Billy Graham in Quotes
is a 2011 book compiled by Franklin Graham and Donna Lee Toney. It does what it
says on the cover.
The vast majority of these quotes are taken from Billy
Graham’s many books. The quotes are arranged topically: “Billy Graham on
Abortion,” “…on Addiction,” “…on Age,” America, angels, anger, anxiety, and so
forth, all the way down to “Billy Graham on Young People.” There are about a
hundred topics, with an average of three or four pages devoted to each. The
quotes are centered on the page; that takes some getting used to.
This book is nearly 400 pages. While this is perfectly
understandable given Graham’s sixty-plus years of ministry and authorship, it’s
unusually large for a book of this sort. But it should come as little surprise that
the book can get awfully repetitive very quickly. Not that there are any bad or
worthless quotes, but there’s a great deal of overlap; quantity over quality,
as it were. The book could have been cut by a quarter or more without any real
damage being done.
Graham is almost never witty or clever; his quotes are
nearly always simple statements of biblical truth. This isn’t a criticism by
any means; it’s just that he’s hardly quotable in the way Ben Franklin or Mark
Twain is. This has a further hampering effect on readability, particularly as
many of these quotes would really have benefitted from some context.
It’s also hard for me to imagine much application for this
book. It could be used as a topical reference for those with a comprehensive
library of Graham’s books, I suppose, or as good bathroom reading on its own.
I affirm the vast majority of what Graham says in his quotes;
I just don’t see much need for this particular book. I’d imagine most readers
would be better off spending the time reading Graham’s actual books (or the
Bible).
TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT
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write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am
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