Reverend Jerry Lamon Falwell was born on August 11, 1933 in Lynchburg, Virginia and he died there in May 2007. His father was a successful entrepreneur and businessman. Jerry and his siblings therefore grew up in a well-off home. His father died from alcohol abuse in 1948 when Jerry was 15. In 1958 he married Macel Pate and together they had three children.

Falwell was enrolled in Mountain View Elementary School in 1940 and he graduated from Brookville High School, Virginia in 1950. After that he went to study at Lynchburg College from 1950-1952. During the second year on college, Falwell became a believing Christian, and he experienced his first spiritual calling to go into ministry. Falwell’s re-birth as a Christian made him transfer to Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri in 1952 and he graduated from this Christian institution in 1956 with a BA in Theology. [This Baptist Bible College was an unaccredited institution until 2001¹]

Falwell used the Doctor title though this title did not stem from a doctorate degree but from following honorary titles given to him by unaccredited institutions:

- Tennessee Temple Theological Seminary: ‘Doctor of Divinity’,
- California Graduate School of Theology: ‘Doctor of Letters’ and
- Central University, Seoul, Korea: ‘Doctor of Laws’²

Directly upon his graduation in 1956, Falwell founded the Thomas Road Baptist Church3 in his hometown of Lynchburg, where he served as a pastor until his death in 2007. What started as a small local church with 35 attendants for the first Sunday service has since grown to become a so-called megachurch [Megachurches are large protestant churches whose congregations count at least 2000 people for the weekly Sunday service. The phenomenon is global and the churches are mainly evangelical or Pentecostal though many of them are non-denominational⁴].

Reverend Falwell ended as senior pastor in his church, and according to the Jerry Falwell Ministries, the church has now 24.000 members⁵.

In 1967, Falwell created an evangelical educational institution called the Lynchburg Christian Academy which provided kindergarten, preliminary school and high school classes. In 1971, he expanded the institution with the founding of Liberty University which has a close connection to the Academy. Liberty University is a university for liberal arts or general humanities education. It is based strictly on Baptist Christian values and this is reflected in the university’s principal view on knowledge, science and the human being. Adherence to a Christian worldview and belief is mandatory for all employees and students⁶. According to its official web site, the university consists of more than 21.500 students from the U.S. and abroad7.

Falwell's political involvement included organizing the Moral Majority in 1979. The Moral Majority was a conservative political lobbying movement which he disbanded ten years later, but revived again in 2004 under the name The Moral Majority Coalition⁸.

The Jerry Falwell Ministries, which administrated all of Falwell's activities, is a large enterprise which includes the Thomas Road Baptist Church, the Elim Home for Alcoholics, Liberty University, an internet bookstore, The National Liberty Journal, a Bible institute offering distance learning with several other social institutions and ministries for counseling functioning as partner organizations⁹. Falwell raised huge amounts of donor money every year to run all his ministries and the total annual revenues for The Jerry Falwell Ministries was up until today over $200 million ¹⁰.

Falwell published several books throughout the years, among which is his autobiography, 'Falwell: An Autobiography'. Liberty House, 1997, by ghost writer Mel White. [See Further Reading in the bottom of the page for more titles]

Jerry Falwell was found unconscious in his office at the Liberty University on May 15 2007. He died an hour later at the local hospital at the age of 73. ¹¹

Broadcasts and press
From the beginning of his ministry in 1956, Falwell began broadcasting his message over the radio via the 'Old-Time Gospel Hour', a daily local radio ministry and a weekly local television ministry. More than 50 years later the program was still aired every week and had national reach on the 'Live from Liberty University' TV program11. Additionally, every Sunday morning Falwell’s sermon was broadcasted live from the Thomas Road Church on the satellite network Liberty Channel belonging to Jerry Falwell Ministries¹³.

The sermon was also sent live on Victory FM, a broadcast service of Liberty University.

Throughout his career, TV and radio broadcasting was an important means for him to disseminate his message all over the nation. This use of media has become a widespread trend among evangelical and fundamentalist preachers in U.S.¹⁴.

