WILLIAM R. BRIGHT, (1921-2003) founder of Campus Crusade for Christ International (CCCI)
William ("Bill") Bright is the product of the free-will Methodist tradition and is a 'dyed-in-the-wool' religious humanist. As documented in Richard Quebedeaux's I FOUND IT!, The Story of Bill Bright and Campus Crusade, the erroneous doctrine of free will has been a foundational tenet of his life and ministry.
For several decades, Bill Bright and CCCI have been representative of a form of theological schizophrenia--giving lip service to the biblical revelation of the sovereignty of God while aggressively promoting philosophical indeterminism. Bill Bright is perfectly at home with all religious contemporaries who share this same malady of mind.
"As early as 1969, Bill Bright said, `We do not attack the Roman Church. We believe God is doing a mighty work in it and will no doubt use millions of Roman Catholics to help evangelize the world' (The Post & Times Star, Cincinnati, Ohio, Aug. 30, 1969). At Billy Graham's Amsterdam '86 conference, Bright said, `There was a day when Protestants and Roman Catholics would not have much to do with one another. But today the Spirit of God is doing such a great work in both the Roman Catholic and Protestant fellowships and communions that I feel very much at home wherever Jesus Christ is honored' (Foundation, Jul.-Aug. 1986).
"Each year since at least 1980, Bill Bright has been a key organizer and sponsor of the `Washington for Jesus' celebrations, which have included Catholic priests, Seventh-day Adventists, those who deny the Trinity (the United Pentecostal Church), and other unscriptural ecumenists. The first `Washington for Jesus' convention in April 1980, featured modernist Robert Schuller; charismatics Jim Bakker, Demos Shakarian and Pat Robertson; as well as Catholic priests John Bertolucci, John Randall, and Michael Scanlon.
"Campus Crusade has had Roman Catholics on staff. In an interview with Wittenburg Door, June-July 1978, Richard Quebedeaux noted, `In Ireland, Campus Crusade is registered as a religious order ... And they work entirely within the Catholic church there with Catholics because there is nobody else to work with.'
"Bill Bright has been one of the leading organizers of ecumenical meetings such as Key '73 and has been involved in the decisions to invite Catholic participation in these conferences. Bright's `Here's Life America' crusade in 1976 had Catholic participation. In the Dec. 12, 1986, issue of Christianity Today, Bill Bright endorsed the film The Mission, which is about Catholic missionaries. Bright calls the movie `a triumphal film with a life-changing message which will enrich your life for years to come.' Bright participated in the publication of a series of books on evangelism co-sponsored by Tyndale House and the Paulist National Catholic Evangelization Association. The first book in the series, What Christians Can Learn from One Another About Evangelizing Adults, included articles by Bill Bright, Pope John Paul II, Archbishop Joseph Bernardin, and others."
Flirting With Rome: Evangelical Entanglement with Roman Catholicism, Volume 2, by David W. Cloud.
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