The Late, Great 1988

NEWS

NEWS ANALYSIS

Dominated by a presidential election and peppered with controversy involving issues and individuals, 1988 comes to an end.

A decade or so ago, America discovered evangelical Christians. In 1988, evangelicals continued to discover themselves, testing their political and cultural strength on various fronts. They discovered that their power is real, but limited. They were strong enough, for example, to run a serious candidate for President, but not strong enough to win. They had the strength to effect changes in a controversial movie about Jesus Christ, but not to foil the project, which many deemed blasphemous.

Limitations on what Christians were able to accomplish, however, most likely revealed more of a lack of unity than of strength. While thousands took to the streets, whether to protest abortion or The Last Temptation of Christ, much of the believing community dissented, citing issues of both substance and style. If the myth of an evangelical monolith had any life left in it when 1988 began, the last 12 months ought to have laid it permanently to rest.

Election Year

Nowhere was the diversity of America’s evangelical community more evident than in the process that led to the selection of the forty-first U.S. President. To some Christians and secular observers, it seemed that Pat Robertson, who rose to national prominence within the evangelical community, should have been the obvious choice among Christians.

Three of Robertson’s political opponents, including President-elect George Bush, shared Robertson’s long-time turf at the annual convention of the National Religious Broadcasters. Early in the campaign, Jerry Falwell announced his support for Bush. Candidates Robert Dole and Jack Kemp also attracted widespread support from evangelical ranks.

At times Robertson’s political battle, particularly with Bush, turned bitter, as novices brought in by Robertson clashed with long-time party regulars. Robertson was plagued by questions about his religious views, including his history of receiving “words of knowledge” from the Lord.

He also made what many regarded as major public relations blunders, such as his suggestion that the Reagan administration should catch up with the Christian Broadcasting Network news team, which, Robertson claimed, at one point knew the whereabouts of American hostages in Lebanon. Robertson’s bid came to a grinding halt after his dismal performance on “Super Tuesday” in March.

Evangelicals nevertheless contributed to the formation of the Republican party platform, and were visible at the GOP national convention. On the Democratic side, candidate Jesse Jackson received an implied endorsement at the twenty-fifth anniversary meeting of the National Black Evangelical Association and garnered overwhelming support from the black church community.

The Just Life political action committee released an election guide rating senators and congressmen according to their views on abortion, nuclear arms, and the poor. In the race for President, the major prolife organizations portrayed Bush as the only choice, reasoning that the next President, through appointments to the Supreme Court, would likely have the opportunity to lay the foundation for overturning Roe v. Wade. That rationale will now be tested.

Taking To The Streets

Thousands of abortion opponents decided in 1988 that they had waited long enough on the legislative process. Much to the dismay of many in traditional prolife ranks, a crusade known as the “rescue movement” emerged with the strategy of blocking entrances to abortion clinics.

Across the nation, thousands were arrested for trespassing. Much of the movement’s efforts centered on Atlanta, where in October frustrated police resorted to methods usually reserved for armed criminals. Late in October, a national day of rescue resulted in some 3,000 arrests in 30 cities nationwide. Among those to endorse the movement were James Kennedy, James Dobson, and Jerry Falwell.

Falwell and Dobson were active also in an effort to prevent the release of the controversial film The Last Temptation of Christ. When the effort did not succeed, Falwell and Donald Wildmon, of the American Family Association, announced massive boycotts of Universal films and all the business interests of Universal’s parent company, MCA, Inc.

Some within the evangelical community, however, criticized these tactics, claiming they drew more attention to the film than it would have otherwise received. And while many protested at screenings of the film, others passed out invitations to viewers to come to church and discuss the Jesus of Scripture.

Public Morality

Christians viewed the year’s developments on the legislative front with mixed emotions. The controversial Civil Rights Restoration Act passed, but with an amendment prohibiting the denial of federal funds to groups that oppose abortion. The measure’s ambiguous language, however, left in doubt whether organizations had the right to discriminate on the basis of homosexual practice.

The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that hiring a surrogate mother to bear a child violates state laws and offends public policy. And the U.S. Supreme Court, in what one attorney called the most important church-state decision in a decade, ruled that groups that counsel teenagers to avoid premarital sex nevertheless qualify for federal funds.

However, despite protest from prolife groups, an advisory committee of the National Institutes of Health issued preliminary approval of the experimental use of aborted fetuses. And Canada’s Supreme Court legalized abortion for reasons other than the health of the mother, inspiring some 25,000 Canadian Christians to march on Parliament Hill in Ottawa as part of that country’s largest prolife rally.

The Top Ten Stories

The following were selected by the CHRISTIANITY TODAY news staff as the top stories reported in the magazine during 1988:

1. The presidential election. In the process, Christians lined up behind different candidates, but abortion opponents considered George Bush’s election an important victory.

2. Religious glasnost. The celebration of 1,000 years of Christianity in the Soviet Union appeared to loosen the bonds of religious oppression.

3. Jimmy Swaggart. The downfall of the former top television preacher cast further doubt on the integrity of televangelism.

