Dennis James Kennedy (November 3, 1930 – September 5, 2007) was an American pastor, evangelist, Christian broadcaster, and author. He was the senior pastor of

Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church is a Christian megachurch within the Presbyterian Church in America located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It was founded in 1960 by D. James Kennedy (1930–2007), who served as the church's senior pastor until s ...

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

, from 1960 until his death in 2007. Kennedy also founded Evangelism Explosion International, Coral Ridge Ministries (now known as D. James Kennedy Ministries), the Westminster Academy in Fort Lauderdale, the

Knox Theological Seminary Knox Theological Seminary is an independent, evangelical seminary in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, founded in 1989 by D. James Kennedy. The school offers ministry training at its residential facility in Fort Lauderdale and through its internet camp ...

, radio station WAFG-FM, and the Center for Reclaiming America for Christ, a

socially conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institution ...

political group. In 1974, he began Coral Ridge Ministries, which produced his weekly religious television program, ''The Coral Ridge Hour'', carried on various networks and syndicated on numerous other stations with a peak audience of three million viewers in 200 countries. He also had a daily radio program, ''Truths That Transform'', from 1984 on. During his lifetime, Coral Ridge Ministries grew to a

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

37-million-a-year non-profit corporation. In 2005, the

National Religious Broadcasters National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) is an international association of evangelical communicators. While theologically diverse within the evangelical community, NRB members are linked through a Declaration of Unity that proclaims their joint comm ...

association inducted Kennedy into its Hall of Fame. He last preached at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church on December 24, 2006, suffering a heart attack four days later from which he never fully recovered. His retirement was officially announced at the church on August 26, 2007, and he died at his home ten days later.

Early life

Kennedy was born in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...

, and moved with his parents to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, during his childhood. His father was a glass salesman, and his parents were Methodists. Kennedy joined the

Boy Scouts Boy Scouts may refer to: * Boy Scout, a participant in the Boy Scout Movement. * Scouting, also known as the Boy Scout Movement. * An organisation in the Scouting Movement, although many of these organizations also have female members. There are ...

. He later moved with his family to

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

, where in 1948 he graduated from

Henry B. Plant High School H.B. Plant High School is a public high school located in the neighborhood of South Tampa in Tampa, Florida, United States. It opened in 1927 between South Himes Avenue on the east and Dale Mabry Highway on the west. The school is named in honor ...

and began studying music at the

University of Tampa The University of Tampa (UT) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UT offers more than 200 programs of study, including 22 master's degrees and a broad variety of majors, ...

. After two years, he dropped out of college, began working as a dance instructor at the

Arthur Murray Dance Studio Arthur Murray (born Moses Teichman, April 4, 1895 – March 3, 1991) was an American ballroom dancer and businessman, whose name is most often associated with the dance studio chain that bears his name. Early life and start in dance Arthur Mur ...

in Tampa, and later won a first prize in a nationwide dance contest. On August 25, 1956, he married Anne Lewis, whom he had met while giving her dance lessons at Arthur Murray. They had one daughter, Jennifer, born in 1962.

Education

Kennedy became a Christian in 1953 after hearing a radio preacher present the Gospel, which Kennedy later said he had never heard up to that point. In December 1955, Kennedy decided to quit his Arthur Murray job to enter the ministry. He resumed his studies at the University of Tampa (graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1958) and began preaching at the small Bethel Presbyterian Church in nearby

Clearwater, Florida Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, northwest of Tampa and St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2020 census, the city had a populat ...

. Kennedy entered

Columbia Theological Seminary Columbia Theological Seminary is a Presbyterian seminary in Decatur, Georgia. It is one of ten theological institutions affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). History Columbia Theological Seminary was founded in 1828 in Lexington, Geo ...

in 1956, receiving a

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and divi ...

degree three years later. After his

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorization, authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominational ...

in 1959, Kennedy became the pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, where he remained until his death. In the 1970s, he earned a

Master of Theology Master of Theology ( la, Theologiae Magister, abbreviated MTh, ThM, or MTheol) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a PhD program or as a stand ...

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

from the

Chicago Graduate School of Theology The Chicago Graduate School of Theology is or was an American school of theology. It was founded in 1920 as the Winona Lake School of Theology, and was located in Winona Lake, Indiana, until 1970 when it was moved to the Chicago area and changed it ...

