View source for Jerry Falwell

{{Short description|American Baptist pastor, televangelist, and conservative activist (1933–2007)}}
{{about|Jerry Falwell Sr|his son|Jerry Falwell Jr.}}
{{Lead too short|date=April 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix = [[The Reverend]]
| name              = Jerry Falwell
| image             = Jerry Falwell portrait.jpg
| alt               = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| caption           = Portrait as President of Liberty University, made before 2007
| birth_name        = Jerry Laymon Falwell
| birth_date        = {{birth date|mf=yes|1933|8|11}}
| birth_place       = [[Lynchburg, Virginia]], U.S.
| death_date        = {{death date and age|mf=yes|2007|5|15|1933|8|11}}
| death_place       = Lynchburg, Virginia, U.S.
| occupation        = {{hlist | Pastor | [[televangelist]] | political activist}}
| known_for         = Founding the [[Moral Majority]]
| television        = ''[[The Old-Time Gospel Hour]]''{{sfn|Flint|1978|p=19}}
| title            = {{nowrap|Chancellor of [[Liberty University]]}} (1971–2007)
| political_party  = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| spouse           = {{marriage|Macel Pate|1958}}
| children         = 3, including [[Jerry Falwell Jr.|Jerry Jr.]] and [[Jonathan Falwell|Jonathan]]
| module           = {{Infobox clergy
| child         = yes
| religion      = Christianity ([[Baptist]])
| church        = {{ubl | [[Baptist Bible Fellowship International]]{{sfnm |1a1=Hamm |1y=2010 |1p=1 |2a1=Phillips |2y=2017 |2p=151}} | [[Southern Baptist Convention]]}}
| ordained      = 1956
| congregations = [[Thomas Road Baptist Church]]
| offices_held  = 
}}
| signature        = 
| signature_alt    = 
}}
'''Jerry Laymon Falwell'''{{efn|Pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|f|ɔː|l|w|ɛ|l}}.}} (August 11, 1933 – May 15, 2007)<ref name="times">{{cite news |date=May 16, 2007 |title=Jerry Falwell Told Followers He Was at Peace with Death |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,272718,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070818020252/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,272718,00.html |archive-date=August 18, 2007 |access-date=August 25, 2007 |work=Fox News |df=mdy-all |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref> was an American [[Baptist]] pastor, [[televangelist]], and politically [[conservatism in the United States|conservative]] activist.<ref name=soulforce>{{cite web|url=http://www.archives.soulforce.org/2005/08/|last=Melzer|first=Eartha Jane|title=Falwell Speaks in Favour of Gay Civil Rights|publisher=Soulfource.org|date=August 26, 2005|access-date=November 16, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170714120644/http://www.archives.soulforce.org/2005/08/|archive-date=July 14, 2017}}</ref> He was the founding pastor of the [[Thomas Road Baptist Church]], a [[megachurch]] in [[Lynchburg, Virginia]]. He founded Lynchburg Christian Academy, later renamed [[Liberty Christian Academy]], in 1967, founded [[Liberty University]] in 1971, and co-founded the [[Moral Majority]] in 1979.

==Early life and education==
Falwell and his twin brother Gene were born in the Fairview Heights area of [[Lynchburg, Virginia]], on August 11, 1933, the sons of Helen Virginia (''née'' Beasley) and Carey Hezekiah Falwell.<ref name=NYT051507>{{cite news |last=Applebome |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Applebome |date=May 15, 2007 |title=Jerry Falwell, Leading Religious Conservative, Dies at 73 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/15/obituaries/15cnd-falwell.html?hp |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630165807/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/15/obituaries/15cnd-falwell.html?hp |archive-date=June 30, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://encyclopediavirginia.org/Falwell_Jerry_1933-2007|title=Falwell, Jerry (1933–2007)|access-date=January 21, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161102053303/http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Falwell_Jerry_1933-2007|archive-date=November 2, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XRFD-YBG |publisher=FamilySearch.org |title=Personal Details for C. A. Beasley |access-date=November 16, 2017 |archive-date=March 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305071229/https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XRFD-YBG |url-status=live }}</ref> His father was an entrepreneur and one-time [[Rum-runner|bootlegger]] who was agnostic.<ref name=NYT051507/> His father shot and killed his brother Garland and died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1948 at the age of 55.<ref name=":0">{{cite magazine |last=Sherman |first=Gabriel |author-link=Gabriel Sherman |date=January 24, 2022 |title=Son of a Preacher Man |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/01/inside-jerry-falwell-jr-unlikely-rise-and-precipitous-fall |url-access=limited |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124144528/https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/01/inside-jerry-falwell-jr-unlikely-rise-and-precipitous-fall |archive-date=January 24, 2022 |access-date=March 8, 2022 |magazine=Vanity Fair |publisher=Condé Nast |location=New York |pages=106 |volume=44 |issue=2 |url-status=live }}</ref> His paternal grandfather was a staunch [[atheist]].<ref name=NYT051507/> Jerry Falwell was a member of a group in Fairview Heights known to the police as "the Wall Gang" because they sat on a low concrete wall at the Pickeral Café.{{sfn|Towns|2014}} Falwell met Macel Pate on his first visit to Park Avenue Baptist Church in 1949; Macel was a pianist there.<ref name=":0" /> They married on April 12, 1958.{{sfn|Winters|2012|p=68}} The couple had two sons, [[Jerry Falwell Jr.|Jerry Jr.]] (a lawyer who succeeded Jerry Sr. as president of Liberty University until 2020) and [[Jonathan Falwell|Jonathan]] (who succeeded Jerry Sr. as senior pastor at Thomas Road Baptist Church, and became chancellor of Liberty University in 2023), and a daughter, Jeannie (a surgeon).

Falwell and his wife had a close relationship, and she supported him throughout his career. The Falwells often appeared together in public, and did not shy away from showing physical affection. Of his marriage, Falwell jokingly said: "Macel and I have never considered divorce. Murder maybe, but never divorce." Macel appreciated her husband's non-combative, affable nature, writing in her book that he "hated confrontation and didn't want strife in our home{{nbsp}}... he did everything in his power to make me happy." The Falwells had been married for nearly 50 years when Jerry died.{{sfn|M. Falwell|2008}}

Falwell graduated from [[Brookville High School (Virginia)|Brookville High School]] in Lynchburg, and from then-unaccredited<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ncahlc.org/index.php?option=com_directory&Action=ShowBasic&instid=2797 |title=Higher Learning Commission:Baptist Bible College |access-date=January 6, 2009 |date=April 1, 2008 |publisher=Higher Learning Commission |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929131801/http://www.ncahlc.org/index.php?option=com_directory&Action=ShowBasic&instid=2797 |archive-date=September 29, 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Higher Learning Commission |url=https://www.hlcommission.org/component/directory/?Itemid=&Action=ShowBasic&instid=2797 |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=www.hlcommission.org |archive-date=March 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308145055/https://www.hlcommission.org/component/directory/?Itemid=&Action=ShowBasic&instid=2797 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Baptist Bible College (Missouri)|Baptist Bible College]] in [[Springfield, Missouri]], in 1956. He enrolled there to subvert Pate's relationship with her fiancé, who was a student there.<ref name=":0" /> Falwell was later awarded three honorary doctorates: [[Doctor of Divinity]] (1968) from [[Temple Baptist Seminary|Tennessee Temple Theological Seminary]], [[Doctor of Letters]] from [[California Graduate School of Theology]], and [[Doctor of Law]]s from Central University in [[Seoul]], South Korea.<ref name="official biography">{{cite web |url=http://www.liberty.edu/index.cfm?PID=6921 |title=Executive Biographies:Dr. Jerry Falwell |access-date=January 6, 2009 |publisher=Liberty University |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210134809/http://www.liberty.edu/index.cfm?PID=6921 |archive-date=December 10, 2008 }}</ref>

==Associated organizations==
===Thomas Road Baptist Church===
{{Main|Thomas Road Baptist Church}}

In 1956, aged 22, Falwell founded the [[Thomas Road Baptist Church]]. Originally at 701 Thomas Road in Lynchburg, with 35 members, it became a [[megachurch]]. Also in 1956, Falwell began ''[[The Old-Time Gospel Hour]]'', a nationally syndicated radio and television ministry. When Falwell died, his son Jonathan inherited his father's ministry, and took over as the church's senior pastor.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sons Walking in Own Shoes, Albeit Footsteps of Famous Dads|url=http://www.theledger.com/article/LK/20071125/News/608123555/LL/|website=theledger.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217223416/http://www.theledger.com/article/LK/20071125/News/608123555/LL/|archive-date=2017-02-17}}</ref> The weekly program's name was then changed to ''Thomas Road Live''.<ref>{{cite news|title=Founder| newspaper=About Liberty |url=http://www.liberty.edu/aboutliberty/?PID=6921|publisher=Liberty University|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150714091138/http://www.liberty.edu/aboutliberty/?PID=6921|archive-date=2015-07-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Old Time Gospel Hour|url=http://flickout.com/series/6504645-old-time-gospel-hour|website=Flick Out}}{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

===Liberty Christian Academy===
{{Main|Liberty Christian Academy}}
During the 1950s and 1960s, Falwell spoke and campaigned against the [[civil rights]] activist [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] and the [[racial desegregation]] of public school systems by the federal government. Liberty Christian Academy (LCA, founded as Lynchburg Christian Academy) is a Christian school in Lynchburg that the ''Lynchburg News'' in 1966 called "a private school for white students".