In 1995, Falwell launched the National Liberty Journal, a conservative monthly newspaper that aims at strengthening and educating conservative Christian voters. It provides reports on domestic political affairs like family and marriage policies and teaches its readers about prophetical sayings and how the church must prepare for what they believe is the imminent return of Christ. Another high priority issue in this newspaper is the discussion of religious freedom in the U.S., as one of the views of the newspaper is that "people of faith continue to be the most persecuted individuals in America."¹⁵

• 1971-2007 chancellor of Liberty University, Virginia, USA [www.liberty.edu.]
• 1979-1989, founder and leader of the Moral Majority until he disbanded it 1989
• 2004-2007, Chairman of the revived Moral Majority under the name The Moral Majority Coalition (TMMC).

 

Falwell's church affiliates itself with the independent Baptist Bible Fellowship International (BBFI)16 but since the 1990s it has also been cooperating with and supporting the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) denomination.

According to reports in the monthly periodical Plains Baptist Challenger and the web based Way of Life Literature17, Falwell and his church officially supported the Southern Baptist Convention since the early 1990s. Falwell attended the SBC annual convention in 1993 for the first time and began sending donations to the SBC of Virginia in the mid 1990s. His growing support of the SBC coincided with a national "conservative takeover" within the SBC¹⁸. The conservative leaders within the national SBC denomination aimed at extending their power in the local state conventions too, and the growing conservative influence was praised by Falwell as a "theological renaissance within the Southern Baptist Convention"¹⁹.

Falwell tried to bridge the gap between the SBC and independent Baptists. This position of compromise was allegedly motivated by political and economical interests. Some fundamentalists see Falwell's policy as a disgrace and they deny that he is a true fundamentalist. Subsequently, they reject any cooperation between them and other more moderate, main stream groups, such as the SBC, as compromise and a reason to break fellowship²⁰.

In spite of denominational disputes, Falwell was theologically known as a fundamentalist Protestant and he believed the Bible is the 'inerrant' word of God and can be taken as a literal source for any aspect of life and knowledge. An article from Time Magazine 1985 points to Falwell as the most central figure in the changing discourse of U.S. fundamentalists. The author of that article, Richard N. Ostling, explains that U.S. fundamentalism has developed from a rather minor current of thought with isolationist tendencies that acted solely within the American religious environment to the emergence of this large activist movement determined to change society as a whole. The far-reaching communication forms that evangelists now use and the focus on worldly engagement is characteristic of the new discourse and thanks to Falwell, “Protestant Fundamentalism has become a powerful, confident and important force”²¹.

His main aim as political lobbyist was to gather America around Christian moral and conservative values and thus reclaim the country as “one nation under God.”²² For this purpose he founded the Moral Majority lobbying organization in 1979. This group chose Ronald Reagan as “their candidate” for president 1980 and allegedly they moved millions of previously passive voters in America to register and give their votes for Reagan and other conservative politicians. The commitment of the organization was “faith, family, and Judeo-Christian values”²³

Many writers confirm the considerable influence of the 'religious right' movement during the 1980s and 1990s. However, it was said by independent Baptist Minister Jeff Adams, in agreement with many other observers, that the influence of Falwell and the religious right decreased noticeably during the last decade. Adams added that many Christian evangelicals in the U.S. today "would consider him [Falwell ed.] to be antiquated and irrelevant"²⁴.

The time of Democratic governance under Bill Clinton was a real pain for Falwell and the conservative Christians as their influence decreased, and Falwell took some drastic measures in the attempt to ruin President Clinton's reputation. In 1994, he released the video documentary 'The Clinton Chronicles: An Investigation into the Alleged Criminal Activities of Bill Clinton.' The proposed conspiracy theory of the movie that connected Bill Clinton to cocaine smuggling among other things was discredited by all major investigations²⁵.

In contrast, Falwell held close ties to the Bush administration and he called the election of George W. Bush after Bill Clinton an “evangelical revolution”. As evidence of their close relationship, President Bush gave Falwell a call wishing him well when Falwell was hospitalized in 2005 with congestive heart failure²⁶.

Upon the reelection of George W. Bush in 2004, Falwell revived the Moral Majority under the name The Moral Majority Coalition (and the Liberty Alliance), which is defined as a 'not for profit educational and lobbying organization'. The organization's primary goal is to avoid Democrat victory in the presidential election 2008. Therefore they have set forth a four-fold platform of action of which one is to mobilize and encourage “America's moral renaissance based on 2 Chronicles 7:14.”²⁷["if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land"]²⁸ The first priority of the group is a "Voter Registration Campaign" through America's conservative churches, para-church ministries, pro-life and pro-family organizations.”²⁹

Moral agenda
Jerry Falwell had a number of key issues that influenced all of his activities whether religious or political and in Falwell's view the two should not be separated. He strongly condemned the secularization of society and Biblical quotations, primarily from the Old Testament, were always present in his arguments and views, political and religious. He advocated pro-life, pro-traditional family, pro-national defense and pro-Israel policies.