, and in 1979 a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in religious education from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. His doctoral dissertation was on the history of an

evangelism In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are i ...

program he founded. Kennedy said that he earned the Ph.D. degree "to dispel the idea there is an inconsistency between evangelism and education ... evangelical ministers eedto be thoroughly educated and equipped to meet on equal terms anyone with whom they come in contact."

Ministry and theology

Initially ordained in 1959 by the

Presbyterian Church in the United States The Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS, originally Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America) was a Protestant denomination in the Southern and border states of the United States that existed from 1861 to 1983. That y ...

, Kennedy later became an ordained minister in the

Presbyterian Church in America The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is the second-largest Presbyterian church body, behind the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the largest conservative Calvinist denomination in the United States. The PCA is Reformed in theology and presb ...

after he and his church left the PCUS in 1978. Adhering to traditional

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

, Kennedy's theological works include ''Why I Believe'', ''What If Jesus Had Never Been Born'', ''Skeptics Answered'', and ''Truths That Transform''. In 1971, he founded the Westminster Academy in Fort Lauderdale and in 1989, he founded

. Kennedy was a conservative

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

minister and an outspoken advocate for the moral and social values championed by the

Christian right The Christian right, or the religious right, are Christian political factions characterized by their strong support of socially conservative and traditionalist policies. Christian conservatives seek to influence politics and public policy with t ...

. He wrote, with Jerry Newcombe, ''What if America Were a Christian Nation Again?'' and frequently preached messages that argued that the United States was founded as a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

nation. Kennedy started the

Center for Christian Statesmanship Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

, an evangelical ministry on

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

The Center closed in 2007 by Coral Ridge Ministries but quickly reopened under the auspices of Evangelism Explosion International, as the

non-partisan Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party. While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers sp ...

Christian outreach to members of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

. In 2005, the

association inducted Kennedy into its Hall of Fame.

Founding of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church

Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States

Kennedy preached his first sermon at the

in Fort Lauderdale in June 1959. Beginning with 45 persons attending a typical Sunday service, it became the fastest-growing Presbyterian church in the U.S. in the 1960s and had 1,366 members by 1968. Evangelist

Billy Graham William Franklin Graham Jr. (November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American evangelist and an ordained Southern Baptist minister who became well known internationally in the late 1940s. He was a prominent evangelical Christi ...

spoke at the dedication of the new Coral Ridge Presbyterian church building in 1974, attended by 15,000 people. Kennedy expressed his entrepreneurial vision for outreach at the dedication, stating,

It is our prayer, that through this church, the Gospel of Jesus Christ might be radiated through television and radio, motion pictures and cassettes, books and clinics, and by ways yet undreamed of unto the entire world, that the command of Christ to go and proclaim the Gospel to every creature might be fulfilled in our generation.

Kennedy developed the Evangelism Explosion ("EE") method of evangelism in the 1960s, which emphasizes the training of church laypeople to share their faith by home visitation and every-day encounters in the community. A film, ''Like a Mighty Army'', was produced in 1970 and starred actor Chris Robinson as Kennedy, portraying the Evangelism Explosion story at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. In 1978, Kennedy began the weekly ''Coral Ridge Hour'' (now ''Truths That Transform'') on national television, which at its peak had a weekly audience of three million viewers in 200 countries and was aired on more than 400 stations and four cable networks, including the

Trinity Broadcasting Network The Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) is an international Christian-based broadcast television network and the world's largest religious television network. TBN was headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, until March 3, 2017, when it sold its ...

The Inspiration Network (INSP) INSP (formerly The Inspiration Network; the initialism is sounded out letter-by-letter) is an American digital cable television network that features primarily westerns (both shows and movies) and is headquartered in Indian Land, South Carolina - ...

and the

NRB Network NRB TV is an evangelical Christian cable channel founded by members of the National Religious Broadcasters, a non-partisan, international association of Christian communicators. While the NRB association is located in Manassas, Virginia, the chann ...

, as well as broadcast to more than 150 countries on the

Armed Forces Network The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the U.S. military provides to those stationed or assigned overseas. Headquartered at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, AFN's broadcast operations, which i ...

. Today, D. James Kennedy Ministries carries messages from Kennedy, along with news commentary and documentaries to a nationwide audience on NRBTV, Daystar, TCT, and FETV. By the 1980s, the church's membership had grown to almost 10,000 persons. As of 2009, at the time of the installation of its new pastor, the church had 2,200 members and weekly attendance averaged 1,800 persons.