Falwell opened The Lynchburg Christian Academy in 1967 as a [[segregation academy]] and a ministry of Thomas Road Baptist Church.{{sfnm |1a1=Dowland |1y=2007 |1p=23 |2a1=Dowland |2y=2015 |2p=27 |3a1=Griffith |3y=2017}}

The Liberty Christian Academy is recognized as an educational facility by the [[Commonwealth of Virginia]] through the Virginia State Board of Education,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://77241.inspyred.com/images/2012-11-14%20State%20Recognized.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2013-03-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020114757/http://77241.inspyred.com/images/2012-11-14%20State%20Recognized.pdf |archive-date=2013-10-20 }}</ref> [[Southern Association of Colleges and Schools]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.advanc-ed.org/oasis2/u/par/accreditation/summary?institutionId=33686|title=AdvancED – Institution Summary|access-date=January 21, 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170327040621/http://www.advanc-ed.org/oasis2/u/par/accreditation/summary?institutionId=33686|archive-date=March 27, 2017}}</ref> and the [[Association of Christian Schools International]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.acsiglobal.org/member-search |title=Member Search « ACSI |access-date=2014-04-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327031712/http://www.acsiglobal.org/member-search |archive-date=2014-03-27 }}</ref>

===Liberty University===
{{Main|Liberty University}}

In 1971, Falwell co-founded Liberty University with [[Elmer L. Towns]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.liberty.edu/news/index.cfm?PID=18495&MID=97080|title=Chancellor Falwell announces Towns will step down for sabbatical – Liberty University|website=www.liberty.edu|date=August 28, 2013|access-date=June 15, 2019|archive-date=February 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190224002104/https://www.liberty.edu/news/index.cfm?PID=18495&MID=97080|url-status=live}}</ref> Liberty University offers over 350 accredited programs of study, with approximately 16,000 students on-campus and 100,000 online.<ref>{{cite web |title= Liberty University |url= http://www.liberty.edu/index.cfm?PID=14588 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140419053903/http://www.liberty.edu/index.cfm?PID=14588 |archive-date= 2014-04-19 }}</ref>

===Moral Majority===
{{Main|Moral Majority}}

[[File:Ford B1710 NLGRF photo contact sheet (1976-09-30)(Gerald Ford Library) (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Falwell greeting [[President of the United States|President]] [[Gerald Ford]] in 1976]]
[[File:President Ronald Reagan Meeting with Jerry Falwell in Oval Office - DPLA - cc20a50ebc82890b61a2fbd03c7e7266.jpg|thumb|right|Falwell with [[President of the United States|President]] [[Ronald Reagan]] in 1983]]
[[File:Bush Contact Sheet P19932 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Falwell with [[President of the United States|President]] [[George H.&nbsp;W. Bush]] in 1991]]

During the 1980s, the Moral Majority became one of the largest political lobbies for evangelical Christians in the U.S.<ref name=MSNBC>{{cite news |title=Moral Majority Founder Jerry Falwell Dies |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna18679412 |work=NBC News |date=May 15, 2007 |access-date=January 6, 2009 }}</ref> According to Falwell's autobiography, the Moral Majority was promoted as "pro-life, pro-traditional family, pro-moral, and pro-American"{{sfn|J. Falwell|1997|p=388}} and was credited with delivering two-thirds of the white evangelical vote to [[Ronald Reagan]] in the [[1980 United States presidential election|1980 presidential election]].{{sfnm |1a1=King |1y=1997 |2a1=Williams |2y=2010}} According to [[Jimmy Carter]], "that autumn [1980] a group headed by Jerry Falwell purchased $10 million in commercials on southern radio and TV to brand me as a traitor to the South and no longer a Christian."{{sfn|Carter|2010|p=469}} As head of the Moral Majority, Falwell consistently supported Republican candidates and conservative politics. This led [[Billy Graham]] to criticize him for "sermonizing" about political issues that lacked a moral element. At the time of Falwell's death, Graham said: "We did not always agree on everything, but I knew him to be a man of God. His accomplishments went beyond most clergy of his generation."<ref name=MSNBC/>

===PTL===
[[File:Jerryfalwellwaterslide.jpg|thumb|upright|Falwell rides the water slide at [[Heritage USA]].]]
In March 1987, [[Pentecostal]] televangelist [[Jim Bakker]] came under media scrutiny when it was revealed that he had a sexual encounter with, and allegedly raped, [[Jessica Hahn]], and had paid for her silence.<ref name=Time12-1988>{{cite magazine | last=Ostling|first=Richard N. |author-link=Richard N. Ostling | title=Jim Bakker's Crumbling World | date=December 19, 1988 | magazine=Time |volume=132 |issue=25 |location=New York |page=72 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,956551,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060820142543/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,956551,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 20, 2006 | access-date=December 5, 2007 }}</ref> Bakker believed that fellow Pentecostal pastor [[Jimmy Swaggart]] was attempting to take over his ministry because he had initiated a church investigation into allegations of his sexual misconduct.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/03/24/Fire-and-brimstone-evangelist-Jimmy-Swaggart-admitted-today-he-instigated-a/5623543560400/|publisher=[[United Press International]]|title=Fire-and-brimstone evangelist Jimmy Swaggart admitted today he instigated a...|date=March 24, 1987|access-date=January 5, 2019|archive-date=January 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190101193824/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/03/24/Fire-and-brimstone-evangelist-Jimmy-Swaggart-admitted-today-he-instigated-a/5623543560400/|url-status=live}}</ref> To avoid the takeover, Bakker resigned on March 19 and appointed Falwell to succeed him as head of his PTL ministry, which included the [[PTL Satellite Network]], television program ''[[The PTL Club]]'' and the Christian-themed [[amusement park]] [[Heritage USA]].<ref name="Observer">{{cite web|url=https://www.charlotteobserver.com/living/religion/article205362719.html|work=[[The Charlotte Observer]]|title=Jim Bakker's theme park was like a Christian Disneyland. Here's what happened to it.|date=March 17, 2018|access-date=January 5, 2019|last=Funk|first=Tim|archive-date=January 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190119093532/https://www.charlotteobserver.com/living/religion/article205362719.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Bakker believed Falwell would lead the ministry temporarily, until the scandal died down,<ref name="ATC">{{cite news |title=Son of Jim and Tammy Faye Finds His Own 'Grace' |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/01/15/132864466/jim-and-tammy-fayes-son-finds-his-own-grace |work=[[All Things Considered]] |publisher=[[NPR]] |date=January 5, 2019 |access-date=January 5, 2019 |archive-date=February 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180213084653/https://www.npr.org/2011/01/15/132864466/jim-and-tammy-fayes-son-finds-his-own-grace |url-status=live }}</ref> but Falwell barred Bakker from returning to PTL on April 28,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051501365.html?noredirect=on|last=Harris|first=Art|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|title=Falwell Takes Control, Bars Bakker from PTL|date=April 29, 1987|access-date=January 5, 2019|archive-date=January 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190101145401/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051501365.html?noredirect=on|url-status=live}}</ref> calling him "probably the greatest scab and cancer on the face of Christianity in 2,000 years of church history".<ref name="Observer"/> Later that summer, as donations to the ministry declined in the wake of Bakker's scandal and resignation, Falwell raised $20 million to keep PTL solvent and delivered on a promise to ride the water slide at Heritage USA.<ref>{{cite magazine | url=http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,965543,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050212141215/http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,965543,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=February 12, 2005 | title=American Notes: Fund Raising | magazine=Time |location=New York | date=September 21, 1987 | access-date=November 29, 2007 }}</ref> Despite this, Falwell was unable to save the ministry from bankruptcy, and he resigned in October 1987.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/09/us/falwell-quits-warning-ptl-ministry-may-end.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|title=Falwell Quits, Warning PTL Ministry May End|date=October 9, 1987|access-date=January 1, 2019|archive-date=January 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190101145239/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/09/us/falwell-quits-warning-ptl-ministry-may-end.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Social and political views==
{{Conservatism US}}
{{Christian nationalism US sidebar}}

===Families===
Falwell advocated beliefs and practices influenced by his version of biblical teachings.{{Vague|date=July 2025}}{{sfn|Dobson|Hindson|J. Falwell|1986}}

