W. A. Criswell: the wall of separation of church and state and politics.
Most historians would agree that First Baptist Dallas, Texas, was one of the most influential Southern Baptist churches in the twentieth century.**********
Under the dynamic leadership of George Washington Truett (1867-1944) and W. A. Criswell (1909-2002), the church became the model of what many believed to be a "true" Southern Baptist church. As pastors of such a prominent church, the two men, in turn, became prominent in denomination-wide affairs.
In matters of church-state relations, both Truett and Criswell adamantly advocated religious liberty, and both voiced this opinion on more than one occasion. Concerning separation of church and state, however, these two pastors are remembered for making statements that appear antithetical to the other's position. On May 16, 1920, on the steps of the United States Capitol, Truett gave what many Baptists believe to be the strongest possible Baptist defense for religious liberty and separation of church and state. The editor of the Texas Baptist Standard believed this sermon by Truett was the "greatest hour ever witnessed in the SBC." (1) The editor then claimed, "Presidents have been inaugurated on those historic steps, world leaders have walked up the marble stairway of our Capitol ... but we doubt if ever under the shadow of the Capitol there was ever held a more significant service." (2) Criswell, however, presented a different view. In the fall of 1984, while being interviewed by CBS television, he proclaimed "I believe this notion of separation of church and state was the figment of some infidel's imagination." (3) What were the circumstances that led Criswell to make such a statement? What effect did this Baptist spokesman have on First Baptist, Dallas, and on the denomination at large?
The 1960 Presidential Election
Upon the death of Truett in 1944, First Baptist Church called Criswell as pastor. Although originally not wanting the position, Criswell said that he had a dream that Truett came to him and asked him to "go down and preach to my people." (4) During his fifty-five-year tenure, the church grew from 7,000 to almost 30,000 members and began a radio station, Criswell Bible College, and thirty missions. In many of these years, the church led Southern Baptist churches in the number of people baptized. Just as the church led the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), Criswell also served as a leader. He was president of the SBC in 1968 and 1969 and served on several denominational boards, becoming an unofficial but recognized Southern Baptist leader.
Early in his tenure as pastor, Criswell made few statements concerning religious liberty or separation of church and state, but the situation changed during the presidential election of 1960, which proved to be reminiscent of the 1928 presidential election. During that earlier campaign, Democrat Al Smith, who was Roman Catholic, was pitted against the Republican Herbert Hoover, who was a Baptist, and Baptists turned out in large numbers to campaign against Smith, whom they viewed as "the pope's man." Truett, then pastor of First Baptist, Dallas, did not become directly involved in the 1928 campaign.
Thirty-two years later, during the 1960 election between Republican Richard Nixon and Democrat John F. Kennedy, who was a Roman Catholic, Criswell took an active role against Kennedy. On July 3, 1960, the Dallas pastor delivered a sermon at his church titled "Religious Freedom, the Church, State, and Senator Kennedy." In a 1970 dissertation, "Rhetoric and Leadership of w. A. Criswell as President of the Southern Baptist Convention," (5) James Towns noted that with religious freedom as his basis, Criswell spoke against Kennedy on three distinct aspects.