Later life

On the evening of December 28, 2006, Kennedy experienced prolonged

ventricular tachycardia Ventricular tachycardia (V-tach or VT) is a fast heart rate arising from the lower chambers of the heart. Although a few seconds of VT may not result in permanent problems, longer periods are dangerous; and multiple episodes over a short period ...

at his Fort Lauderdale home, leading to

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...

which deprived his brain of adequate oxygen for six to eight minutes. As a result, he sustained a loss of

short-term memory Short-term memory (or "primary" or "active memory") is the capacity for holding a small amount of information in an active, readily available state for a short interval. For example, short-term memory holds a phone number that has just been recit ...

and speech impairment. Despite several months of rehabilitation and convalescence, he was unable to resume preaching and his retirement was announced on August 26, 2007, at the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church by his daughter, Jennifer Kennedy Cassidy. Following the news of Kennedy's retirement, his church announced the development of the ''D. James Kennedy Legacy website'' in tribute to the life of the Christian evangelist. Kennedy died in his sleep at home in the early morning hours of September 5, 2007, aged 76. The

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

issued a statement the following day, saying that

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

and

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

Laura Bush Laura Lane Welch Bush (''née'' Welch; born November 4, 1946) is an American teacher, librarian, memoirist and author who was First Lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009. Bush previously served as First Lady of Texas from 1995 to 2000. ...

were "deeply saddened" by Kennedy's death, calling him "a man of great vision, faith, and integrity ... Dr. Kennedy's message of love and hope inspired millions through the institutions he founded".

Focus on the Family Focus on the Family (FOTF or FotF) is a fundamentalist Protestant organization founded in 1977 in Southern California by James Dobson, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The group is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations ...

founder

James Dobson James Clayton Dobson Jr. (born April 21, 1936) is an American evangelical Christian author, psychologist, and founder of Focus on the Family (FOTF), which he led from 1977 until 2010. In the 1980s he was ranked as one of the most influentia ...

called Kennedy "a passionate defender of biblical truth in a culture that increasingly forgot it" and "a giant in the battle to restore traditional values in our nation." Kennedy is buried at Lauderdale Memorial Park Cemetery in Fort Lauderdale. Shortly after Kennedy's heart attack, Coral Ridge Ministries reduced ''The Coral Ridge Hour'' syndication and shortened the program from an hour to 30 minutes. Kennedy's daughter, Jennifer, stated on the program in February 2008 that viewers' donations to the broadcast ministry had declined significantly in the wake of the founding pastor's death. Now led by Frank Wright, a former president of the

, D. James Kennedy Ministries, as it is now known, airs ''Truths That Transform'' (formerly ''The Coral Ridge Hour'') weekly nationwide, featuring taped messages of Kennedy's sermons and newly produced news and interview segments. It airs on Daystar,

, CTN and other local stations. Coral Ridge Ministries closed its social action branch, The Center for Reclaiming America for Christ, shortly after Kennedy's heart attack. In 2018, D. James Kennedy Ministries launched the D. James Kennedy Center for Christian Leadership in Washington, D.C., "to address the deficit of preparation for Biblical cultural engagement." It seeks to train 300 Leadership Fellows annually for the ensuing decade. The D. James Kennedy Institute of Reformed Leadership was established in 2013. Kennedy's daughter, Mrs. Jennifer Kennedy Cassidy, introduced Dr.

Michael A. Milton Michael Anthony Milton (born 1958) is an American Presbyterian minister, theologian, educator, pastor, broadcaster, author, musician and retired U.S. Army Chaplain (Colonel). Initially a pastoral intern under D. James Kennedy, Milton became ...

as president of the legacy institute in proceedings at the

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

Presidential Center and Ranch,

Rancho del Cielo Rancho del Cielo, also known in its English translation as ''Sky's Ranch'' or ''Heaven's Ranch'', is a / ranch located atop the Santa Ynez Mountain range northwest of Santa Barbara, California. It served as a vacation home for Ronald Reagan an ...

, in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

Apologetics

Christian apologetics Christian apologetics ( grc, ἀπολογία, "verbal defense, speech in defense") is a branch of Christian theology that defends Christianity. Christian apologetics has taken many forms over the centuries, starting with Paul the Apostle in ...