===Tithing===
In 1989, he told Liberty University employees that membership in his church and [[Tithe|tithing]] were mandatory.<ref>Associated Press, [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-03-11-me-881-story.html Falwell Mandates Tithing and Church Membership for All of His Employees] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231229145902/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-03-11-me-881-story.html |date=December 29, 2023 }}, latimes.com, USA, March 11, 1989</ref>

===Vietnam War===
Falwell felt the [[Vietnam War]] was being fought with "limited political objectives" when it should have been an all-out war against the [[North Vietnam|North]].{{sfn|J. Falwell|1980|p=85}} In general, Falwell held that the president "as a minister of God" has the right to use arms to "bring wrath upon those who would do evil."{{sfn|J. Falwell|1980|p=98}}

===Civil rights===
On his evangelist program ''[[The Old-Time Gospel Hour]]'' in the mid-1960s, Falwell regularly featured [[racial segregation|segregation]]ist politicians like governors [[Lester Maddox]] and [[George Wallace]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=522 |title=Holy War |publisher=SPLCenter.org |date=2003-06-26 |access-date=2010-11-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100203151501/http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=522 |archive-date=2010-02-03 }}</ref> Of [[Martin Luther King Jr.]], he said: "I do question the sincerity and nonviolent intentions of some civil rights leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mr. James Farmer, and others, who are known to have left-wing associations."{{sfn|J. Falwell|1982|p=310}}

Of ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'', he said in 1958:

{{blockquote|If Chief Justice Warren and his associates had known God's word and had desired to do the Lord's will, I am quite confident that the 1954 decision would never have been made. The facilities should be separate. When God has drawn a line of distinction, we should not attempt to cross that line.<ref name="Blumenthal 2007">{{cite magazine |last=Blumenthal |first=Max |author-link=Max Blumenthal |date=May 28, 2007 |title=Age of Intolerance |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/agent-intolerance/ |magazine=The Nation |location=New York |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100808164956/http://www.thenation.com/article/agent-intolerance |archive-date=August 8, 2010 |access-date=November 7, 2010}}</ref>}}

In 1977, Falwell supported [[Anita Bryant]]'s "[[Save Our Children]]" campaign to overturn an ordinance in [[Miami-Dade County, Florida|Dade County, Florida]], prohibiting discrimination on the basis of [[sexual orientation]]. He supported a similar movement in California.<ref name = NYT051507/>

Twenty-eight years later, during a 2005 [[MSNBC]] television appearance, Falwell said he was not troubled by reports that the nominee for Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, [[John G. Roberts]], had done volunteer legal work for [[gay rights]] activists in the case ''[[Romer v. Evans]]''. Falwell told then-MSNBC host [[Tucker Carlson]] that if he were a lawyer, he too would argue for civil rights for [[LGBT]] people. "I may not agree with the lifestyle, but that has nothing to do with the civil rights of that part of our constituency", said Falwell. When Carlson countered that conservatives "are always arguing against 'special rights' for gays", Falwell said equal access to housing and employment are basic rights, not special rights. "Civil rights for all Americans, black, white, red, yellow, the rich, poor, young, old, gay, straight, et cetera, is not a liberal or conservative value. It's an American value that I would think that we pretty much all agree on."<ref name=soulforce/>

===Israel and Jews===
Falwell's relationship with Israeli Prime Minister [[Menachem Begin]] was reported in the media in 1981.<ref>Mouly, Ruth, and Roland Robertson. "Zionism in American Premillenarian Fundamentalism." ''American Journal of Theology & Philosophy'', vol. 4, no. 3, 1983, p. 103. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/27943631 JSTOR website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531154858/https://www.jstor.org/stable/27943631 |date=May 31, 2023 }} Retrieved 27 May 2023.</ref> Falwell's staunch pro-[[Israel]] stance, sometimes called "[[Christian Zionism]]", drew the support of the [[Anti-Defamation League]] and its leader [[Abraham Foxman]],<ref>{{cite news |first=Mary Jayne |last=McKay |title=Zion's Christian Soldiers |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/zions-christian-soldiers/ |work=CBS News |date=June 8, 2003 |access-date=January 13, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210195101/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/10/03/60minutes/main524268.shtml |archive-date=February 10, 2009 }}</ref> but they condemned what they perceived as intolerance toward Muslims in Falwell's public statements.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sachs |first=Susan |date=June 15, 2002 |title=Baptist Pastor Attacks Islam, Inciting Cries of Intolerance |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/us/baptist-pastor-attacks-islam-inciting-cries-of-intolerance.html |url-access=limited |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=April 17, 2018 |archive-date=December 31, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171231015809/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/15/us/baptist-pastor-attacks-islam-inciting-cries-of-intolerance.html |url-status=live }}</ref> They also criticized him for saying that "Jews can make more money accidentally than you can on purpose".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adl.org/PresRele/DiRaB_41/4168_41.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031217060602/http://www.adl.org/PresRele/DiRaB_41/4168_41.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2003-12-17 |title=ADL Condemns Falwell's Anti-Muslim Remarks; Urges Him to Apologize |publisher=Adl.org |access-date=2010-11-07 }}</ref><ref name="jews">{{cite web|url=http://maxblumenthal.com/2009/09/irving-kristols-alliance-with-anti-semites/|title=Irving Kristol's Rebel Alliance with Anti-Semites|access-date=December 24, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100104125733/http://maxblumenthal.com/2009/09/irving-kristols-alliance-with-anti-semites/|archive-date=January 4, 2010|df=mdy-all}}</ref> In his book ''Listen, America!'', Falwell called the Jewish people "spiritually blind and desperately in need of their Messiah and Savior."{{sfn|J. Falwell|1980|p=113}}

In the 1984 book ''Jerry Falwell and the Jews'', Falwell is quoted saying: {{blockquote|I feel that the destiny of the state of Israel is without question the most crucial international matter facing the world today. I believe that the people of Israel have not only a theological but also a historical and legal right to the land. I am personally a Zionist, having gained that perspective from my belief in Old Testament Scriptures. I have also visited Israel many times. I have arrived at the conclusion that unless the United States maintains its unswerving devotion to the State of Israel, the very survival of that nation is at stake{{nbsp}}... Every American who agrees Israel has the right to the land must be willing to exert all possible pressure on the powers that be to guarantee America's support of the State of Israel at this time.{{sfn|Simon|1984|p=62}}}}

Falwell's geopolitical stance on Israel faced significant criticism from secular and left-wing commentators. Critics, including Christopher Hitchens, argued that Falwell's unyielding Christian Zionism was rooted entirely in apocalyptic dispensationalism. Hitchens asserted that Falwell deliberately allied himself with the most radical, theocratic elements in Israel to accelerate an end-time biblical prophecy (the Battle of Armageddon), thereby actively undermining secular democratic avenues for a peaceful solution to the Middle East conflict.<ref name=slate2>[[Hitchens, Christopher]]. "[http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2007/05/faithbased_fraud.html Jerry Falwell, faith-based fraud] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130816031106/http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2007/05/faithbased_fraud.html |date=2013-08-16 }}." ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]''. May 16, [[2007 in literature|2007]]. Retrieved September 3, 2013.</ref>

===Education===
Falwell repeatedly denounced certain teachings in [[public school (government funded)|public school]]s and [[secular education]] in general, calling them breeding grounds for [[atheism]], [[secularism]], and [[humanism]], which he claimed to be in contradiction with Christian [[morality]]. He advocated that the U.S. change its public education system by implementing a [[school voucher]] system that would allow parents to send their children to either public or private schools. In his book ''America Can Be Saved'', he wrote: "I hope I live to see the day when, as in the early days of our country, we won't have any public schools. The churches will have taken them over again and Christians will be running them."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://atheism.about.com/library/glossary/western/bldef_falwelljerry.htm |title=Biography: Falwell, Jerry |publisher=Atheism.about.com |date=1982-11-21 |access-date=2010-11-07 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030104032958/http://atheism.about.com/library/glossary/western/bldef_falwelljerry.htm |archive-date=2003-01-04 }}</ref>

Falwell supported President [[George W. Bush]]'s [[White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives|Faith Based Initiative]], but had strong reservations about where the funding would go and the restrictions placed on churches: {{blockquote|My problem is where it might go under his successors.&nbsp;... I would not want to put any of the Jerry Falwell Ministries in a position where we might be subservient to a future Bill Clinton, God forbid.&nbsp;... It also concerns me that once the [[pork barrel]] is filled, suddenly the Church of Scientology, the Jehovah Witnesses {{sic}}, the various and many denominations and religious groups—and I don't say those words in a pejorative way—begin applying for money—and I don't see how any can be turned down because of their radical and unpopular views. I don't know where that would take us.<ref>{{cite web |last=Falwell |first=Jerry |year=2001 |title=Falwell: 'Deep Concerns' |url=http://www.beliefnet.com/story/70/story_7040_1.html |url-status=live |interviewer-last=Caldwell |interviewer-first=Deborah |website=Beliefnet |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010092416/http://www.beliefnet.com/story/70/story_7040_1.html |archive-date=2008-10-10 |access-date=2010-11-07}}</ref>}}