First, Criswell stated that he feared that with a Catholic president the influence of the Roman Catholic Church on the United States government would be elevated. (6) With such an elevation, Criswell contended that the Catholic Church would be favored by the government and all other religions would be merely tolerated. Echoing his pastoral predecessor, mere toleration was not an option. Criswell stated, "Toleration implies that someone falsely claims the right to tolerate. Toleration is a concession, while liberty is a divine right.... Toleration is a gift of man, while liberty is a gift from God." (7)
Second, Criswell expressed concern that a Catholic president might attempt to establish close ties with the Vatican, which was not only the center of Roman Catholicism, but a sovereign principality. (8) Criswell proclaimed, "In one instance they present themselves religionists, then in the next instance they ask for an Ambassador to the Vatican on the basis that they are a sovereign state and a political power. If you have ever seen the symbol of the Pope of Rome, he has two keys, one is the key of religion and the other is the key of sovereign power political power and he claims to possess both of them." (9)
Criswell also feared that the Roman Catholic Church held power over its members in political as well as spiritual matters. The Dallas pastor noted that the Catholic Church "has full power of true jurisdiction over all the faithful and hence has the duty and the right to guide, direct and correct them on the plane of action and ideas. The church has the duty and the right to intervene even in the political field to enlighten and help conscience.... In every section of his activities he must inspire his private and public conduct by the laws, orientation and instructions of the hierarchy." (10)
Third, Criswell clearly feared that Kennedy would allow the pope to intervene in state affairs and American religious liberty would either be limited or perhaps rescinded over time. (11) In an almost prophetic tone, Criswell proclaimed, "the Roman Church wins most of its victories with the weapon of time. If Kennedy wins, with strong emphasis on separation of church and state, then the door is open for another Catholic later who gives the Pope his Ambassador, the church schools state support, and finally, recognition of one church above all America." (12)
This 1960 sermon proved to be popular among the anti-Catholic Americans in the South. One prominent Texas oilman, founder of Facts Forum and member of First Baptist, Dallas, H. L. Hunt, had 200,000 leaflets printed with quotes from Criswell's sermon. Hunt then had the leaflets marled to prominent Protestant churches all over the United States. Hoping to stir up anti-Catholic sentiment against Kennedy, the ploy backfired as many Protestants rejected Criswell's position with the end result being a Senate investigation of Hunt. (13)
During the campaign, Kennedy and his advisors expressed fear that being his being a Catholic might be a detriment among voting Protestants. Taking the initiative, Kennedy decided that he had to speak about his religion and the role it would play in his presidency. As most of the anti-Catholic rhetoric was coming from Texas Baptists, Kennedy accepted an invitation to address the Houston Ministerial Association on September 12, 1960. Criswell was in attendance. In one of the more notable sections of the speech, Kennedy stated, "I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute--where no Catholic prelate would tell the president (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote--where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference--and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the president who might appoint him or the people who might elect him." (14) When asked about the speech, Criswell inferred that Kennedy was either lying or a bad Catholic. (15) Criswell then declared that all 40 million American Catholics should be barred from running for president and that the congregation of First Baptist, Dallas, supported their pastor in this belief. (16) Criswell apparently maintained this same view of Catholicism for the next eighteen years, for in 1978 he announced, "It is entirely possible that we might someday live in a Roman Catholic America like that of Spain or Argentina." (17)
The 1970s and 1980s Presidential Campaigns
In the next three presidential races after Kennedy's election, Criswell did not take as active a role. During this period, he served as SBC president and his book, Why I Preach The Bible Is Literally True, helped launch the SBC conservative resurgence. In 1976, Criswell once again entered the realm of politics. By this time, he was arguably one of the most influential Baptist pastors in America, and his influence was coveted by all who ran for high public office.
The 1976 presidential election marked the beginning of Criswell's most active years in American politics. Despite differences with President Gerald Ford, Criswell supported him against Georgia's Governor Jimmy Carter, a Southern Baptist Sunday School teacher. Criswell opposed Carter because of the governor's proposal to tax profit-making ventures in churches and because of his granting an interview with Playboy magazine. (18)
On Sunday, October 10, 1976, Ford attended the morning worship service at First Baptist, Dallas. Following the service, Criswell and Ford posed for photographs in front of the church. When asked about Ford by a reporter, Criswell proclaimed, "I'm for him." (19)
Criswell became involved with Ronald Reagan's campaign early in 1980. Unlike Carter, Reagan was not a Southern Baptist or a churchman but was very conservative on moral issues. Early in 1980, Reagan was invited to Dallas to attend the National Affairs Briefing, sponsored by a conservative Christian group, the Roundtable. Pat Robertson, James Robison, Jerry Falwell, Adrian Rogers, and Criswell were the primary speakers. When introducing the Dallas pastor, who in turn was to introduce Reagan, Falwell proclaimed Criswell "the Protestant pope of this generation." (20) When introducing Reagan, Criswell welcomed the Republican candidate "on behalf of the governor of Texas, the people of Dallas, and thirty million evangelicals." (21) When Reagan moved behind the podium, he said, "Now I know this is a nonpartisan gathering ... so I know you can't endorse me, but I only brought that up because I want you to know that I endorse you and what you are doing." (22)
Criswell again supported Reagan in the 1984 presidential election. On the Sunday prior to the Republican National Convention held August 20-23 in Dallas, Criswell proclaimed from the First Baptist pulpit that Reagan "is the best president we ever had." (23) Criswell was on the convention program, closing the meeting in prayer. (24) Asked by the CBS Evening News whether he believed that his role in the convention violated separation of church and state, Criswell fired back, "I believe this notion of separation of church and state was the figment of some infidel's imagination." (25) This statement was in direct opposition to the claim he made twenty-four years earlier while campaigning against Kennedy. Criswell stuck to his new assertion as he publicly endorsed George H. W. Bush in the 1988 presidential election and placed Bush's photograph in the First Baptist Dallas newsletter.