, Kennedy contended for Christianity as a reasonable and evidential faith (one supported by facts from history and science), and wrote several books (''Why I Believe'', ''Skeptics Answered'', and ''Solving Bible Mysteries'') to make the case for Christian faith from history, science, and logic. "Skeptics are welcome," he wrote in his book, ''Skeptics Answered'': "Christianity has answers that are not only satisfying for the soul but also satisfying for the mind ... Throughout the ages, many skeptics have looked at Christianity's historicity and have ended up coming to faith in

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...

. The evidence is there. It just needs to be looked at with an open mind." Kennedy also offered a "cultural apologetic" and argued for the earthly benefits brought by the influence of Christ and the Bible. His books with Jerry Newcombe, ''What If Jesus Had Never Been Born'' (1994, revised 2001) and ''What If the Bible Had Never Been Written'' (1998), seek to document the positive impact of Christianity and the Bible in education, law, civil liberty, science, economics, the family, medicine, and the arts. Kennedy produced ''Who Is This Jesus?'', a one-hour television special that aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

affiliates on

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

of 2001. The program, co-hosted by Kennedy with actor Dean Jones, reached a claimed 20 million viewers, with its

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

follow-up, ''Who Is This Jesus: Is He Risen?'' The program offered scholarly viewpoints on the reliability of the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

s, especially the

resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which ...

claim.

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

religion writer

Richard Ostling Richard Ostling is an American author and journalist living in Ridgewood, New Jersey. He and his wife, the late Joan K. Ostling, are the co-authors of ''Mormon America: The Power and the Promise'' (1999; revised ed. 2007). Richard Ostling Richa ...

contrasted the broadcast to the 2000

Peter Jennings Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings (July 29, 1938August 7, 2005) was a Canadian-born American television journalist who served as the sole anchor of ''ABC World News Tonight'' from 1983 until his death from lung cancer in 2005. He dropped o ...

-hosted

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

documentary, ''The Search for Jesus'', contending the program "achieved more journalistic success than Jennings at one point" by providing a broader cross-section of experts.

Views

Religion in public life

Many of his public messages focused on American history and the faith of the

Founding Fathers of the United States The Founding Fathers of the United States, known simply as the Founding Fathers or Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American Revolution, American revolutionary leaders who United Colonies, united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the Am ...

in relation to a Christian worldview. For instance, Kennedy cited

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States S ...

' claim that Christianity is "indissolubly linked" to the founding of America. Kennedy wrote the foreword to the 1987 book ''Christianity and the Constitution: The Faith of Our Founding Fathers'' authored by law professor

John Eidsmoe John A. Eidsmoe is an American attorney and professor of Law emeritus. He has previously taught at the Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, Faulkner University, Montgomery, Alabama, the O. W. Coburn School of Law at Oral Roberts University and Oak B ...

Conservative Christian leader

Kennedy was a founding member of the board of

Moral Majority Moral Majority was an American political organization associated with the Christian right and Republican Party. It was founded in 1979 by Baptist minister Jerry Falwell Sr. and associates, and dissolved in the late 1980s. It played a key role in ...

, a political movement in the late 1970s and 1980s. When GOP presidential candidates, including Ronald Reagan, sought the blessing of evangelical leaders, Kennedy sometimes asked spiritual, not policy questions. In one meeting, Kennedy asked Reagan what reason he would give as to why God should let him into heaven. According to one observer, "Reagan dropped his eyes, looked at his feet, and said, 'I wouldn't give God any reason for letting me in. I'd just ask for mercy, because of what Jesus Christ did for me at Calvary." Kennedy later celebrated Reagan's election at a gathering of Christian leaders just days after Reagan's inauguration in 1981. "The sleeping giant that has lain prostrate across America is beginning to wake itself," Kennedy told the National Religious Broadcasters association in Washington, D.C. "Believers in a living God are beginning to assert their spiritual rights." At the same time, he cautioned his own congregation about the limits of politics in a sermon titled, "Can Reagan Save America?" Reagan was likely to bring positive good to the nation, Kennedy said, but Christians should put their trust in God, not man. " ny people feel that a man on a white horse has arrived and is going to take care of us," Kennedy preached. "This, according to the Scriptures, is a very dangerous attitude." Kennedy, in opposition to

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

, presented a two-part strategy to counter legislative and court initiatives to "redefine marriage". He called for a constitutional "Firewall" to protect the nation from "counterfeit marriage" and urged "conversion for homosexuals who want to change, through the power of

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

." Kennedy rejected

judicial activism Judicial activism is a judicial philosophy holding that the courts can and should go beyond the applicable law to consider broader societal implications of its decisions. It is sometimes used as an antonym of judicial restraint. The term usually ...

and judicial supremacy. He endorsed the

Constitution Restoration Act The Constitution Restoration Act of 2005 (originally "of 2004" ) is a proposed federal law filed on March 3, 2005 by United States Senator Richard Shelby ( R- AL) and Representative Robert Aderholt (R-AL). It was styled as Senate bill and House of ...