===Apartheid===
In the 1980s Falwell said sanctions against South Africa's [[apartheid]] regime would result in what, he felt, would be a worse situation, such as a Soviet-backed revolution. He also urged his followers to buy up gold [[Krugerrand]]s and push U.S. "reinvestment" in South Africa.<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Richard N. |last=Ostling |author-link=Richard Ostling |title=Jerry Falwell's Crusade |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,959697,00.html |magazine=Time |location=New York |date=September 2, 1985 |access-date=May 17, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015121702/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,959697,00.html |archive-date=October 15, 2007 }}</ref> In 1985 he drew the ire of many when he called [[Nobel Peace Prize]] winner and [[Anglican]] Archbishop [[Desmond Tutu]] a phony "as far as representing the black people of South Africa".<ref>{{cite magazine | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,959695,00.html | magazine=Time |location=New York | title=Religion: An Unholy Uproar | date=September 2, 1985 | access-date=May 6, 2010 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101029184801/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,959695,00.html | archive-date=October 29, 2010 }}</ref><ref name="Pear 1985">{{cite news |last=Pear |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Pear |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30A15FB3D5F0C728EDDA10894DD484D81&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fF%2fFalwell%2c%20Jerry |title=Falwell Denounces Tutu as a 'Phony' |newspaper=The New York Times |date=1985-08-21 |access-date=2010-11-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080609013718/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30A15FB3D5F0C728EDDA10894DD484D81&n=Top/Reference/Times/Topics/People/F/Falwell%2C%20Jerry |archive-date=2008-06-09 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=24 August 1985 |title=Falwell Offers Tutu Qualified Apology |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-08-24-mn-26104-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200505224953/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-08-24-mn-26104-story.html |archive-date=May 5, 2020 |access-date=14 March 2019 |work=Los Angeles Times |agency=United Press International }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |title=Falwell Gives Qualified Apology for Calling Bishop Tutu a Phony |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/24/world/falwell-gives-wualified-apology-for-calling-bishop-tutu-a-phony.html |access-date=14 March 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=24 August 1985 |archive-date=April 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200420221726/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/24/world/falwell-gives-wualified-apology-for-calling-bishop-tutu-a-phony.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===''The Clinton Chronicles''===
{{Main|The Clinton Chronicles}}

In 1994, Falwell promoted and distributed the video documentary ''The Clinton Chronicles: An Investigation into the Alleged Criminal Activities of Bill Clinton''. The video purported to connect [[Bill Clinton]] to a murder conspiracy involving [[Vince Foster]], [[Jim McDougal|James McDougall]], [[Ron Brown]], and a [[cocaine]]-[[smuggling]] operation. The theory was discredited, but the video sold more than 150,000 copies.<ref name="falwell">[http://www.salon.com/1998/03/11/cov_11news/ The Falwell connection] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714161034/http://www.salon.com/1998/03/11/cov_11news/ |date=2014-07-14 }} by [[Murray Waas]] Salon.com</ref>

The film's production costs were partly met by "Citizens for Honest Government", to which Falwell paid $200,000 in 1994 and 1995.<ref name="falwell"/> In 1995 Citizens for Honest Government interviewed [[Arkansas State Police|Arkansas state troopers]] Roger Perry and [[Larry Patterson]] about the Foster murder conspiracy theory. Perry and Patterson also gave information about the allegations in the [[Paula Jones]] [[Troopergate (Bill Clinton)|affair]].<ref name="falwell"/>

The [[infomercial]] for the 80-minute videotape included footage of Falwell interviewing a silhouetted journalist who claimed to be afraid for his life. The journalist accused Clinton of orchestrating the deaths of several reporters and personal confidants who had gotten too close to his supposed illegal activities. The silhouetted journalist was subsequently revealed to be Patrick Matrisciana, the producer of the video and president of Citizens for Honest Government.<ref name="falwell"/> "Obviously, I'm not an investigative reporter", Matrisciana admitted to investigative journalist [[Murray Waas]].<ref name="falwell"/> Later, Falwell seemed to back away from personally trusting the video. In an interview for the 2005 documentary ''[[The Hunting of the President]]'', Falwell said, "to this day I do not know the accuracy of the claims made in ''The Clinton Chronicles''."<ref>''[[The Hunting of the President]]'' (DVD) 2005</ref>

===Views on homosexuality===
Falwell condemned homosexuality as forbidden by the Bible. Homosexual rights groups called Falwell an "agent of intolerance" and "the founder of the anti-gay industry" for statements he had made and for campaigning against [[LGBT social movements]].<ref name=NYT051507/><ref name="Blumenthal 2007"/> Falwell supported [[Anita Bryant]]'s 1977 "Save Our Children" campaign to overturn a Florida ordinance prohibiting discrimination on the basis of [[sexual orientation]] and a similar movement in California.<ref name=NYT051507/> In urging the ordinance's repeal, Falwell told one crowd, "Gay folks would just as soon kill you as look at you."<ref name=homosexuals>{{cite news |last1=Johnson |first1=Hans |last2=Eskridge |first2=William |author2-link=William Eskridge |date=May 19, 2007 |title=The Legacy of Falwell's Bully Pulpit |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/18/AR2007051801392.html |url-status=live |newspaper=The Washington Post |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111163004/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/18/AR2007051801392.html |archive-date=November 11, 2012 |access-date=May 18, 2007}}</ref> When the LGBT-friendly [[Metropolitan Community Church]] was almost accepted into the [[World Council of Churches]], Falwell called them "brute beasts" and said they were "part of a vile and satanic system" that "will be utterly annihilated, and there will be a celebration in heaven".<ref name=vile>{{cite web |last=Burns |first=Katy |date=May 17, 2007 |title=Jerry Falwell's Greatest Hates |url=http://www.cmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070517/REPOSITORY/705170342/1028/OPINION02 |url-status=dead |work=Concord Monitor |location=Concord, New Hampshire |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927214159/http://www.cmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070517/REPOSITORY/705170342/1028/OPINION02 |archive-date=September 27, 2007 |access-date=May 18, 2007}}</ref> He later denied saying this.<ref name="intersex">{{cite web|url=http://www.saccenter.org/about.php |title=about Lambda Community Fund |access-date=April 9, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080125043503/http://www.saccenter.org/about.php |archive-date=January 25, 2008 }}</ref> Falwell also regularly linked the [[AIDS]] epidemic to LGBT issues and said, "AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals, it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals."<ref name=AIDS>{{cite web |url=http://www.milforddailynews.com/opinion/x1987843539 |title=Press: The Sad Legacy of Jerry Falwell |author=Press, Bill |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928110421/http://www.milforddailynews.com/opinion/x1987843539|access-date=February 15, 2015|archive-date=September 28, 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

After comedian and actress [[Ellen DeGeneres]] came out as a lesbian, Falwell referred to her in a sermon as "Ellen DeGenerate". DeGeneres responded, "Really, he called me that? Ellen DeGenerate? I've been getting that since the fourth grade. I guess I'm happy I could give him work."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,986189,00.html |title=He Called Me Ellen Degenerate? |access-date=November 25, 2008 |last=Handy |first=Bruce |magazine=Time |location=New York |date=April 14, 1997 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123083654/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,986189,00.html |archive-date=November 23, 2008}}</ref>

Falwell's legacy regarding homosexuality is complicated by his support for LGBT civil rights and his attempts to reconcile with the LGBT community in later years. In October 1999, he hosted a meeting of 200 evangelicals with 200 gay people and lesbians at Thomas Road Baptist Church for an "Anti-Violence Forum", during which he acknowledged that some evangelicals' comments about homosexuality qualified as hate speech that could incite violence.<ref>{{cite news |author=Niebuhr, Gustav |date=October 23, 1999 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/23/us/religion-journal-falwell-finds-an-accord-with-gay-rights-backer.html |department=Religion Journal |title=Falwell Finds an Accord with Gay Rights Backer |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630154512/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/23/us/religion-journal-falwell-finds-an-accord-with-gay-rights-backer.html |archive-date=2017-06-30 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> At the forum, Falwell told homosexuals in attendance, "I don't agree with your lifestyle, I will never agree with your lifestyle, but I love you" and added, "Anything that leaves the impression that we hate the sinner, we want to change that."<ref>{{cite news |last=Schwartz |first=Deb |url=http://www.salon.com/news/feature/1999/10/25/falwell/index.html |title=The Odd Couple |work=Salon|date=1999-10-25 |access-date=2010-11-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110129201711/http://www.salon.com/news/feature/1999/10/25/falwell/index.html |archive-date=2011-01-29}}</ref> He later told ''New York Times'' columnist [[Frank Rich]] that "admittedly, evangelicals have not exhibited an ability to build a bond of friendship to the gay and lesbian community. We've said ''go somewhere else, we don't need you here [at] our churches.''"<ref>{{cite news |last=Rich |first=Frank |author-link=Frank Rich |date=November 6, 1999 |title=Has Jerry Falwell Seen the light? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/06/opinion/journal-has-jerry-falwell-seen-the-light.html?scp=2&sq=jerry%20falwell%20AND%20homosexual&st=nyt&pagewanted=1 |url-access=limited |newspaper=The New York Times |page=A17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522005442/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/06/opinion/journal-has-jerry-falwell-seen-the-light.html?scp=2&sq=jerry%20falwell%20AND%20homosexual&st=nyt&pagewanted=1 |archive-date=May 22, 2013 |access-date=2010-11-07}}</ref>

