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In short, Graham became for the youth of the Age of Aquarius what he had been for the zoot-suiters and bobby-soxers of the 1940s: not only a culturally savvy evangelist but an influential friend and advocate.

His final impact on the "Jesus Generation" is impossible to measure. But in a fascinating account of this period, "'One Way': Billy Graham, the Jesus Generation, and the Idea of an Evangelical Youth Culture" (Church History 67 [March 1998], 83-106), historian Larry Eskridge suggests a thought exercise to help us gauge that impact:

"It is tempting to speculate," says Eskridge, "what might have occurred had someone as visible and important in evangelical circles as Billy Graham actively led a fight against the Jesus People, their music, worship styles, and relational stance to the larger youth culture. Surely, such a crusade would have slowed the development of the evangelical youth culture that evolved in the 1970s and 1980s."

More positively, Eskridge argues, "Without the welcoming arms of Billy Graham and other evangelical leaders, there would have been no bridge 'back' for thousands of refugees from the counterculture-just another disillusioning hassle and prolonged battle with another facet of the Establishment." What the sympathetic advocacy of a prominent figure like Graham did was to preserve a "middle ground" upon which the day's adolescents could negotiate the "mine fields of culture and identity" that perennially confront that age group.

Graham's high-profile sojourn with the Jesus People, like his earlier efforts with Youth for Christ, helped ensure the continued growth of Christian youth culture. And it did so by smoothing the way for thousands of prodigal sons and daughters to return to the "old-fashioned" Christian faith of their parents.

This newsletter amounts to a summary of Larry Eskridge's vivid and penetrating article in Church History, mentioned above. I highly recommend it, if you can track it down.

Among other sources, Eskridge cites the following on the Jesus Movement: Robert S. Ellwood, One Way: The Jesus Movement and its Meaning (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1973), David DiSabatino, "History of the Jesus Movement" (M.A. Thesis, McMaster University, 1994), and Ronald M. Enroth, Edward E. Ericson Jr., And C. Breckinridge Peters, The Jesus People: Old-Time Religion in the Age of Aquarius (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1972).

For more on Graham's youth-culture activities, see standard biographies such as those by John Pollock and William Martin.

Chris Armstrong is managing editor of Christian History magazine.

Copyright © 2002 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information

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