In the past, Graham
had sometimes been accused of being insincere and mostly interested
in money, such as the fictional Elmer Gantry in the novel by Sinclair
Lewis. However, years of holding crusades around the country under
stringent financial controls and Graham’s personal contacts
with reporters, editors and opinion makers had almost totally silenced
these critics. There were two other lines of criticism that were
at full force in New York.
Liberal Protestants associated with the National Council of Churches
had long complained that Graham’s brand of evangelism was
not concerned with social justice and the impact of Christianity
on society, only with individual conversions. Reinhold Neibur,
in an article in Life magazine, summarized this view.
More serious were the complaints from some Fundamentalists that
Graham, by accepting an invitation that included a wide spectrum
of churches, was confusing converts and diluting his message by
reaching a compromise with theological liberalism. They were particularly
concerned that the information cards of some new converts would
be turned over to liberal or Catholic churches to be followed
up on. Bob Jones Sr. had long severely criticized Graham on this
theme. The New York crusade marked the final break between Graham
and some Fundamentalist supporters, such as John R. Rice. Other
leaders, such as Jack Wyrtzen, remained friends but privately
chided the crusade because of what they saw as undue liberal influence.
Graham consistently maintained that he would accept support from
anyone, provided there were no restrictions on the Gospel message
he preached. The dispute during the crusade led Graham’s
research associate, Dr. Robert Ferm, to publish a book explaining
the basis for the BGEA’s methods, called Cooperative Evangelism.
Although Graham rarely responded personally to critics, he had
answered some of the more common complaints in an article in Look
magazine that appeared February 7, 1956. A reprint of this article
was widely distributed by the crusade staff during the New York