==='''Teletubbies'''===
In February 1999, a ''National Liberty Journal'' article (the media attributed it to Falwell)<ref name=NLJ>{{cite web|url=http://nljonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=269&Itemid=0|title=PARENTS Alert... Parents Alert|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060516002632/http://nljonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=269&Itemid=0|archive-date=May 16, 2006|access-date=June 30, 2023|work=NLJ|url-status=dead}}</ref> claimed that Tinky Winky, a Teletubby, was intended as a homosexual role model. The ''NLJ'' is a Liberty University publication. A 1998 ''[[Salon (website)|Salon]]'' article had referred to Tinky Winky's status as a gay icon.<ref name=Tubbythump>{{cite web| url=http://salon.com/media/1998/04/03media.html|title=Tubbythumping|last=Millman|first=Joyce |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613062013/http://salon.com/media/1998/04/03media.html|archive-date=June 13, 2011|access-date=February 16, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> In response, Steve Rice, spokesperson for Itsy Bitsy Entertainment, which licenses ''[[Teletubbies]]'', a U.K. show for preschool children, in the U.S., said, "I really find it absurd and kind of offensive."<ref name=Tinky>{{cite news | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/276677.stm | title=Gay Tinky Winky bad for children | access-date=May 18, 2007 | work=BBC News | date=February 15, 1999 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070714040014/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/276677.stm | archive-date=July 14, 2007 }}</ref><ref name=Winky>{{cite news | url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=auX3.SI9QH2M | title=Jerry Falwell, Evangelist, Political Activist, Dies | access-date=May 18, 2007 | last=Burke | first=Heather | work=Bloomberg | date=May 15, 2007 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930075811/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=auX3.SI9QH2M | archive-date=September 30, 2007 }}</ref> The ''NLJ'' wrote, "he is purple—the [[gay pride]] color; and his antenna is shaped like a [[Pink triangle|triangle]]—the gay-pride symbol". Tinky Winky also carries a magic bag, which the ''NLJ'' and ''Salon'' called a purse. Falwell added, "role-modeling the gay lifestyle is damaging to the moral lives of children".

===September 11 attacks===
Following the [[September 11 attacks]] in 2001, Falwell made highly controversial remarks during an appearance on [[Pat Robertson]]'s ''[[The 700 Club]]''. He stated: "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]], [[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.'"<ref name="falwell apology">{{cite news| url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/14/Falwell.apology/ | work=CNN | title=Falwell Apologizes to Gays, Feminists, Lesbians | date=September 14, 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130401182609/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/14/Falwell.apology/|archive-date=April 1, 2013|access-date=February 16, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="falwell 9/11">[https://home.comcast.net/~joe.grabko/falwell.mp3 Falwell speaks about WTC disaster, Christian Broadcasting Network<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019023622/https://home.comcast.net/~joe.grabko/falwell.mp3 |date=2012-10-19 }}</ref> Falwell argued that by advancing secular causes and LGBT rights, these groups had removed America's "shield of divine protection" and angered God, thereby partially causing the tragedy.<ref name="shield of protection">{{cite web|url=http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=69715 |title=Top Stories |publisher=NY1|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080323050047/http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=69715 |archive-date=March 23, 2008}}</ref>

These comments triggered immediate and widespread national condemnation from across the political spectrum, including a rebuke from the White House, which labeled the remarks "inappropriate."<ref name="Goodstein 2001"/> Critics accused Falwell of exploitation, moral bankruptcy, and effectively shifting the blame away from the terrorists onto American citizens. Following the intense backlash, Falwell issued an apology, stating: "If I left that impression with gays or lesbians or anyone else, I apologize," and clarified that he believed only the terrorists were to blame.<ref name="falwell apology"/> However, the incident permanently hardened his reputation among detractors as an extremist who used national tragedies for ideological leverage.<ref name="Blumenthal 2007"/>

===Labor unions===
Falwell said, "Labor unions should study and read the Bible instead of asking for more money. When people get right with God, they are better workers."<ref>{{cite web |last=Ricco |first=Joanne |date=August 2002 |title=The Right Wing Attack on the American Labor Movement |url=http://www.wisaflcio.org/Right_Wing/TheRightWingAttack.pdf |location=Milwaukee, Wisconsin |publisher=Wisconsin State AFL-CIO |page=10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013094701/http://www.wisaflcio.org/Right_Wing/TheRightWingAttack.pdf |archive-date=October 13, 2007}}</ref>

===Relationship with American fundamentalism===
[[File:Dr. Jerry Falwell holds a religious rally.jpg|thumb|Falwell at an "I Love America" rally in 1980]] In her extensive ethnographic study of Falwell, cultural anthropologist Susan Friend Harding noted that he adapted his preaching to win a broader, less extremist audience as he grew famous. This manifested itself in several ways. For example, though he was a [[teetotaler]],<ref>{{cite news|title=The Rev. Jerry Falwell|work=[[People (magazine)|People]]|volume=14|issue=26|date=29 December 1980|url=http://people.com/archive/the-rev-jerry-falwell-vol-14-no-26/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728133010/http://people.com/archive/the-rev-jerry-falwell-vol-14-no-26/|archive-date=28 July 2017}}</ref> Falwell no longer condemned "worldly" lifestyle choices such as dancing, drinking wine, and attending movie theaters; he softened his rhetoric predicting an apocalypse and God's vengeful wrath; and he shifted from a belief in outright [[biblical patriarchy]] to a [[complementarian]] view of appropriate gender roles. He also began to aim his strongest criticism at [[secular humanism|"secular humanists"]], [[paganism|pagans]], and liberals rather than engaging in the racist, antisemitic, and [[anti-Catholic]] rhetoric common among Southern fundamentalist preachers but increasingly condemned as [[hate speech]] by the consensus of American society.{{sfn|Harding|2000}}

===Islam===
Falwell opposed [[Islam]]. According to ''[[Asharq Al-Awsat]]'', a [[pan-Arab]] newspaper, he called Islam "satanic".<ref>[https://archive.today/20120728120957/http://www.arabwestreport.info/?q=node/10900 A case that is forgotten...another group of takfir] from ''Arab-West Report''</ref> In a televised interview with ''[[60 Minutes]]'', Falwell called [[Muhammad]] a "terrorist", adding, "I concluded from reading Muslim and non-Muslim writers that Muhammad was a violent man, a man of war." Falwell later apologized to Muslims for what he had said about Muhammad and affirmed that he did not intend to offend "honest and peace-loving" Muslims, but he refused to remove his comments about Islam from his website.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120719121517/http://www.arabwestreport.info/?q=node/16194 Rev. Jerry Falwell: I think Muhammad was a terrorist] from ''Arab-West Report''</ref><ref>[https://archive.today/20120718140356/http://www.arabwestreport.info/?q=node/7337 Recent developments] from ''Arab-West Report''</ref> In response, [[Egyptian Christian]] intellectuals signed a statement condemning what Falwell had said about Muhammad being a terrorist.<ref>{{cite news |title=Christian Leaders in Egypt Condemn Jerry Falwell's Statement About the Prophet Being a Terrorist |url=http://www.arabwestreport.info/?q=node/15419 |url-access=subscription |work=Arab-West Report}}</ref>

==Legal issues==
Beginning in the 1970s, Falwell was involved in legal matters that occupied much of his time and increased his name recognition.

===SEC and bonds===
In 1972, the [[US Securities and Exchange Commission]] (SEC) launched an investigation of [[bond (finance)|bonds]] issued by Falwell's organizations. The SEC charged Falwell's church with "fraud and deceit" in the issuance of $6.5 million in unsecured church bonds.<ref name="npr-potent">{{cite web|last1=Inskeep |first1=Steve |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5522064|title=Religion, Politics a Potent Mix for Jerry Falwell|website=NPR.org|date=June 30, 2006 |publisher=NPR|access-date=2010-11-07|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110204052741/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5522064|archive-date=2011-02-04}}</ref> The church won a 1973 federal court case prosecuted at the SEC's behest. The court exonerated the church and ruled that while technical violations of law did occur, there was no proof the church intended any wrongdoing.

