Modern witnesses

Billy Graham

1918 to 2018 · United States

Billy Graham (1918 to 2018) was an American evangelist who preached the gospel in person to more people than anyone in history, an estimated 215 million across some 185 countries. Through stadium crusades, radio, film, and television, and a simple call to come to Christ, he became the best-known Christian preacher of the twentieth century and a counselor to presidents. He kept his message and his finances above reproach across a long public life.

Life and context

Graham was born on a dairy farm near Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1918 and was converted at sixteen under a traveling evangelist. His 1949 Los Angeles crusade brought national fame, and in 1950 he founded the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the Hour of Decision broadcast. Early on he and his team adopted the Modesto Manifesto, a set of commitments guarding against the money, sexual, and pride scandals that had wrecked other evangelists. He prayed with every United States president from Truman to Obama. Honesty requires noting a real failure: private remarks he made with Richard Nixon in 1972 included antisemitic comments; when the recordings surfaced decades later, Graham publicly apologized and repudiated them. He died in 2018 at ninety-nine.

What he taught and wrote

Graham’s preaching was strikingly simple: the Bible says, you are a sinner, God loves you, Christ died and rose for you, so come to him tonight. Each crusade ended with an invitation to walk forward and trust Christ, often as the choir sang ‘Just As I Am.’ He wrote Peace with God, the autobiography Just As I Am, and The Journey, among others.

What his witness points us to

For all his reach, Graham kept pointing away from himself to Jesus. His life underlines the plain center of the Christian message, that God loves you and Christ has opened the way, and that the only thing left is to come.

Frequently asked questions

Who was Billy Graham?

Billy Graham (1918 to 2018) was an American evangelist who preached in person to an estimated 215 million people across some 185 countries, becoming the best-known Christian preacher of the twentieth century.

How many people heard Billy Graham preach?

Graham is estimated to have preached in person to about 215 million people in more than 185 countries, and to many more through radio, television, and film, more than any preacher in history.

What did Billy Graham teach?

Graham preached a simple gospel: every person is a sinner, God loves them, Christ died and rose to save them, and they should come to him in faith. His crusades ended with an invitation to trust Christ.