Conclusion
To some degree, W. A. Criswell supported the concept of a wall of separation between the church and the state. In his early days at First Baptist, Dallas, the prominent pastor publicly endorsed the concept, but as he became more prominent in the SBC, his view changed. He came to believe that the wall has a door, and that the door handle is on the church side. Thus, the church can enter the realm of the state but the state may not enter the world of the church. The danger in this position is that the church can become entangled in the world of politics and thus give the impression that the church is attempting to coerce the state. In turn, the notion cannot be avoided that the church expects something back from the state. What then of other Christian values that may not be as popular and thus become minimized in the political realm and in the conscience of the church as well? Defenders of religious freedom and separation of church and state, such Thomas Helwys, Roger Williams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George W. Truett, would not endorse such a strategy.
(1.) "The SBC," Baptist Standard, May 20, 1920, 1.
(2.) "Some Impressions of the Convention," Baptist Standard, May 27, 1920, 8.
(3.) W. A. Criswell, quoted in Richard V. Pierard, "Religion and the 1984 Election Campaign," Review of Religious Research 27 (December 1985): 104-05.
(4.) W. A. Criswell, Standing on the Promises (Dallas, TX: Word Publishing, 1990), 167.
(5.) James Edward Towns, "The Rhetoric and Leadership of W. A. Criswell as President of the Southern Baptist Convention: A Descriptive Analysis Through Perspective and Public Address" (Ph.D. diss.: Southern Illinois University, 1970), 105-09.
(6.) Ibid., 107.
(7.) W. A. Criswell, "Religious Freedom, the Church, the State and Senator Kennedy," an address delivered at the First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, July 3, 1960, cited in Towns, "The Rhetoric and Leadership of W. A. Criswell," 312.
(8.) Towns, "The Rhetoric and Leadership of W. A. Criswell," 107.
(9.) Ibid.
(10.) Criswell, "Religious Freedom, the Church, the State, and Senator Kennedy," 316.
(11.) Towns, "The Rhetoric and Leadership of W. A. Criswell," 108.
(12.) Criswell, "Religious Freedom, the Church, the State, and Senator Kennedy," cited in Towns, "The Rhetoric and Leadership of W. A. Criswell," 316.
(13.) Harry Hurt III, Texas Rich: The Hunt Dynasty from the Early Oil Days Through the Silver Crash (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1981), 189.
(14.) New York Times, September 12, 1960.
(15.) Robert Sherill, "Power in Their Blood," Esquire 69 (June 1968): 85.
(16.) Ibid.
(17.) The Dallas Times Herald, December 6, 1978.
(18.) The Dallas Times Herald, October 11, 1976.
(19.) W. A. Criswell, quoted by C. Allyn Russell, "W. A. Criswell: A Case Study in Fundamentalism," Review and Expositor 81 no. 1 (1984): 123.
(20.) J. K. Hadden and C. E. Swann, Prime Time Preachers (Reading, MA.: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1981), 132.
(21.) Ibid., 133.
(22.) Ibid.
(23.) Jim Buie, "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition," Church and State 37 (October 1984): 6.
(24.) Criswell, Standing on the Promises, 241.
(25.) Criswell, quoted in Pierard, "Religion and the 1984 Election Campaign," 104-05.
Joe Early, Jr., is assistant professor of religion at the University of the Cumberlands, Williamsburg, Kentucky.
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| Author: | Early, Jr., Joe |
|---|---|
| Publication: | Baptist History and Heritage |
| Article Type: | Essay |
| Geographic Code: | 1USA |
| Date: | Jun 22, 2008 |
| Words: | 2358 |
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