===Falwell versus ''Penthouse''===
Falwell filed a $10 million lawsuit against ''[[Penthouse (magazine)|Penthouse]]'' for publishing an article based on interviews he gave to freelance reporters, after failing to convince a federal court to enjoin the article's publication. The suit was dismissed in federal district court in 1981 on the grounds that the article was not [[defamatory]] or an invasion of Falwell's privacy (the Virginia courts had not recognized this privacy tort, which is recognized in other states).<ref>{{cite news |date=February 5, 1981 |title=Falwell Says He Will Press $10 Million Penthouse Suit |newspaper=The New York Times |agency=Associated Press |page=A10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=August 7, 1981 |title=Penthouse Wins in Court Against Falwell Suit |newspaper=The New York Times |agency=United Press International |page=A8}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=September 10, 1981 |title=Falwell Won't Pursue Suit |newspaper=The New York Times |agency=United Press International |page=A28}}</ref>

===''Hustler Magazine v. Falwell''===
{{Main|Hustler Magazine v. Falwell}}

In 1983, [[Larry Flynt]]'s [[pornographic]] magazine ''[[Hustler (magazine)|Hustler]]'' ran a [[parody advertisement|parody]] of a [[Campari]] ad featuring a mock "interview" with Falwell in which he admits that his "first time" was incest with his mother in an [[outhouse]] while drunk. Falwell sued for $45 million, alleging invasion of privacy, libel, and [[intentional infliction of emotional distress]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Menand |first=Louis |author-link=Louis Menand |date=February 6, 1997 |title=It's a Wonderful Life |url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1997/02/06/its-a-wonderful-life/ |url-access=subscription |journal=The New York Review of Books |volume=44 |issue=2 |access-date=April 13, 2022 |archive-date=April 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220413030008/https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1997/02/06/its-a-wonderful-life/ |url-status=live }}</ref> A jury rejected the invasion of privacy and libel claims, holding that the parody could not have reasonably been taken to describe true events, but ruled in Falwell's favor on the emotional distress claim and awarded damages of $200,000. This was upheld on appeal. Flynt then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which unanimously held that the [[First Amendment]] prevents public figures from recovering damages for emotional distress caused by parodies.

After Falwell's death, Flynt said of Falwell:

<blockquote>My mother always told me that no matter how much you dislike a person, when you meet them face to face you will find characteristics about them that you like. Jerry Falwell was a perfect example of that. I hated everything he stood for, but after meeting him in person, years after the trial, Jerry Falwell and I became good friends. He would visit me in California and we would debate together on college campuses. I always appreciated his sincerity even though I knew what he was selling and he knew what I was selling.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-may-20-op-flynt20-story.html|title=The Porn King and the Preacher|last=Flynt|first=Larry|author-link=Larry Flynt|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=May 20, 2007 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100921050312/http://articles.latimes.com/2007/may/20/opinion/op-flynt20|archive-date=2010-09-21}}</ref></blockquote>

===Falwell versus Jerry Sloan===
[[File:Jerry Falwell, 1984.jpg|thumb|Falwell in [[Tallahassee, Florida]], in 1984]]

In 1984, Falwell was ordered to pay [[gay rights]] activist and former Baptist Bible College classmate Jerry Sloan $5,000 after losing a court battle. In July 1984 during a televised debate in [[Sacramento, California]], Falwell denied calling the gay-friendly [[Metropolitan Community Church]]es "brute beasts" and "a vile and Satanic system" that will "one day be utterly annihilated and there will be a celebration in heaven".<ref name=vile/>

When Sloan insisted he had a tape, Falwell promised $5,000 if he could produce it. Sloan did, Falwell refused to pay, and Sloan successfully sued.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,960051,00.html |title=Milestones: Oct. 7, 1985 |date=October 7, 1985 |magazine=Time |location=New York |access-date=December 16, 2019 }}{{Dead link|date=January 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref> The money was donated to build Sacramento's first LGBT community center, the Lambda Community Center, serving "lesbian, gay, [[bisexual]], [[transgender]], and [[intersex]]" communities.<ref name="intersex"/> Falwell appealed the decision, with his attorney charging that the Jewish judge in the case was prejudiced. He lost again and was made to pay an additional $2,875 in sanctions and court fees.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=unQdAAAAIBAJ&pg=5828,4267772&dq=sloan%20vs%20falwell&hl=en|title=The Pittsburgh Press – Google News Archive Search|access-date=January 21, 2017|archive-date=February 18, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218004549/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=unQdAAAAIBAJ&pg=5828,4267772&dq=sloan%20vs%20falwell&hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Trademark infringement lawsuit against Christopher Lamparello ===
{{main|Lamparello v. Falwell}}
In ''Lamparello v. Falwell'', a dispute over the ownership of the Internet domain ''fallwell.com'', the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit]] reversed an earlier District Court decision, arguing that Christopher Lamparello, who owned the domain, "clearly created his website intending only to provide a forum to criticize ideas, not to steal customers."<ref name="websitelawsuit">[https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna12356113 Supreme Court declines Falwell Web appeal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241126160029/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna12356113 |date=November 26, 2024 }}  Associated Press. April 17, 2006</ref> Lamparello's website described itself as not being connected to Jerry Falwell and is critical of Falwell's views on homosexuality.<ref name="websitelawsuit" /> On April 17, 2006, the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of the Appeals Court's ruling that Lamparello's usage of the domain was legal.

Before that, a different man had turned over ''[[Lamparello v. Falwell#Related case: jerryfalwell.com|jerryfalwell.com]]'' and ''jerryfallwell.com'' after Falwell threatened to sue for [[trademark infringement]].<ref name="websitelawsuit" /> Lawyers for [[Public Citizen Litigation Group]]'s Internet Free Speech project represented the domain name owners in both cases.

==Apocalyptic beliefs==
On July 31, 2006, [[CNN]]'s ''[[Paula Zahn Now]]'' program featured a segment on "whether the crisis in the Middle East is actually a prelude to the end of the world". In an interview, Falwell said, "I believe in the pre-millennial, pre-tribulational coming of Christ for all of his church, and to summarize that, your first poll, do you believe Jesus' coming the second time will be in the future, I would vote yes with the 59 percent and with [[Billy Graham]] and most evangelicals."<ref>''Paula Zahn Now'', CNN: [http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0607/31/pzn.01.html Transcript.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116035057/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0607/31/pzn.01.html |date=2013-01-16 }} July 31, 2006.</ref> Based on that and other statements, Falwell has been identified as a [[dispensationalist]].{{sfn|Clouse|2008|p=269}}

In 1999, Falwell said the [[Antichrist]] would probably arrive within a decade and "of course he'll be Jewish".<ref name="Antichrist">{{cite news |last=Cohen |first=Debra Nussbaum |url=http://www.jweekly.com/includes/print/9993/article/falwell-antichrist-remark-sparks-anti-semitism-charges/ |title=Falwell Antichrist remark sparks anti-Semitism charges |newspaper=J |date=January 22, 1999 |access-date=May 18, 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120202053422/http://www.jweekly.com/includes/print/9993/article/falwell-antichrist-remark-sparks-anti-semitism-charges/ |archive-date=February 2, 2012 }}</ref> After accusations of antisemitism, Falwell apologized and explained he was simply expressing the theological tenet that the Antichrist and Christ share many attributes.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6160167|title=NPR: Cultural Impact of the Book of Revelation|access-date=January 6, 2009|date=September 28, 2006|publisher=National Public Radio|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081222183749/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6160167|archive-date=December 22, 2008}}</ref>

==Failing health and death==
In early 2005, Falwell was hospitalized for two weeks with a [[viral infection]], discharged, and re-hospitalized on May 30, 2005, in [[respiratory arrest]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Falwell: The church won the 2004 elections|url=http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=3500772&nav=0RdEbGkt|newspaper=WSFA 12|date=June 21, 2005|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719023126/http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=3500772&nav=0RdEbGkt|archive-date=July 19, 2011|df=mdy-all|access-date=December 30, 2018}}</ref><ref name="condition">[https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-03-30-falwell_x.htm Falwell is taken off ventilator, upgraded to stable condition] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415025139/http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-03-30-falwell_x.htm |date=2009-04-15 }}. ''[[USA Today]]''. May 30, 2005</ref> He was released from the hospital and returned to work. Later that year, a [[stent]] was implanted to correct a 70 percent blockage in his [[coronary arteries]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Rev. Jerry Falwell Dies at 73 after collapsing|url=http://www.saukvalley.com/articles/2007/05/15/news/national/doc464a00ac1becb782807977.txt|newspaper=Sauk Valley Newspapers|date=May 15, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719015911/http://www.saukvalley.com/articles/2007/05/15/news/national/doc464a00ac1becb782807977.txt|archive-date=July 19, 2011|access-date=November 7, 2010}}</ref>

