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F ormer President Jimmy Carter is the most famous Sunday-school teacher in America—a task he's been at since age 18. Even during his tenure as President, he taught Sunday school occasionally at the First Baptist Church of Washington. Today he continues teaching at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia. After the surprising success of his religious autobiography, Living Faith (Times Books, 1996), Carter worked on a sequel: Sources of Strength: Meditations on Scripture for a Living Faith, a selection of 52 out of the 1,600 Sunday-school lessons he has taught over the years. In a telephone interview with CHRISTIANITY TODAY, associate editor Richard A. Kauffman talked to Carter about everything from Sunday school and personal faith to the Southern Baptist Convention and world politics.

In 1957 Life magazine said that Sunday school was the most wasted hour of the week. You must disagree.
We have hundreds of people who come to Maranatha Baptist for the Sunday-school experience. One Sunday we had folks from 28 different nations. I realize that a lot of them come just to meet a former President. But a lot tell me afterwards, "This is the first time I've ever been in a church." Some say they would like to pursue religion more. So this book, I hope, will reach out to these people.

In Living Faith, you write that as a young person you had doubts about your faith. How do you deal with doubts now?
One of the facets of a sound Christian faith is to level with God about your doubts or disbelief, your lack of wisdom or strength. God can withstand tough, honest prayers. I try to face my doubts and fears forcefully with confidence that God will forgive me.

When Paul was asked what are the things that never change and are important, he replied: the things you cannot see. These things that you can-not see epitomize the life of Christ—justice, truth, peace, forgiveness, compassion, love, humility, service. These are the focus of the Christian faith.

How do you view the division between moderates and conservatives within your own denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention?
I would like very much to see this rift healed. This past week we had twenty-some leading conservative and moderate Baptists come to the Carter Center in Atlanta for a private session just to talk about where we can go from here, how we can heal the wounds that exist. I presided over the group. I asked everyone present not to make a single negative comment about any other Baptists, and we didn't. We just explored future directions in a positive fashion. We're going to follow up with some other private meetings, just exploring possible things on which we all can agree.

A lot of Christians, not just Baptists, have been alienated from active participation in the church—including some of my children—by the highly publicized disharmony that exists among Christians.

In Sources of Strength you mention your daughter Amy's reaction in particular.
Her participation in the church has been adversely affected by the Southern Baptist Convention's stance against the equal role of women in the church. Within our seminaries, a professor who espouses equality of women in the church is denied the right to teach. We have about 3,500 Baptist churches in Georgia; only one has a woman pastor. I believe that women should be treated equally with men in affairs of the church.

If you were invited to speak to a national gathering of the Christian Coalition, what would you say to them?
Last year I was on Pat Robertson's show, and we discussed our basic Christian faith. I disagree pretty strongly on some facets of their faith. For instance, separation of church and state. It's contrary to my beliefs to try to exalt Christianity as having some sort of preferential status in the United States. That violates the Constitution. I'm not in favor of mandatory prayer in school or of using public funds to finance religious education.

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March 2 1998, Vol. 42, No. 3