One of his greatest concerns was how to get Christian education back into the school system. He complained that God had been "thrown out" of the public square and the schools by secularists, who he saw as opposed to Christianity. Other important missions of his were to prevent same-sex marriages and criminalize abortions.

Consequently, Falwell was disliked by certain groups in American society, especially those that he denounced as morally destructive elements. Among them are those he called the ‘abortionists’, homosexuals and feminists. They are all elements in society that threaten the world order according to Falwell's Christian fundamentalist convictions. Being alert to perceived anti-Christian agendas Falwell reacted harshly to what he saw as propaganda from these groups.

In February 1999, his newspaper the National Liberty Journal denounced the BBC TV children's puppet show The Teletubbies, accusing the character, Tinky Winky, of being homosexual³⁰.

He was also quoted for the following statement about homosexuals: "I do not believe the homosexual community deserves minority status. One's misbehavior does not qualify him or her for minority status. Blacks, Hispanics, women, etc. are God-ordained minorities who do indeed deserve minority status."³¹

Most controversial were his statements about the September 11 terror attacks in New York 2001. Falwell was convinced that this event was a punishment from God for the immoralities prevailing in the American society. In a Christian TV Broadcast titled "The 700 Club", hosted by the influential evangelical preacher Pat Robertson, Falwell said: "I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU [Ed.: American Civil Liberties Union], People for the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen.'" He added this threatening statement: "The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked."³²

As would be expected, this caused great anger and many verbal reactions and Falwell had to moderate his statements in later interviews, in which he clarified that the responsibility for the tragedy belonged to the terrorists alone, but God might have chosen not to prevent it because of the current moral state of American society.³³

An al-Ahram writer called Falwell an "extremist fundamentalist" with the comment, "not because of the rejection of homosexual rights, but because of the linking of this kind of religio-moral issues to political, international events like the terrorist attacks."³⁴

Holy war on terrorism
Falwell was an advocate of holy war as a principle and on this ground he defended President Bush’s declared war against terrorism. In his weekly column on the internet newssite WorldNetDaily.com.Inc, he discussed the concept of holy war under the title “God is pro-war”, January 2004. He wrote: “[…] if one depends on the Bible as a guidepost for living, it is readily apparent that war is sometimes a necessary option. In fact, just as there are numerous references to peace in the Bible, there are frequent references to God-ordained war.”³⁵ He added that: "One of the primary purposes of the church is to stop the spread of evil, even at the cost of human lives."

Christian Zionist
Falwell belonged to the religious political wing in the U.S. called the Christian Zionists. This belief combines conservatism with theologically based Zionism and it prevails among evangelicals and Christian fundamentalists in America. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson were among the most prominent representatives since the 1980s. Politically they were in line with the neo-conservatives of the Republicans³⁶.

Their interpretations of biblical prophecies entail the idea that the Jews' must return to the Holy Land before the Day of Judgment. Thus the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 is seen as a fulfillment of the prophecies and part of the Christian belief. Falwell and Robertson were among ten Christian Leaders who signed a full-page advertisement in the New York Times on April 18, 1997 supporting the continued sovereignty of Israel over the holy city of Jerusalem. The text said: […] "we believe that Jerusalem or any portion of it shall not be negotiable in any peace process. Jerusalem must remain undivided as the eternal capital of the Jewish people."³⁷

The fight against the Palestinians and any other enemy of Israel is seen by the Christian Zionists as part of the foreseen wars that forebodes the return of Christ. These battles of the enemies of Israel are sometimes called the Armageddon inspired by Revelation 16:16. Falwell was a strong believer in the theology of Armageddon and it was referred to in the 'Falwell Confidential' on his website, February 2007 in a column entitled, Bible History, Prophecy and "World War III" ³⁸

As opposed to other more mainstream Protestant or Catholic readings of Old Testament prophecy and the book of Revelation in the New Testament, the Christian Zionists' readings are non-allegorical. They take the texts at face value and see them as a timetable for inevitable future events.