4. The rescue movement. Thousands of abortion opponents, most of them Christians, were arrested for blocking entrances to abortion clinics.

5. The Last Temptation of Christ. A controversial movie about Jesus Christ directed by Martin Scorsese spawned a wave of protest coordinated by Christian leaders.

6. Mainliners move Right. Led by the largest mainline Protestant denomination, the United Methodist Church, there was a general conservative shift on social and theological issues.

7. Billy Graham in China. During his three-week visit, the world’s best-known evangelist received Chinese media attention unprecedented for a Western religious figure.

8. Pat Robertson falls short. After making waves in Iowa, the founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network faded fast, but nevertheless addressed the Republican party’s national convention.

9. Sun Myung Moon’s quest for legitimacy. The Unification Church continued to seek support from conservative Christians, partly through seeking participation in a political coalition with Unification Church ties.

10. AIDS. Despite their continued condemnation of homosexual behavior—still the biggest cause for the spread of the disease—conservative believers moved in the direction of ministry to AIDS victims.

On The Right Path

Overall, for evangelicals within mainline denominations, 1988 was a very good year. The highest law-making body of the United Methodist Church overwhelmingly adopted a new theological statement that emphasizes the primacy of Scripture and the importance of doctrinal affirmations—as opposed to theological pluralism.

Prolife groups within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Episcopal Church gained ground, as their denominations adopted language soundly rejecting abortion as a method of birth control. Meanwhile, the 1.6 million-member American Baptist denomination retreated from its position of advocacy for abortion rights.

Southern Baptist conservatives, for the tenth straight year, won the presidency of the Southern Baptist Convention, but the vote was close and the long-standing battle over biblical inerrancy showed no signs of waning. And in what some viewed as an exception to the general rightward theological shift, Episcopalians from the Diocese of Massachusetts selected Barbara Harris as the first female bishop in the history of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

More Questions Of Integrity

On the heels of the televangelist scandals of 1987 came television preacher Jimmy Swaggart’s confession in February of having visited a prostitute. Swaggart was subsequently dismissed by the Assemblies of God for refusing to submit to church discipline. Meanwhile, fallen evangelist Jim Bakker unsuccessfully attempted to buy back the PTL empire he founded.

But the controversial book On Thin Ice revealed that theological conservatives may not have the corner on this market. Written by Roy HowardBeck, formerly of the United Methodist Reporter, the book disclosed allegations from unnamed sources of sexual misconduct in the upper ranks of mainline denominations.

Questions of financial integrity also surfaced in 1988. The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability dismissed three organizations, including a charter member. And amid protests from students who said they were misled, the Oral Roberts University School of Medicine canceled, then later redefined, its medical-scholarship program. School officials refused to answer questions of how some $8.4 million raised for the program was spent.

Finally, more than three million copies of the book On Borrowed Time, in which the rapture of God’s people from the Earth was set for September, were distributed. The book’s author, Edgar Whisenant, later revised his prediction to October 3, and will likely finish the year 0 for 2.

The Road To Freedom

The millennial celebration of Christianity in the Soviet Union focused international attention on religious freedom there. And in the minds of many, Soviet leadership responded favorably, loosening restrictions on the flow of religious literature and the Christian education of children, and releasing some Christians from psychiatric hospitals.

Some observers remained skeptical, given the Soviet government’s official view that Marxist communism and religion are ultimately incompatible. But Josef Tson, a widely known Baptist pastor and refugee from Romania, told World magazine that the current restructuring in the Soviet Union represents the end of the U.S.S.R.’s communist experiment.

Meanwhile, despite continued persecution in some areas of China, Christians there generally reported a greater openness to religion, as illustrated by the increased publication of Christian literature within the country. During the visit to China of evangelist Billy Graham, who turned 70 this year, a high-ranking Chinese government official admitted publicly to past mistakes regarding the treatment of Christians.

The spiritual and physical challenges to the worldwide body of Christ in 1988 were many and varied. In some parts of Africa, including Mozambique, the Sudan, and Ethiopia, drought and civil strife contributed to widespread human suffering. The spread of AIDS complicated missionary efforts in Central Africa, while Christians in South Africa continued to weigh alternatives in the struggle against apartheid.

The small Christian population in the island nation of Sri Lanka sought to mediate ethnic tensions between Buddhists and Hindus, while the perennial violence between Protestants and Roman Catholics in Northern Ireland persisted. And a major Palestinian uprising in the Israeli occupied territories heightened concern among Palestinian believers about Western Christians’ apparent uncritical support for Israel.

In some countries, including El Salvador and the Philippines, fragile democracies were tested. Meanwhile, Christians offered differing interpretations of the truce between warring factions in Nicaragua and the ensuing attempts at consolidating power on the part of that country’s Marxist leaders.

In Burma, there was social revolution, in Haiti another coup. But in virtually all the cultural contexts around the globe, Christians, often amid political disagreement, pressed on with the work of determining how best to be salt and light in a fallen world.

By Randy Frame.

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