<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Macel Pate Falwell of VA.png|left|thumb|Falwell's widow, the former Macel Pate, died in 2015 shortly after her 82nd birthday.]] -->
At about 10:45&nbsp;a.m. on May 15, 2007, Falwell was found unconscious and without a pulse in his office after he missed a morning appointment, and was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2007-05-15-falwell-hospital_N.htm?csp=34|title=Evangelist Jerry Falwell Dies at 73|date=May 15, 2007|access-date=May 15, 2007|work=USA Today |agency=Associated Press|first1=Susan|last1=Page|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070517033223/http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2007-05-15-falwell-hospital_N.htm?csp=34|archive-date=May 17, 2007}}</ref> "I had breakfast with him, and he was fine at breakfast... He went to his office, I went to mine and they found him unresponsive", said Ron Godwin, the executive vice president of Liberty University. His condition was initially reported as "gravely serious"; [[CPR]] was administered unsuccessfully. At 2:10&nbsp;p.m., during a live press conference, a doctor from the hospital confirmed that Falwell had died of "[[cardiac arrhythmia]], or [[sudden cardiac death]]".<ref name="Transcript">[https://web.archive.org/web/20070722143319/http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0705/15/cnr.05.html Transcript] CNN.com, May 15, 2007</ref> The hospital released a statement saying that he was pronounced dead at Lynchburg General Hospital at 12:40&nbsp;p.m. He was 73. Falwell's wife<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/cknj/obituary.aspx?n=macel-falwell&pid=176130644|title=Macel Falwell|publisher=Central Kentucky News-Journal|location=[[Campbellsville, Kentucky]]|access-date=October 17, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304065754/http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/cknj/obituary.aspx?n=macel-falwell&pid=176130644|archive-date=March 4, 2016}}</ref> and sons were at the hospital at the time of the pronouncement.
[[File:Jerry Falwell Sr + Macel Pate Falwell Shared Gravestone.jpg|thumb|313x313px|The Falwells' shared headstone]]
Falwell's funeral took place on May 22, 2007, at Thomas Road Baptist Church after he had lain in repose both at the church and at Liberty University. Falwell's burial service was private. He is interred at a spot on the Liberty University campus near the [[Montview|Carter Glass Mansion]] and Falwell's office. [[B. R. Lakin]], his mentor, is buried nearby. After Falwell's death, his sons succeeded him at the two positions he held, Jerry Falwell Jr. as president of Liberty University and Jonathan Falwell as the senior pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church. Jerry Falwell Sr.'s daughter, Jeannie F. Savas, is a surgeon.

The last televised interview with Jerry Falwell Sr. was conducted by [[Christiane Amanpour]] for the [[CNN]] original series ''[[God's Warriors|CNN Presents: God's Warriors]]''<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20070824070741/http://www.hvc-inc.com/clients/cnn/warriors/for.html#pr CNN – God's Warriors]}} from [[CNN]] {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> on May 8, 2007, a week before his death; in the interview he said that he had asked God for at least 20 more years in order to accomplish his vision for the university he founded.<ref name="Transcript"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2007/08/16/gods.warriors.fallwell.cnn|title=Video News|website=[[CNN]]|access-date=January 21, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204210432/http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2007/08/16/gods.warriors.fallwell.cnn|archive-date=February 4, 2009}}</ref> Falwell's last televised sermon was his May 13, 2007, message on [[Mother's Day (United States)|Mother's Day]].

==Legacy==
Views on Falwell's legacy are mixed, reflecting the deep polarization he caused in American cultural and political life. Supporters praise him as a pioneering leader of the Religious Right who successfully mobilized millions of socially conservative evangelical Christians into active political participation, shaping the platform of the modern Republican Party. They also laud his extensive work in church planting and his financial and educational expansion of Liberty University.<ref name=MSNBC/>

Conversely, Falwell was a frequent target of severe criticism from secular groups, progressive activists, and secular commentators, who routinely labeled him an "agent of intolerance" and accused him of spreading hate speech.<ref name="Blumenthal 2007"/> The antitheistic social commentator and author [[Christopher Hitchens]] was one of his most prominent and vociferous detractors, repeatedly characterizing Falwell's entire career as a "Chaucerian fraud" and a "conscious charlatan."<ref name=slate2/><ref name="Hitchens CNN"/> 

Hitchens and other media critics raised several core arguments regarding Falwell's negative impact on society:
* '''Exploitation of Religious Titles:''' Detractors argued that the media and political establishment gave Falwell an uncritical platform and protected him from standard journalistic scrutiny simply because he held the title of "Reverend." Hitchens contended that if any ordinary citizen without religious credentials made identical statements—such as claiming that public schools bred evil or that natural disasters were divine punishments—they would be widely dismissed as fringe extremists.<ref name="Hitchens CNN"/>
* '''Financial and Moral Charlatanism:''' Critics accused Falwell of using his televangelism empire and fear-based doctrines (such as the impending Apocalypse or the Rapture) primarily as a fundraising machine to accumulate personal wealth, fund private luxury jets, and expand his institutional power. They argued his financial model exploited the credulity of his working-class followers.<ref name="Hitchens CNN"/>
* '''Destructive Geopolitics:''' His embrace of far-right Israeli settler movements, framed around his dispensational end-times theology, was heavily criticized for sabotaging secular democratic avenues for Middle East peace, directly fueling international instability for theological reasons.<ref name=slate2/>
* '''Antisemitic Innuendo:''' Despite his public alliance with Jewish organizations for the defense of Israel, Falwell was criticized for promoting anti-Jewish tropes to his own congregations, such as his comment that "Jews can make more money accidentally than you can on purpose" and his public claim in 1999 that the Antichrist was alive and "of course he'll be Jewish."<ref name=slate2/><ref name="Antichrist"/>

Public pushback also manifested in direct activism against his ministry. In the mid-1980s, his toll-free telephone lines were overwhelmed by prank callers and activists, forcing the ministry to disconnect the number in 1986. At one point, these calls constituted an estimated 25 percent of his total incoming phone traffic.<ref>Hayduke, George. "Prey TV", ''Screw Unto Others: Revenge Tactics for all Occasions''. pg. 166</ref> In a notable case, activist Edward Johnson programmed an Atari computer to automate thousands of continuous calls to Falwell's lines to protest the ministry's financial practices, generating a telephone bill for the ministry estimated at $500,000 before being halted by Southern Bell.<ref name=belltoll>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,961073,00.html|title=Evangelism: The Bell Tolls for Falwell|date=April 14, 1986|access-date=Nov 23, 2010|magazine=Time|location=New York|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124053353/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,961073,00.html|archive-date=2010-11-24}}</ref>

Jerry Falwell Jr. is a lawyer; he became president of Liberty University after his father's death and was put on indefinite leave from that position on August 7, 2020, after posting an inappropriate photo with a young woman on social media. He resigned on August 24 amid further questions about his and his wife's sexual and financial involvement with an associate.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/liberty-universitys-falwell-taking-leave-absence-72244277|title=Liberty University's Falwell taking leave of absence|date=August 7, 2020|access-date=August 7, 2020|archive-date=September 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923055845/https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/liberty-universitys-falwell-taking-leave-absence-72244277|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-08-24|title=Jerry Falwell Jr. resigns from Liberty University. Again.|url=https://religionnews.com/2020/08/24/jerry-falwell-resigns-liberty-university-alleged-affair-trump-pool-attendant/|access-date=2020-08-25|website=Religion News Service|language=en-US|archive-date=August 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200825195909/https://religionnews.com/2020/08/24/jerry-falwell-resigns-liberty-university-alleged-affair-trump-pool-attendant/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-falwell-relationship-exclusive/exclusive-business-partner-of-falwells-says-he-had-long-aff Reuters]{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/08/24/jerry-falwell-resigns-head-liberty-university/5626468002/ |title=Is Jerry Falwell Jr. out as president of Liberty University? Report: A daylong back-and-forth ends with him again saying he has resigned |first1=Joey |last1=Garrison |first2=Deirdre |last2=Shesgreen |newspaper=USA Today |access-date=August 26, 2020 |archive-date=August 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200826030901/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/08/24/jerry-falwell-resigns-head-liberty-university/5626468002/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-falwell-relationship/|title=Business partner of Falwells says he had affair with the power couple|first=Aram|last=Roston|website=Reuters|access-date=August 26, 2020|archive-date=August 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240824165934/https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-falwell-relationship/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/18/us/trump-falwell-endorsement-michael-cohen.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220103/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/18/us/trump-falwell-endorsement-michael-cohen.html |archive-date=2022-01-03 |url-access=limited |title=The Evangelical, the 'Pool Boy,' the Comedian and Michael Cohen|first1=Frances|last1=Robles|first2=Jim|last2=Rutenberg|newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 18, 2019|access-date=August 26, 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Falwell Jr. later said that the real reason his father began attending church as a teenager was that he had fallen in love with Macel, who played piano there and was engaged at the time, and that Falwell Sr. had used deception to convince her to break off the engagement.<ref name="vanf">{{cite web|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/01/inside-jerry-falwell-jr-unlikely-rise-and-precipitous-fall|title=INSIDE JERRY FALWELL JR.'S UNLIKELY RISE AND PRECIPITOUS FALL AT LIBERTY UNIVERSITY|website=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|date=January 24, 2022|access-date=March 8, 2022|archive-date=January 24, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124144528/https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/01/inside-jerry-falwell-jr-unlikely-rise-and-precipitous-fall|url-status=live}}</ref>