In al-Ahram newspaper in 2002, political scientist, Dr. Muhammad al-Sayyid Sa^cid warned against seeing religious right wing figures like Jerry Falwell as Christian representatives at all rather than political agents hiding behind religion³⁹. He was referring to their engagement in the Israeli cause an U.S. foreign policy in general.

Discussing Falwell and American Christians in Arab West Report, May 2004, the American independent Baptist Minister Jeff Adams stressed that Christians should not identify their Christian belief with a specific policy or a specific way of life to be imposed on all other human beings. He said: "Our mission is to be the "salt of the earth," not the sultans of the earth."⁴⁰

Stigmatizing Muslims
Falwell was accused on several occasions of stirring hatred against Islam and Muslims with his controversial statements. Critics in both the Arab and American press have said that they believe that Falwell did serious damage to the relationship between the West and Muslim society ⁴¹.

Falwell made the following statement in an interview with Beliefnet.com, 2001: "I think the Moslem faith teaches hate. I think there’s clear evidence that the Islam religion, wherever it has majority control--and I can name a dozen countries--doesn’t even allow people of other faiths to express themselves or evangelize or to exist in their presence [...]"⁴² It was said as a comment on President Bush's January 2001 initiative to open the 'White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives'⁴³, under which religious groups can compete for government funds for charity and social work activities. It was Falwell's opinion that Muslims should be precluded from receiving any funding because of their 'bigoted' religion⁴⁴.

The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) reacted and asked Falwell for an apology in an open letter to him March 7, 2001. In the letter, ^cUmar Ahmad, Board Chairman of CAIR responded to Falwell's comment: "In fact, these offensive remarks are symptomatic of the very intolerance that you claim Islam promotes."⁴⁵

Falwell did change his statement and clarified that the preclusion was not meant to include all Muslims, but was directed towards anti-Semitic and discriminatory Muslim groups, who deliberately excluded people of other faiths from their social services.

In 2002, Falwell supported propositions put forth by his fellow preacher Jerry Vines, that the prophet Muhammad was a demon-possessed pedophile. Falwell referred to the historical fact of the pedophile aspect of the prophet's personality, while he backed away from Vine's further claim that Muhammad was demon-possessed.⁴⁶

The ‘60 Minutes’ affair
The most echoing case of insult caused by Falwell was September 2002, when he gave an interview for the CBS show '60 Minutes'. During the interview he said: "I think Mohammed was a terrorist. I read enough by both Muslims and non-Muslims, (to decide) that he was a violent man, a man of war."⁴⁷

This comment sparked international outrage among Muslims and set off sectarian riots in India that left more than eight dead⁴⁸.

The Iranian Foreign Minister, Kamal Kharrazi as well as British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw rejected Falwell’s statements. Straw found them "outrageous and insulting" and he stated that they were "as much an insult to me as a Christian as they are to Muslims."⁴⁹

Some other reactions went to the extreme like the fatwá issued by Iranian cleric Muhsin Mujtahid Shabastarī, a representative of Iran's Supreme Leader, at that time being Ayat Allāh ^cAlī Khāminā'ī. The fatwá said that Falwell was a "mercenary and must be killed"⁵⁰.

v Not only Arab Muslims but also Arab Christians have rejected Falwell's repeated attacks on Islam and Arabs. Thus, upon the statements made in 60 Minutes, it was reported widely in Egyptian press that at least 85 Egyptian Christians, including journalists, artists, lawyers and university professors, signed a statement in which they condemned and rejected what minister Jerry Falwell said⁵¹.

Heavily pressured by the public protests and the death threat, Falwell issued a "Statement of Reconciliation" on October 12, 2002.

Falwell, in general, claimed he was not anti-Arab and that he considered God to be 'pro-people'. However, Falwell was not a promoter of dialogue with Muslims and respect of Islam. Rather he thought of missionary work and the conversion of Muslims, Arabs and others as the only true way to acceptance. In a column available on his website, Falwell warned: “With the world on the brink of pandemonium, it is our responsibility to point people - no matter their heritage, ethnicity or religion - to the one and only solution, Jesus Christ. ‘May we work while it is yet day, for the night approaches when no man can work’ (John 9:4).”⁵²