Currently in Books

A voice that changed the world
Harold Jantz

Just as I am. Billy Graham, San Francisco: HarperCollins/Zondervan, 1997. 760 pages.

After more than a half a century of highly evangelistic ministry, Billy Graham still wonders at what he has become. A farm boy, modestly educated but greatly gifted, Graham became an evangelist who by now has likely preached to more people than anyone in history. From his first forays behind the pulpit in 1943, his zeal has scarcely flagged.

What is the secret of a ministry that was able to touch so many lives? How could Graham win the confidence of so many leaders of countries, not to mention his own? How was he able to avoid scandal? Why was his message so well understood everywhere around the globe?

Graham's autobiography, Just As I Am, published earlier this year, provides many of the answers. Above all, Graham is committed to the gospel. He believes the Bible and he has a clear and simple explanation of what salvation in Christ is all about. And throughout most of his ministry he has felt enormous liberty to proclaim it, which he has done with virtually unparalleled effect.

Graham manages to write about many of the people to whom he has related in his very public ministry without an unkind statement about any of them even those who might have treated him badly. Yet the book begins with a story Graham tells on himself and his first visit to a president--Harry S. Truman--which turned into a fiasco. Out on the White House lawn after the meeting, without the presidentÕs permission, Graham told reporters what Truman had talked about and demonstrated how they knelt and prayed together.

This disarming ability to speak about his own failures and weaknesses, as well as the intimate portrait he provides of the events behind much of his public ministry, makes Just As I Am a very satisfying book to read.

If there is one part of Just As I Am that remains troubling, it is the nature of his relationship to some American presidents. No scene is more disconcerting than the sight of Graham sitting with President George Bush on the eve of the launch of the American military strike against Iraq in 1991. If Graham believed Iraqis were as precious to God as Americans, and if he sensed how Muslims might interpret his presence with Bush that evening, would he still have gone? Did Graham really have to drop everything and come virtually any time a president called?

Having said that, it is hard not to feel a great sense of gratitude at the way God has used Graham to speak both to the rich and powerful and the poor. One senses a heart that has reached out to people everywhere. Just As I Am is a giant book, over 700 pages in length, but a very satisfying read. Even on closer inspection, Graham, remains a most admirable and winsome representative for the faith.

Judas revisited

Brian Larmour

Judas: Betrayer or Friend of Jesus?

William Klassen, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996, 225 pp.

Was Judas a demonic double agent or a perplexed but well-meaning follower of Jesus? This is the central question asked by William Klassen, a New Testament scholar and former professor at the University of Manitoba and Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Indiana.

In a thorough study where he consults an impressive array of interpreters both ancient and modern, the author argues that Judas has served traditionally as a convenient scapegoat for the church. The name "Judas" has become a byword for a traitor, apostate or outsider. Furthermore, Klassen asserts that often Judas has been regarded by biblical commentators as a representative of the Jewish people and that conclusions about his role and ultimate destiny have been blatantly anti-Semitic.

How does Klassen arrive at these conclusions? Basic to his study is a review of all the major scriptural passages dealing with Judas. First, Klassen finds the traditional translation of the word rendered "betray" to be inaccurate and indicative of bias against Judas. The Greek term means "to hand over" not "to betray". Possibly Judas had good intentions in handing over his master to the authorities by providing Jesus with an opportunity to confront his opponents in chambers and convince them that he was, indeed, the Messiah. Second, based on a comparison of the gospel accounts, the author finds that a negative evaluation of Judas grows as one proceeds from the earlier gospels (the first being Mark) to John's gospel which is written last. As a result Klassen concludes, "From a strictly methodological point of view, I cannot attribute the same historical reliability to the Fourth Gospel as to the Synoptics, especially to Mark" (p.138).

Some readers will almost certainly disagree with Klassen's methods. Many Christians hold to a view of the inspiration of Scripture that does not allow the reader to question the historical reliability of any narrative portion, especially the gospels. However, even those who find Klassen's approach objectionable might find it invigorating to interact with a biblical study that uses scholarly methods like historical and source criticism.

The book concludes with an imaginative "suicide note" from Judas where the grief-stricken disciple seeks to clarify his motives and where he begs for mercy from a God who, on occasion, needs to forgive even his most well-meaning followers.

Brian Larmour is a former teacher and Academic dean at Winkler Bible Institute. He is presently working on his Th.M thesis for Wycliffe College.