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Christianity Today, August (Web-Only), 2008 |

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Campus Crusader for Christ

Bill Bright is a compelling, flawed figure in John Turner's historical analysis of postwar evangelicalism.

Review by Collin Hansen | posted 8/07/2008 09:36AM

Bill Bright and Campus Crusade for Christ: The Renewal of Evangelicalism in Postwar America
by John G. Turner
University of North Carolina Press
304 pp., $19.95 (paperback)

"God loves you and has a wonderful ...

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Chaplain Mary Murphy

Posted: August 13, 2008 7:04 PM

Help us bring healing for Brother Bill in Heaven - tax-exempt donations to Veterans Village Lakewood Colorado for those Wounded Warriors who request an alternative to incarceration when their felony can be directly traced to untreated PTSD/Traumatic Brain Injuries; learning business ownership as members first www.Veterans Chamber of Commerce.org within a nondualistic 12 Step "Admit we are powerless over alcohol our lives have become unmanageable...Higher Power is restoring us to sanity"; Bill Bright was a member of the Calvary Temple Second Mile Committee who did not check the facts of how Pastor (sic) Charles Blair was again livinig his Hebrews 6:6 Spiritual Adultery. He, like Bill, allowing the powers and principalities to deceive them with their partisan politics; i.e., military might and evangelism - anti-intellectualism - healing waits to bring John l4:12 "Greater works will you do than I for I go to My Father" The War Widows, Veteransjustice@aol.com Lakewood Colorado

Eileen R.

Posted: August 13, 2008 3:26 PM

I thank God for the simple basic message of the 4 Spiritual Laws booklet and the simple basic booklet on How to be Filled with the Holy Spirit. At UND, while in CCC, I grew in faith and began to understand it more fully. I was in an action group that taught the basics of living the Christian life and taught me how to study the Bible. They never claimed to be a church or to be the only way to learn about the Bible. We are told to evangelize the world. I use the way of life evangelism techniques I learned while I was involved in CCC. The concerns about communism were legit. Have you seen what some of our seminaries are producing for pastors? Of all the parachurch organizations that exist, I trust CCC most. If you don't receive salvation, you can't grow in Christ or fully understand theology. CCC never told us to park our brains at the door. The meetings challenged me both intellectually and spiritually.

Norm Luke

Posted: August 11, 2008 6:48 AM


The Four Spiritual Laws is not evangelism, it is salesmanship --- something that you Americans love. It trivializes the Gospel and is simplistic to the point of stupidity. Its like the Jesus bumber stickers, which are advertising, not witness. Witness is not what advertising you have on the car; witness is how you drive the car.

Ephrem Hagos

Posted: August 09, 2008 3:15 AM

An invitation to receive Christ based on presentation of Bright's Four Spiritual Laws, or the claims of Christ, is not at all in acccordance to the character and teaching of Jesus and the testimny of His Apostles. To continue accepting the four Laws is to tolerate someone who comes preaching a different Jesus and a gospel and spirit completely different from the original (2 Cor. 11:4)! There is no better way than identifying the actual "the cause" and "effect" of His death on the cross in order to know who Jesus Christ is as a basis for sustainable faith (www.the2keys.com).

John Mark

Posted: August 08, 2008 10:38 AM


So Bill Bright was flawed. You could insert any name in that headline (Billy Graham, Jimmy Carter, Rick Warren, Luther, Wesley, Calvin; the list is literally endless) and be on the money. My death will not inspire any biographers, and frankly I am glad. I wish I had no flaws. But I wish more that I could be as compelling as Bright was.

G Bauman

Posted: August 08, 2008 7:10 AM

"...staff members raise their own financial support, a practice pioneered by Crusade that has become standard among missionaries." As a "faith missionary" in a different mission organization, I must say that I appreciate the zeal and heart of the many CCC missionaries I have known on the field. However, the reviewer is mistaken in affirming that CCC "pioneered" the concept of missionaries raising their own financial support. Bright only continued a practice that was already in use by such missionary statesmen as Hudson Taylor in the 1800's. And the "standard" today? Perhaps... but there are still many Protestant missionaries who are selected and funded by their own denominations, which assume the responsibility of raising the necessary funding---most notably the Southern Baptists.

Bill Hamilton

Posted: August 08, 2008 6:07 AM

I've been on the staff of Campus Crusade for 28 years now. I am not so naïve about our problems as one might expect, but what Christian organization doesn't have its problems and detractors? Some say we're too shallow, but don't forget that we are "parachurch," which means we exist to complement the Church in some needed areas (e.g., evangelizing college students). By encouraging our staff and students to join solid, Bible-teaching churches, we assume their "deeper" theological needs will be met. But I join Paul Washer and John Piper in affirming that the "deepest" theological truth is all about salvation. When you get past the "shallow method" and study what the gospel really is, you come back to the simple gospel, as outlined in 1 Cor. 15 - but with all its theological significance attached. That's why Dr. Bright has said of The Four Spiritual Laws: "It's profoundly simple and simple profound." May we never "recover" from the gospel, which is the only "power unto salvation!"

B. R.

Posted: August 08, 2008 12:33 AM

I came to faith in Christ in the 60’s at the University of California at Berkeley. I will remain indebted to Campus Crusade for Christ for their philosophy of evangelism. I was a typical cynical atheist who scoffed at all the ridiculous “church stuff” I saw growing up. There were a host of crazies on the campus (non students), preaching every day to the mocking crowds. It was a fun circus to be involved in with no admission fee. It was only because an intelligent Christian, saved through Campus Crusade, took an “aggressive” interest in me, and explained the gospel in a way that made sense that I subsequently came to Christ. Yes, I needed much more than the simple theology of Bill Bright and the right wing politics of much of Campus Crusade to convince me and keep me growing. In those days, many of us read Francis Shaefer and C.S. Lewis—invaluable at the time. I am thankful that I did not grow up in a typical church which offers small fare in terms of a world vision and evangelism.

