KirbyJon Caldwell, who delivered a prayer at one of President Bush’s inauguration, predicts that Rick Warren will have to pray “in Jesus’s name” when he gives the invocation in a few weeks. (Hat tip: GetReligion)
“If Rick Warren does not pray in Jesus’ name, some folks are going to be very disappointed,” [Rev. Kirbyjon] Caldwell said in a recent phone interview. “Since he’s evangelical, his own tribe, if you will, will have some angst if he does not do that.”
But the question is not whether he prays in Jesus’ name. Billy Graham prayed in Jesus’ name and no one complained. It was Franklin Graham, Billy’s son, who took it a step further, asking listeners to “acknowledge You alone as our Lord, our Savior and Redeemer.” Big difference. The father prayed in Jesus’s name; the son demanded that all Americans acknowledge Christ as savior.
Moreover, as Joel Hunter and Donald Miller showed at the Democratic convention, there are ways of keeping true to your faith while being inclusive at the same time.
UPDATE/CLARIFICATION: Cathy Grossman at USAToday pinged me to point out that Billy Graham didn’t pray in Jesus’ name. Technically, that’s true. He prayed “in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” He didn’t use the J-word the way Franklin did or KirbyJon Calwell did.
Back in 2001, scholar Martin Marty scolded the two preachers at the time, “The final prayer rather ruled out a lot of people…It implied that if you didn’t join in, you were an outsider. People don’t mind the prayers, they mind that assumption of exclusivism and Christian privilege. This is an event not only for the president, it’s for all the people of the United States. The problem with saying Jesus is that it cuts off access to the Father for Muslims, Jews and others.”
I basically agree with Marty that Franklin’s and KirbyJon’s prayers did cross that line. But by his logic, didn’t Billy Graham also cross that line when he prayed “in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” I’m not aware of any other deities besides Jesus who go by that particular appelation.
I think maybe we’re going soft on Billy Graham because, well, he’s Billy Graham.
posted January 5, 2009 at 10:43 pm
Rev. Dr. Joseph Echols Lowery (87-year-old) of Atlanta, “the dean of the civil rights movement,” will be delivering the benediction at Obama’s inaugural. Rev. Lowery is a retired United Methodist Church (UMC) pastor. The media seems to focus on Warren and ignore Lowery.
I think both Rev Warren and Rev Lowery should only do an inclusive prayer, such as the above referenced Democratic convention prayers. It is not right to have specific religions at a public government event.
Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell and Rev. Joseph Lowery are both UMC pastors. Rev. Caldwell, Houston’s Windsor Village United Methodist Church, is on the far right and Rev Lowery is moderate to left. The UMC is mostly moderate or leaning to the left. Caldwell considers himself to be an Evangelical. I consider him to be a hypocrite because of his defense of George W. Bush and other reasons. Caldwell married Bush’s daughter last year. Caldwell was involved in the “pray the gay away” movement.
Rev. Lowery gave passionate speeches at several UMC all church conventions in support of changing the church’s position on gays. There has been considerable controversy about gays in the UMC for many years. It will eventually get changed to allow ordination and marriage/civil unions for gays in the church.
Rev Warren has attacked Rev. Lowery and Rev Caldwell’s church
Methodist was one of three mainline churches specifically mentioned by Warren in his interview with Steven Waldman. Warren said mainline churches do not care about Jesus, the Cross, repentance, and are “Marxist in Christian Clothing.” Warren has made all of the statements on multiple occasions.
“Rick Warren: Mainline Church Problems Need Evangelical Solution” Jan. 28 2008
http://tinyurl.com/7hfmjw
I think the getreligion article is wrong about Caldwell being a spiritual adviser to President-elect Obama. After removing his anti-gay stuff from his church’s website, he endorsed Obama. I have never heard anything about Caldwell advising Obama.
Caldwell started the website, “James Dobson Does Not Speak for Me,” after Dobson’s attack on Obama.
Caldwell was a spiritual adviser to President Bush, while the UMC was writing letters to Bush about not starting the Iraq war, getting out of Iraq, and torture. The UMC asked members to write a letter to Bush saying “United Methodist Do Not Torture.”