, a bill promoted during the 2005 ''Confronting the Judicial War on Faith'' conference that sought to authorize Congress to impeach judges who fail to acknowledge "God as the sovereign source of law, liberty, or government" and to limit the power of the federal judiciary to rule in religious liberty cases. Kennedy was a co-signer of the "

Land Letter The Land letter was a letter sent to U.S. President George W. Bush by five evangelical Christian leaders on October 3, 2002, outlining their support for a just war pre-emptive invasion of Iraq. As its foundation for support, the letter refers t ...

" sent to President

in October 2002 which outlined a "

just war The just war theory ( la, bellum iustum) is a doctrine, also referred to as a tradition, of military ethics which is studied by military leaders, theologians, ethicists and policy makers. The purpose of the doctrine is to ensure that a war is m ...

" rationale for the military invasion of Iraq. Kennedy sought to "reclaim America for Christ", a project that he said was to "bring this nation back to God, back to decency, back to morality, back to those things that we wish America was like again." During his life, he was harshly criticized by

secularists Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a sim ...

and

progressives Progressivism holds that it is possible to improve human societies through political action. As a political movement, progressivism seeks to advance the human condition through social reform based on purported advancements in science, techno ...

. The

Americans United for the Separation of Church and State Americans United for Separation of Church and State (Americans United or AU for short) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that advocates for the disassociation of religion and religious organizations from government. The separation of church ...

(AUSCS, "Americans United" or simply AU) criticized Kennedy's founding of the Center for Reclaiming America for Christ for being "just another Religious Right outfit obsessed with opposing legal abortion and gay rights and bashing public education." AUSCS also says, "Kennedy's ministry has always promoted

right-wing politics Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, author ...

... it isn't uncommon to tune in to ''The Coral Ridge Hour'' and hear him preach against legal

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

anti-discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...

protections for

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

s or the teaching of

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

in public schools." Then-AUSCS executive director Barry Lynn said of Kennedy: "He was absolutely relentless in his criticism of everything on the left. He was a formidable creator of an opposition to what people like I believe." In an interview with

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

Terry Gross Terry Gross (born February 14, 1951) is an American journalist who is the host and co-executive producer of ''Fresh Air'', an interview-based radio show produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia and distributed nationally by NPR. Since joining NPR i ...

, Kennedy was asked whether he wanted all public office holders to be Christians. Kennedy answered, "We have people who are

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

and

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...

and unbelievers who are constantly supporting in every way possible other people who share those views. And I don't object to that. That's their privilege. And I think that Christians should be allowed the same privilege to vote for people whom they believe share their views about life and government. And that's all I'm talking about."

Creationist

In creation–evolution debates, Kennedy was a proponent of the general tenets of a

special creation In creationism, special creation is a belief that the universe and all life in it originated in its present form by fiat or divine decree. Catholicism uses the phrase "special creation" in two different senses: * in the context of theistic evolu ...

by God and the supernatural presumptions of

young earth creationists Young Earth creationism (YEC) is a form of creationism which holds as a central tenet that the Earth and its lifeforms were created by supernatural acts of the Abrahamic God between approximately 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. In its most widesp ...

and proponents of

intelligent design Intelligent design (ID) is a pseudoscientific argument for the existence of God, presented by its proponents as "an evidence-based scientific theory about life's origins". Numbers 2006, p. 373; " Dcaptured headlines for its bold attempt to ...

. He argued that the expression and promotion of such beliefs should be protected as free speech. He believed scientific truth is not determined by consensus but evidence and so, contrary to

scientific consensus Scientific consensus is the generally held judgment, position, and opinion of the majority or the supermajority of scientists in a particular field of study at any particular time. Consensus is achieved through scholarly communication at confe ...

