I remember a certain speech by Billy Graham at a large stadium in a big American city that I watched on Canadian television. I do not remember the name of this city and the exact date, I only know that it was somewhere around 1992. This famous preacher said: “The whole world, everything in it, even life in a drop of water, was created by Jesus.” Saying this, he pointed to the New Testament passage in the Epistle to Hebrews, which reads: “And, you, Lord, in the beginning have laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of your hands.” I was petrified hearing this. I could not believe that such a popular, intelligent man says so naively childish things. I wrote a letter to him in which I criticized him for it.
“Respectable Mr. Graham,” I wrote, “I am surprised that a man of your rank and position preaches things like that.” Graham thanked me for this letter, but he did not reply to me personally, he ordered it to his editorial staff. I do not remember the exact content of their answer, there were a lot of trivial teachings, admonitions for me, but actually nothing valid.
The author of the Epistle to Hebrews could have believed so, but it may come as a surprise that some people in the 21st century, especially biblical fundamentalists, still believe it.
Is the atheist Lloyd Graham (sic!, forgive the convergence of this name), right in saying that religion can lead man to “abortion of the intellect”?