America voted this man as the third most-admired person globally in 2012 – after Obama and Mandela! Since 1955, he has featured 56 times amongst the top ten in the annual poll of the world’s most admired living individuals! Who the hell is Billy Graham and how can he, well, save the world?
“But God forbid that I should Glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” – reads the verse posted in big letters on the wall of Billy Graham’s office in Montreat, North Carolina. Graham is clearly a typical evangelist; and has been for decades. In any educated society, evangelists in general, despite having a following in the conservative belt, would not be eulogised and admired by the mass population. For every sycophantic follower an evangelist might have, there would be tens looking down upon the typical sacred spiel being spewed out.
Clearly, in the case of Mr. Graham, we couldn’t have been further from the truth! He has been one of the most admired and, most in the know mention, rightfully glorified personas in the US. As per Gallup, which conducts an annual poll of the World’s Most Admired Living Individuals, the 94 year old modern day ecclesiast has been amongst the top ten in the list 56 times since 1955, more than any other man. And to imagine that those in Asia, the world’s most populated continent, have not even heard of this charismatic pulpitarian
In the latest Gallup poll, whose results were released just last month, Billy Graham again easily qualified on the 3rd spot (Obama and Mandela took the first and second positions respectively; Romney, unbelievably, had to settle for a tied 3rd spot with Graham). If you thought that the reason for Billy’s amazing following is simply his godly predicant bent, then one wonders why the Pope couldn’t beat him on this most admired persons list. For information, Pope Benedict XVI, like Romney, had to be content being tied at the third spot with Billy. A 2005 poll in America revealed that one in six adult Americans have heard Graham in person while 52% have heard him on radio and 85% of them have seen him in television. More importantly a massive 66% view him favourably while 20% were critical of him.
So, what makes him so belligerently popular among the Americans? A seat of the pants answer to that would be that he preaches better than the best preacher you would’ve heard. Billy Graham started to appeal to the masses since beginning preaching in the early 1940s. The 1940s was an era marked by destruction, violence and destabilization of the economy and the nation was devoid of an inspirational spiritual leader of sorts. Graham was able to immediately strike a chord with people recovering from the ravages of the war with his preaching for peace.
“But God forbid that I should Glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” – reads the verse posted in big letters on the wall of Billy Graham’s office in Montreat, North Carolina. Graham is clearly a typical evangelist; and has been for decades. In any educated society, evangelists in general, despite having a following in the conservative belt, would not be eulogised and admired by the mass population. For every sycophantic follower an evangelist might have, there would be tens looking down upon the typical sacred spiel being spewed out.
Clearly, in the case of Mr. Graham, we couldn’t have been further from the truth! He has been one of the most admired and, most in the know mention, rightfully glorified personas in the US. As per Gallup, which conducts an annual poll of the World’s Most Admired Living Individuals, the 94 year old modern day ecclesiast has been amongst the top ten in the list 56 times since 1955, more than any other man. And to imagine that those in Asia, the world’s most populated continent, have not even heard of this charismatic pulpitarian
In the latest Gallup poll, whose results were released just last month, Billy Graham again easily qualified on the 3rd spot (Obama and Mandela took the first and second positions respectively; Romney, unbelievably, had to settle for a tied 3rd spot with Graham). If you thought that the reason for Billy’s amazing following is simply his godly predicant bent, then one wonders why the Pope couldn’t beat him on this most admired persons list. For information, Pope Benedict XVI, like Romney, had to be content being tied at the third spot with Billy. A 2005 poll in America revealed that one in six adult Americans have heard Graham in person while 52% have heard him on radio and 85% of them have seen him in television. More importantly a massive 66% view him favourably while 20% were critical of him.
So, what makes him so belligerently popular among the Americans? A seat of the pants answer to that would be that he preaches better than the best preacher you would’ve heard. Billy Graham started to appeal to the masses since beginning preaching in the early 1940s. The 1940s was an era marked by destruction, violence and destabilization of the economy and the nation was devoid of an inspirational spiritual leader of sorts. Graham was able to immediately strike a chord with people recovering from the ravages of the war with his preaching for peace.
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