Canadian politician/author/inventor/journalist/broadcaster Charles Templeton was a mostly brilliant jack-of-all-trades. But I’ve left one “occupation” out because it’s poignant and sad and, perhaps, telling the story can help us thoughtfully consider our lives.
Templeton (1915-2001) was also a gifted evangelist who was once on par with Billy Graham. In fact, they travelled the continent together as a team. Templeton hosted a weekly Christian TV show in the United States, regularly preached at massive crusades and, during the 1950s, was a towering leader in the North American church.
But Templeton also had nagging doubts about Christianity – doubts which eventually led him to become an agnostic (someone who simply doesn’t know if there is a God) and walk away from the ministry.
I used to listen to Templeton every morning on Toronto’s CKEY radio. So once I became a Christian and discovered his past, Templeton’s story intrigued me to the point of writing a Calgary Herald review of his 1996 book Farewell To God: My Reasons for Rejecting the Christian Faith.
What that book left out was an incident from when he was struggling with his faith. Templeton had what can only be called a mystical experience, where he “saw” God and Jesus weeping for the sins, wars, and hatreds of humanity. As he wrote in another book, his anecdotal memoir:
“When I became conscious of my surroundings again, I was lying on the wet grass, convulsed by sobs. I had been outside myself and didn’t know for how long. Later, I couldn’t sleep and trembled as though with a fever at the thought that I had caught a glimpse through the veil.”
Templeton tried to repeat the experience, which is bizarre because how would one go about “creating” such an extraordinary event? When he couldn’t, Templeton researched mystical experiences until concluding they were not unusual, and in his words, “of no special significance. Mystical experience has added no insight to our knowledge of God or to Christian doctrine.”
Not unusual? Of no special significance?? People all over this planet would love to have the sort of mystical experience that was bestowed on Templeton, regardless of belief level. Indeed, Mother Teresa spent most of her adult life praying (in vain) to experience God this way. And what “authority” declared mystical experiences are irrelevant unless they add to our knowledge of God?
I find myself profoundly saddened that Templeton found ways to write off one of the most incredible moments any human being can ever pray to experience. The way I see it, God did, indeed, let him glimpse through the veil and see things most of us can never hope to see. God went out of his way for Templeton. And Templeton still walked away from a life of faith.
So what can we take away from this? In his book Your God Is Too Safe, Canadian author Mark Buchanan puts it this way: “Here lies the basic flaw of all doubt: it can never really be satisfied. No evidence is ever, fully, finally enough. Doubt wants always to consume, never to consummate.”
Before I became a Christian, Buchanan’s words were a perfect description for me. At some point, I had to reconcile myself with not getting all the answers to my questions. Once I did that, the doors opened to a transformational chapter in my life – a transformation that won’t be finished until this life is done.
Can you set aside your nagging questions and trust in somone bigger than yourself? Or are you staring at the possibility of Charles Templeton’s fate? Post a comment and let me know.
Wow, very interesting post. Amazing what happened to Templeton.
It is amazing, isn’t it, Brad? And, of course, he left a legacy of children who won’t give faith a real look. 😦
I think it goes to show that spiritual gifts are not given according to our own worthiness, but according to God’s generosity to us. I know someone who can talk to God as if face to face (I have seen demonstrations of this for years). But he is angry with God and so often completely misunderstands what he has been told.
I have often thought that he has been granted such access to God because it is the only hope for his relationship with God. On the other hand, I have come to view people who maintain faith even though they have never had a mystical sort of experience with God or even heard his voice or felt his presence as amazing people of faith.
Thanks for your very thoughtful comment, Rebecca.There are definitely some people of enviable faith out there. I’m not one of ’em, but God still uses the talent He put in me. 🙂
Rebecca Trotter: “I happen to know someone who can talk to God as if face to face (I have seen demonstrations of this for years). But he is angry with God and so often completely misunderstands what he has been told.”
If God, the best communicator possible, is misunderstood, then I don’t feel so bad when I’m misunderstood.
At what point does responsibility for a misunderstanding fall upon the hearer, the receiver, or the recipient of the communicated message?
That’s an excellent question. God is the best communicator possible, but He’s communicating with broken people (like me) who often seem to see and hear through a thick fog.
Perhaps that’s one reason why there are so many translations of the Bible – in order to ensure God can communicate with us whatever language we use, whatever experiences we’ve had, whatever our age and demographics.
Anyone else want to weigh in on this fascinating topic?
Well written. You should drop the entire article in on the Graham/Templeton site. It all belongs there.
Thanks, Lin. I have put a link to this article on one website that discussed how Templeton’s & Graham’s lives went their separate ways. If there’s another site you can recommend, I’ll be glad to check it out. 🙂
Really great article Frank. My Father was “saved” at a Billy Graham/Chuck Templeton rally in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1945. That night, Chuck Templeton preached. Many say he was more gifted than Billy Graham. I appreciate your sharing this. ~ SjR
Thanks for your kind comments, Steve. I’ve long felt a connection to Templeton and when I read his sad story, I knew there was an essay waiting to be written.
“A faith without some doubts is like a human body without any antibodies in it. People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenseless against either the experience of tragedy or the probing questions of a smart skeptic.
“A person’s faith can collapse almost overnight if she has failed over the years to listen patiently to her own doubts, which should only be discarded after long reflection. Believers should acknowledge and wrestle with doubts — not only their own but their friends’ and neighbors’.
“It is no longer sufficient to hold beliefs just because you inherited them. Only if you struggle long and hard with objections to your faith will you be able to provide grounds for your beliefs to skeptics, including yourself, that are plausible rather than ridiculous or offensive.
“And, just as important for our current situation, such a process will lead you, even after you come to a position of strong faith, to respect and understand those who doubt.”
Keller, Timothy (2008-02-14). The Reason for God
Right on, Stephen. Excellent quote!
Interesting that Templeton had doubts due to his question of how a loving God could allow suffering, a common issues. And then he supernaturally receives a glimpse into the answer; only a glimpse, because the finite and corrupt human mind cannot grasp hold of the eternal, except in tiny droplets of time and space. The voice of the master spoke, and the voice of the serpent still won.
In my own experience, I read the bible in college, but had also been indoctrinated with evolutionary thinking. I couldn’t reconcile the two at the time, but I didn’t need to. I had enough to take a step of faith, and felt that God told me to put that on the shelf, that I would understand that issue with time.
How many people make a decision, for example, to get married, and they don’t know everything about their future spouse, or how that person might react in any given situation? So Templeton experienced doubts, and rather than seeking to resolve them, or accepting that some things cannot be resolved in this life, he divorced God. And once he made the decision to divorce, the narrative of his past changed, just as it did with the children of Israel. http://endtimechaverim.wordpress.com/2013/07/10/atheists-anti-theists-the-heart-of-a-fool-and-me/