Washington, DC Newsroom, October 1, 2024 / 11:00 am

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, a lifelong Baptist who turned 100 years old on October 1, has espoused positions that differ from Catholic teaching on a number of controversial social and doctrinal issues, including abortion, same-sex marriage and the ordination of Christians. female preachers.

Nevertheless, perhaps more than any other president in American history, Carter marked his entire life as a clear and consistent profession of the Christian faith in both word and deed.

In a chapter entitled “My Traditional Christian Faith” in his 2005 book “Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis,” Carter pointed out that “most of the principles of my faith in Christ as Savior and the Son of God remain without serious consequences are shared. demand from Protestants, Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Copts, Seventh-day Adventists and many other religious people.”

Speaking of his Baptist beliefs, Carter stated in that same book that “as evangelicals we were committed to a strong global mission to share our Christian faith with all other people, without prejudice or discrimination.”

Throughout his adult life, Carter has demonstrated a personal commitment to evangelism by publicly testifying of his faith, participating in missions, and most famously by teaching Sunday School on most Sundays, year after year, for nearly four decades. the Baptist church in his hometown. in Plains, Georgia.

Faith and works

Furthermore, Carter’s humanitarian work, building homes for the poor every year for nearly 40 years as a Habitat for Humanity volunteer, is an integral part of his lived faith.

Carter’s sister, Ruth Carter Stapleton, who died in 1983, was herself an evangelist, and the 39th president credited her with having a major influence in strengthening his faith and practice after his first defeat for the office of governor of Georgia in 1966.

That same year, Carter helped lead a Billy Graham evangelical crusade in his home country. Later, as governor of Georgia, he also served as honorary chairman of Graham’s crusade in Atlanta.

For Catholics, Carter is also celebrated as the first American president to welcome a pope to the White House. That milestone came in 1979 during newly elected Pope John Paul II’s first papal trip to the United States.

According to a summary of their conversation in the National Archives, the pope and the president were connected over their shared faith in Christ. The National Archives said that “these two deeply religious men – each at the height of power in their respective fields – agreed to speak not as diplomats, but as Christian brothers.”

Abortion attitude

Although Carter expressed a personal aversion to abortion, as governor of Georgia and then as president he supported legal abortion in accordance with the then-recent Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade. He also believed that abortion should be available to victims of rape and incest.

In a 1976 NBC News interview, then-candidate Carter said: “According to the Supreme Court ruling (Roe v. Wade), as president I will do everything I can to minimize the need for abortions. I think abortions are wrong and I think we need to get a comprehensive effort from the President and Congress, with perhaps a nationwide law, adequately funded to provide sex education and access to contraceptives to those who believe in their use, and better adoption procedures. ”

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As president, Carter signed the Hyde Amendment in 1977, a policy that prohibits federal tax dollars from being used for abortions except to save the life of the mother, or if the pregnancy is the result of incest or rape. Since it was signed into law, the Hyde Amendment has saved more than 2.5 million unborn lives, according to Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.

In recent years, Carter has expressed support for same-sex marriage. In a 2018 interview with the Huffington Post, the then 93-year-old former president said he believed that “Jesus would approve of same-sex marriage” and that “Jesus would encourage any loving relationship if it was honest and sincere and would not be harmful to anyone else.” and I don’t see gay marriage harming anyone else.”

Steady stream of faith-based books

Carter has written thirty books, many of which were directly related to his Christian faith, including his 1996 book “Living Faith, Sources of Strength: Meditations on Bible for a Living Faith” (1997), “Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis ” (2005), and “Faith: A Journey for Everyone” (2018).

In this latest book, Carter wrote: “I consider myself an evangelical Christian… the basic elements of Christianity apply to me personally, shape my attitudes and my actions, and give me a joyful, positive life, with purpose.”

He also reaffirmed his belief “that Christians are called to plunge into the life of the world and to inject the moral and ethical values ​​of our faith into the processes of governance.”

Carter’s unabashed articulation of his Christian faith and inspiration was seen as a breath of fresh air and a boon to his presidential bid in the wake of the shame and corruption of the Watergate scandal that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974.

“I will never lie to you,” Carter promised during his successful 1976 campaign.

Chinese breakthrough

Among Carter’s most notable achievements in advancing religious freedom and reopening the space for evangelism were his negotiations with then Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping, which led to the restoration of full diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China in December 1978 .

As Carter later recounted, as part of the deal he insisted that the Chinese government “let people worship freely, possess Bibles, and that our missionaries return.” Deng rejected the first two requests, but not the third. Carter recalls that when he and his wife, Rosalynn, next visited China in 1981, “there was a new law guaranteeing freedom of worship, Bibles were plentiful, and crowded Christian churches were flourishing.”

After being defeated in the 1980 presidential election by pro-life candidate Ronald Reagan, Carter and Rosalynn, who died on November 19, 2023, founded the Carter Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting disease and promoting global of health, peace and democracy. .

For his efforts in promoting peace and human rights, including the historic 1978 Camp David Peace Accords between Israel and Egypt, Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

Core Christian faith

In his 2018 book “Faith: A Journey for All,” Carter shared that “people in my Bible class often ask what it means to be a Christian. My best explanation is that a Christian is one who professes Jesus Christ as personal savior and seeks to have the human qualities demonstrated through Jesus.”

Carter went on to glorify the Lord of his life as “both God and man, omnipotent yet gentle and loving, omniscient, compassionate, suffering, despised, burdened with the sin of others, abandoned by his followers, publicly executed but risen and now worshiped by billions of believers around the world. Personal faith in Christ and a special reverence for Him help us understand God’s transcendent love.”

“Convinced that the miracle of Christ’s resurrection actually occurred some 2,000 years ago, we must regard it as the most important event in the history of the universe,” Carter wrote in his book “Sources of Strength.” 1997. ‘For us it means that Christ is still alive, that His spirit is still with us, and that we can build our lives around Him as our Savior.’