day long. I know many, many protestant teachers, the errors of the new āāplant a seedāā prosperity gospel movement in evangelical circles.
I like Joel Osteen as a person, pleasant, but I donāt consider a preacher who never mentions Jesus Christ in his sermons a christian preacher. Heās a Christian, I know- not a Christian preacher, though. I like Joyce Meyer because even though her framework is very protestant, her message is very much about a relationship with Christ and depending on him to make us able to live as he wants us to, not to be slaves to sin and flesh etc. She was very influenced by reading Brother Lawrence, a Catholic classic. Pat Robertson has issues, yes, but I donāt doubt for a moment that he is a genuine Christian, whose life and beliefs are all about the power of the Lord Jesus. I donāt like most of the TBN bunch, Benny Hinn people etc, and all their constant focus on money! Urgh! :banghead:
But Billy Graham is Holy. I donāt think anyone can look at his life and preaching and say that this was not a person whose life was dedicated fundamentally to the Lord Jesus, the fearless preaching of Truth in a dying culture and to the love of Souls. Thatās the Catholic definition of a Saint, and I do personally see him as such. I canāt imagine how many people will go to heaven because of him. I am certain that if he were Catholic and lead the exact same life he has lead, he would be certain to be canonized at some point in the future. Plus I donāt remember hearing anything heretical in his sermons. Deep and genuine conversion of heart to the Lord Jesus is his fundamental message.
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iohannes13
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I understand what you are saying. As Catholics, we usually leave our rich history untapped in our lives. It would be nice to focus on them instead of going go to a non-Catholic source. But on the other hand, everyone is different and the Word reaches everyone differently. Some can find faith through music, art, reading, and even the spoken word. The spoken word is usually always easier to digest and less work than reading. And Iāve heard that Billy Graham is a top-notch speaker.
Individuals like Billy Graham also experience God in their lives, so Iām sure they have some good things to say about it. Maybe some people can relate to Billy Graham which can lead them to greater faith. Whatever works man. Just as long as you donāt leave the Church or lose faith in itās teachings what is the problem?
In a way, Billy Graham may have some advantages over writers from two millenia ago that can help people living today. Mainly that he is living today and he and his congregation are experiencing similar trials that we face. If his message brings some people hope, increased faith, etc., and it is readily available, I donāt see a problem listening to him. Now especially than ever when Ecumenism is being promoted I think of what Jesus said. Donāt know the verse so I will only paraphraze it. An apostle told him, āHey look that guy is baptizing and exorcising demons in your name but but he doesnāt hang out with us!!! Stop him!!!ā And Jesusā reponse wasā¦
I listen to Father Robert Barron on wordonfire.org. I know Father Barron is a theologian and it may be a job requirement for him, but based on his talks, he mentions reading Protestant theologian authors and even athiest authors. I vaguely recall that Heās even has gone as far as stating that he likes the writings of one or two Protestant theologians. He may have pointed out difference in beliefs, but I very clearly recall that Father Barron focused on the parts of their writings that have meaning for everyone. Not once did he diminish their writings in these cases.
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