, he asserted creationist beliefs were scientifically accurate.D. James Kennedy dies
, National Center for Science Education, September 5, 2007D. James Kennedy: Who Is He And What Does He Want?
, Rob Boston, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, April 1999 citing Kennedy's 1994 book ''Character & Destiny: A Nation In Search of Its Soul'' Kennedy disputed the facts and theory of evolution by saying, "The two most notorious and blood-soaked political movements of the twentieth century, Nazism and Communism, both rejected God and were animated by the idea of evolution."D. James Kennedy, "Ideas Have Consequences," ''Impact,'' August 2005, p. 8, Coral Ridge Ministries newsletter. According to Kennedy, "if one believes that evolution is true, then we are simply the product of time and chance and there is no morality and no intrinsic worth to human life." That theme is reflected in Coral Ridge Ministries' 2006 documentary ''Darwin's Deadly Legacy''. The

Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...

(ADL) issued a press release in 2006 strongly criticizing the movie's attempts to link evolution to

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

: The ADL further denounced Kennedy as "a leader among the distinct group of 'Christian Supremacists' who seek to 'reclaim America for Christ' and turn the U.S. into a Christian nation guided by their strange notions of biblical law." The ADL's response also quotes Christian geneticist

Francis Collins Francis Sellers Collins (born April 14, 1950) is an American physician-geneticist who discovered the genes associated with a number of diseases and led the Human Genome Project. He is the former director of the National Institutes of Health ( ...

, who was interviewed for the program, repudiating it, saying he was "absolutely appalled by what Coral Ridge Ministries is doing. I had NO knowledge that Coral Ridge Ministries was planning a TV special on Darwin and Hitler, and I find the thesis of Dr. Kennedy's program utterly misguided and inflammatory". In a release,"Coral Ridge Ministries and Orthodox Rabbi Reject Anti-Defamation League Attack on TV Special Linking Darwin to Hitler," Coral Ridge Ministries, August 24, 2006. Accessed 08-27-2010 at . Coral Ridge Ministries rejected the statement attributed to Francis Collins that he was misled: According to the Coral Ridge press release, Collins had signed a "talent release", giving "Coral Ridge Ministries the right to use his interview 'without limitation in all perpetuity.'" The Ministry said they would delete his interview for all future airings of the program. Coral Ridge Ministries answered other parts of the ADL's criticisms in an August 22, 2006 press release, stating that the ADL "ignores the ''historical fact'' that Adolf Hitler was an evolutionist." The release cited historian

Richard Weikart Richard Weikart (born July 1958) is a professor of history at California State University, Stanislaus, advocate of intelligent design and senior fellow for the Center for Science and Culture of the Discovery Institute. In 1997 he joined the edito ...

, Scottish

anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...

and

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

Sir

Arthur Keith Sir Arthur Keith FRS FRAI (5 February 1866 – 7 January 1955) was a British anatomist and anthropologist, and a proponent of scientific racism. He was a fellow and later the Hunterian Professor and conservator of the Hunterian Museum of the R ...

, and evolutionist

Niles Eldredge Niles Eldredge (; born August 25, 1943) is an American biologist and paleontologist, who, along with Stephen Jay Gould, proposed the theory of punctuated equilibrium in 1972. Education Eldredge began his undergraduate studies in Latin at Columb ...

for the assertion of a Darwin-Hitler connection.

Books

Kennedy wrote 65 books, including ''Evangelism Explosion'' (a primer on communicating the Christian salvation message with 1.5 million copies in print), ''What If Jesus Had Never Been Born?'', ''The Da Vinci Myth versus The Gospel Truth'', and ''Cross Purposes: Discovering the Great Love of God for You''. Kennedy is the author or coauthor of the following books: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church website

D. James Kennedy Institute of Reformed Leadership website

Evangelism Explosion International website

Truth in Action Ministries (formerly Coral Ridge Ministries) website

D. James Kennedy's Memorial Tribute website

Center for Reclaiming America for Christ
Kennedy's Political Action Center
Truths That Transform daily radio broadcast on OnePlace.com
*
D. James Kennedy legacy website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, D. James 1930 births 2007 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century Presbyterian ministers 21st-century American male writers Alliance Defending Freedom people American anti-abortion activists American sermon writers American television evangelists Christian apologists American Calvinist and Reformed theologians American Christian creationists American evangelicals Christian fundamentalists Columbia Theological Seminary alumni Dominion theology Intelligent design advocates New York University alumni People from Augusta, Georgia Presbyterian Church in America ministers Presbyterian Church in the United States members Presbyterian Church in the United States ministers Presbyterians from Florida Writers from Florida 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers American anti-same-sex-marriage activists 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American clergy