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How To Be Born Again
By Billy Graham
Waco, Texas, Word Books, 1977. 187 pp. $6.95.

It has been the genius of the premier revivalists in our land that they have been able to make a profound impression upon the American public through the medium of the spoken word. Billy Graham is the latest in the procession of such figures, stretching back to George Whitefield, who have used the combination of personality and aptness of message to capture the attention of most of the people, and to speak to the needs of at least some of them. The potency of Graham's verbal capacities cannot be gainsaid, especially when we consider the relative effectiveness with which he has used to advantage the developments in the field of broadcasting which were unavailable to his predecessors. Many who have little sympathy for the content or purposes of

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Graham's preaching will allow a mite of grudging admiration for the sheer impressiveness of the man as he proclaims his understanding of evangelical Christianity to vast audiences, both "live" and stay-at home.

It naturally follows from this reputation that the things Billy Graham writes will enjoy similar popularity to the things he says. How to Be Born Again is the latest of several books written or roughed out by Graham in the course of his ministry. It clearly promises to be a best-seller in the religious world, simply because he is the author. Word Books was not taking a flier on an unknown scribbler when they printed eight hundred thousand copies of the book in the first batch. It will be a staple for evangelical table talk for some months to come.

Certainly the title does nothing to impair the potential of the book. Many observers esteem the born-again syndrome to be the most important religious news event in America in the latter '70s, so the topic is current. Graham says in the preface, however, that he was at work on this book even before the Carter/Colson/Cleaver testimonies made spiritual rebirth marketable copy for the papers. Probably we should neither doubt the coincidence nor ascribe any special prescience to him in this regard, since the main emphases of the book are entirely consonant with the burden of his preaching through the years.

The book is divided into three major sections: Man's (sic) Problem-(he means the human condition); God's answer; and Man's (ditto) Response. This approach recollects the outlines of numerous Graham sermons, irrespective of text, and it seems to be an honest representation of the essentials of his theology. In the first section, root questions of life are raised in the conventional Graham mode: Why is my life empty? How can I find God? Can God really help me? The section which follows provides Graham's understanding of the things that are central to God's saving act in the incarnation: the deity of Christ, the meaning(s) of the atonement, the doctrine of justification, and the reality of bodily resurrection. In the final section, he deals with important changes that take place in the life of the person who has been born again, such as repentance, faith, and growth in grace.

Graham says in his preface that he intends to produce a helpful guidebook for those who are willing to raise the question embodied in the title. He states further that he does not write for "theologians or philosophers." His only intention is to bring his readers face to face with true Christianity. As might be expected, much of the material in the book has a homiletic ring to it. The cynic might suppose that Graham has either borrowed from his "barrel" or prepared the stuffing for some future preachments, but this is vintage Graham nonetheless. The language is simple and direct. The style is the folksy, random mode of presentation which has become his trademark. There is, of course, a profusion of illustrations, with little stories often strung together in anecdotal necklaces around this or that point of discussion. And then, there are occasional patches of proof texts, and invitations, long and short, to join the company of those who have been reborn. In

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fine, Graham has written the same things, pure and simple, that he has been preaching to the American-and world-audiences for three decades.

But to say this is not necessarily to commend the book as particularly helpful or useful. There are certain things that ought to be added about the adequacy of such material when it is offered as a primer of sorts for Christian faith. First of all, simplicity all too easily gives way to simplism in this work. One does not forego the necessity of theological responsibility merely by avowing the intention to write a "practical" book. Graham's anecdotal Christianity is sometimes a disappointing parody of the real thing. Secondly, despite his ingenuousness and avowed catholicity, Graham divulges his advocacy of a particular-and painfully narrow theological stance in a way which is as judgmental as that of many other true believers. The laid-back rationalism of Josh McDowell's fundamentalist summa is his favorite source for ammunition, and along with this comes the usual number of gratuitous slams against the intellectual side of Christianity and the occasional lovelessness which is the companion of dogmatism.

A third matter of concern is the way in which the book seems curiously dated. The writer speaks of the problems and anxieties of contemporary humanity in a rhetoric which conjures images of the'50s rather than the '70s. It raises the possibility that, when all is said and done, Billy Graham is actually an antique of a former day, left (as were some of his revivalist predecessors) to ply his approach in an era which may have passed him by but still defers to his image. Popularity has never been a consistent index of effectiveness.

It is exceedingly difficult to predict the impact of a book such as this. It will doubtless be read by many, and it will probably do some good for some-or at least stir them to find substantial guidance elsewhere. In all likelihood, however, it will be more a weathervane of its reading audience than a guidepost for those who seriously raise the question of Christian commitment.

John W. Kuykendall
Auburn University
Auburn, Alabama