Susan

Posted: August 07, 2008 4:57 PM

The truth is God loves us, and the wonderful plan, is the gift of Himself, not necessarily an amazing, or even successful life. I grew up in the era of "4 spiritual laws", and the "wonderful life" concept. When things in my life did not work out as promised by my youth leaders, I went through a period of doubt and confusion. As I have struggled to understand the Gospel message, I have been helped by authors such as Philip Yancey, C.S. Lewis, and the like. What I am coming to believe is that God has promised to be with us, no matter what. He is God, and not necessarily interested in my success or happiness as defined by the world. What matters to Him is that I have an intimate, vital relationship with Jesus, and love those around me. What is truly wonderful is that the God of the universe desires to be in relationship with us fallen creatures!

Roberto

Posted: August 07, 2008 3:36 PM

Leroy hit the nail on the head. In my ignorance I handed out dozens on dozens of 4 Spiritual Laws booklets while at university. This booklet has about as much to do with the good news of Jesus as presented in the Gospels and explained by St. Paul as the Chick Tracks I used to read while suffering through the fire and brimstone sermons of the neo-fundamentalist pastor at the church in my home town. I am sorry, but Bright's paint by the number approach mis-characterizes the message of the Gospel writers, and then asks the bewildered listener/reader to say a cookie cutter prayer in order to get his/her ticket to heaven, as if the goods news of Jesus was a marketing campaign. That the 4 laws is the gospel message would be a surprise to the Gospel writers and to St. Paul. If you really think that God's creation/covenant boil down to the choice between (1) a self-directed life and (2) a Christ directed life, please take the time to read the NT, rather than Bible tracks for your theology.

Kai	Posted: August 07, 2008 2:56 PM

The truth that God loves you and has a plan for your life would upset someone is mind boggling. The narrow minded intellect that would decipher the peace of God that far surpasses anything that could or would come against us, as something unobtainable is a sad testimony to the faith of anyone who would make that comment. Bill Brights approach was not that of someone who taught the financial, possessions prosperity message, it was a spiritual message of fulfillment. Perhaps Leroy misses this in his life and his comments are made from staring out of rose tainted glasses. I mean that sincerely. You can be sick, poor, in a troubling situation, and yet still obtain and posses a fulfilling knowledge of being in the right place with God that would bring an incredible sense of fulfillment. It isn't measure by what you have or what you don't have, it is measure by a growing and deep relationship with the Prince of Peace.

DS	Posted: August 07, 2008 2:09 PM


“…hard nose autocrat?” A rather modest statement. Based on my own first-hand experience, the Crusade empire was built with an ample amount of political ruthlessness initiated directly by Bill Bright. He did not suffer those who disagreed with him, and an occasional execution (figuratively speaking) served to maintain order in the ranks. See http://withChrist.org/CCC.htm

K.	Posted: August 07, 2008 1:59 PM


The "God loves you and has a plan for your life" is not misleading, it's Biblical. Granted, there's a lot more to Christianity than the Four Spiritual Laws, but then again, they're Biblical too. Now, Campus Crusade might be a tad conservative for some, but it is effective at relating to and evangelizing, and not misleading, college students.

Clay	Posted: August 07, 2008 1:51 PM

Leroy, your judgmental attitude toward Bill Bright is sinful. The fact that you can call into question even his faith is more telling about you than it is about him. I came to Jesus through the ministry of CCC in 1974, using a Four Spiritual Laws I "borrowed" from my roommate's desk. I served on CCC staff for two years, later married an ex-CCC staffer, and have been in fruitful ministry for over 30 years. We now write books, and help parents raise godly children. We often remark how much of our passion and strategy for ministry began with CCC. The first law is simply a starting point, not the whole gospel. It promises no more or less than what Scripture says, that God loves you (Jn 3:16), and has provided a way of salvation (the "plan") that is explained in Laws 2-4. That first statement may be "simple," but it is not "simple minded." Perhaps you are a Militant Reformed type who is so theologically myopic you have lost any sense of God's love. If not, then you're just plain mean.

Leroy

Posted: August 07, 2008 1:16 PM

I am sorry, but Bill Bright's bumper sticker mentality approach to the Christian faith has done far more harm than good. That "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life" is misleading, disingenuous and leads to a painful mischaracteriztion of the Christian faith as presented in the biblical text. The Four Spiritual Laws tract is as offensive as it is simple minded. The "good news" is not that God has a wonderful plan for your life as if the reason Jesus became a man, fulfilled the role/function the Israel's Messiah and is now the Lord of God's new creation was to provide those who follow him with a magic blue print for their lives, which would lead to their personal happiness and fulfillment or a wonderful life. And the Blue Book on the Holy Spirit is even worse. I don't know if Bright loved Jesus or not, only God knows his heart, but his mumbo jumbo approach to evangelism mischaracterized the Christian faith into getting your ticket to heaven propaganda.

jm	Posted: August 07, 2008 1:12 PM


Responding to M Van Tassell: I didn't see a lot of judgment in the article. And why is "the heart" the only key to judging? "By their fruit you will recognize them." Matt 7:16. Sounds like there was plenty of good fruit on display here along with a few things worth questioning.

M Van Tassell

Posted: August 07, 2008 12:39 PM


We must leave judgement to the Lord, only He knows the heart.

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