Director [[Terrence Malick]] has an unproduced screenplay about the lives of Falwell and pianist-singer [[Jerry Lee Lewis]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Barfield|first=Charles|title='A Hidden Life' Composer Talks Unproduced Malick Film Described As A "Parallel Story Between Jerry Lee Lewis & Jerry Falwell"|url=https://theplaylist.net/jerry-lee-lewis-jerry-falwell-terrence-malick-20200123/|access-date=July 19, 2022|work=The Playlist|date=January 23, 2020|archive-date=July 19, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220719075058/https://theplaylist.net/jerry-lee-lewis-jerry-falwell-terrence-malick-20200123/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Publications==
*{{cite book |last=Falwell |first=Jerry |title=Achieving Your Dreams |publisher=Thomas Nelson |date=January 30, 2006 |isbn=0-529-12246-4}}
*{{cite book |last=Falwell |first=Jerry |title=Building Dynamic Faith |publisher=Thomas Nelson |date=October 17, 2005 |isbn=0-529-12133-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/buildingdynamicf0000falw }}
*{{cite book |last=Falwell |first=Jerry |title=Capturing a Town for Christ |publisher=REVELL |year=1973 |isbn=0-8007-0606-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/capturingtownfor00town }}
*''Champions for God''. Victor Books, 1985. {{ISBN|9-780-89693534-1}}
*''Church Aflame''. (co-author [[Elmer Towns]]) Impact, 1971.
*''Dynamic Faith Journal''. [[Thomas Nelson (publisher)|Thomas Nelson]] (64 pages) (January 30, 2006) {{ISBN|0-529-12245-6}}
*''Falwell: An Autobiography''. Liberty House, 1996. ([[Ghost written]] by [[Mel White]]<ref name="npr-potent" />) {{ISBN|1-888684-04-6}}
*''Fasting Can Change Your Life''. Regal, 1998. {{ISBN|0-830-72197-5}}
*''Finding Inner Peace and Strength''. Doubleday, 1982.
*''If I Should Die Before I Wake''. [[Thomas Nelson (publisher)|Thomas Nelson]], 1986. (ghost-written by [[Mel White]])
*''Jerry Falwell: Aflame for God''. [[Thomas Nelson (publisher)|Thomas Nelson]], 1979. (co-authors Gerald Strober and Ruth Tomczak)
*''Liberty Bible Commentary on the New Testament''. [[Thomas Nelson (publisher)|Thomas Nelson]]/[[Liberty University]], 1978.
*''Liberty Bible Commentary''. [[Thomas Nelson (publisher)|Thomas Nelson]], 1982.
*''Listen, America!'' [[Bantam Books]] (July 1981) {{ISBN|0-553-14998-9}}
*''Stepping Out on Faith''. [[Tyndale House]], 1984. {{ISBN|0-842-36626-1}}
*''Strength for the Journey''. [[Simon & Schuster]], 1987. (ghost-written by [[Mel White]])
*''The Fundamentalist Phenomenon''. Doubleday, 1981. {{ISBN|0-385-17383-0}}
*''The Fundamentalist Phenomenon/The Resurgence of Conservative Christianity''. [[Baker Book House]], 1986.
*''The New American Family''. Word, 1992. {{ISBN|0-849-91050-1}}
*''When It Hurts Too Much to Cry''. [[Tyndale House]], 1984. {{ISBN|0-8423-7993-2}}
*''Wisdom for Living''. Victor Books, 1984.

==See also==
*[[Christian fundamentalism]]
*[[Faith and Values Coalition]]
*[[Jerry Johnston]]
*[[List of fatwas]]
*[[List of Southern Baptist Convention affiliated people]]
*[[National Christian Network]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
===Footnotes===
{{reflist|22em}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin|35em|indent=yes}}
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*{{cite book
|last=Dowland
|first=Seth
|author-mask={{long dash}}
|year=2015
|title=Family Values and the Rise of the Christian Right
|location=Philadelphia
|publisher=University of Pennsylvania
|isbn=978-0-8122-4760-2
}}
*{{cite book
|last=Falwell
|first=Jerry
|year=1980
|title=Listen, America!
|location=New York
|publisher=Doubleday and Company
|isbn=978-0-385-15897-8
|ref={{sfnref|J. Falwell|1980}}
}}
*{{cite book
|contributor-last=Falwell
|contributor-first=Jerry
|contributor-mask={{long dash}}
|contribution=Ministers and Marches
|last=Young
|first=Perry Deane
|author-link=Perry Deane Young
|year=1982
|orig-year=1965
|title=God's Bullies: Native Reflections on Preachers and Politics
|url=https://archive.org/details/godsbulliesnativ00youn/page/310
|url-access=limited
|location=New York
|publisher=Holt, Rinehart and Winston
|pages=310–317
|isbn=978-0-03-059706-0
|access-date=June 10, 2022
|ref={{sfnref|J. Falwell|1982}}
}}
*{{cite book
|last=Falwell
|first=Jerry
|author-mask={{long dash}}
|year=1997
|title=Falwell: An Autobiography
|url=https://archive.org/details/falwellautobiogr00falw
|url-access=limited
|location=Lynchburg, Pennsylvania
|publisher=Liberty House Publishers
|isbn=978-1-888684-04-9
|access-date=April 11, 2022
|ref={{sfnref|J. Falwell|1997}}
}}
*{{cite book
|last=Falwell
|first=Macel
|year=2008
|title=Jerry Falwell: His Life and Legacy
|url=https://archive.org/details/jerryfalwellhisl00falw
|url-access=limited
|others=With Hemry, Melanie
|location=New York
|publisher=Howard Books
|isbn=978-1-4165-8028-7
|access-date=April 11, 2022
|ref={{sfnref|M. Falwell|2008}}
}}
*{{cite thesis
|last=Flint
|first=Betty Gail
|year=1978
|title=Thomas Road Baptist Church: A Study of the New Fundamentalism
|degree=MA
|location=Williamsburg, Virginia
|publisher=College of William & Mary
|doi=10.21220/s2-fe1r-nj46
|doi-access=free
}}
*{{cite book
|last=Griffith
|first=R. Marie
|author-link=R. Marie Griffith
|year=2017
|title=Moral Combat: How Sex Divided American Christians and Fractured American Politics
|location=New York
|publisher=Basic Books
|isbn=978-0-465-09476-9
}}
*{{cite thesis
|last=Hamm
|first=Billy
|year=2010
|title=An Analysis of the Evangelistic Impact of the Baptist Bible Fellowship International
|url=https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/340
|degree=DMin
|location=Lynchburg, Virginia
|publisher=Liberty University
|access-date=11 April 2022
|archive-date=July 2, 2022
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220702014120/https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/340/
|url-status=live
}}
*{{cite book
|last=Harding
|first=Susan Friend
|year=2000
|title=The Book of Jerry Falwell: Fundamentalist Language and Politics
|url=https://archive.org/details/bookofjerryfalwe0000hard
|url-access=limited
|location=Princeton, New Jersey
|publisher=Princeton University Press
|isbn=978-0-691-05989-1
|access-date=April 11, 2022
}}
*{{cite journal
|last=King
|first=Randall E.
|year=1997
|title=When Worlds Collide: Politics, Religion, and Media at the 1970 East Tennessee Billy Graham Crusade
|journal=Journal of Church and State
|volume=39
|issue=2
|pages=273–295
|doi=10.1093/jcs/39.2.273
|issn=2040-4867
}}
*{{cite book
|last=Phillips
|first=Benjamin Blair
|year=2017
|chapter=Falwell, Jerry F., Sr. (1933–2007)
|editor1-last=Demy
|editor1-first=Timothy J.
|editor2-last=Shockley
|editor2-first=Paul R.
|title=Evangelical America: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Religious Culture
|location=Santa Barbara, California
|publisher=ABC-CLIO
|pages=151–152
|isbn=978-1-61069-774-3
}}
*{{cite book
|last=Simon
|first=Merrill
|year=1984
|title=Jerry Falwell and the Jews
|location=New York
|publisher=Jonathan David Publishers
}}
*{{cite book
|last=Towns
|first=Elmer L.
|author-link=Elmer L. Towns
|year=2014
|title=The Ten Most Influential Churches of the Past Century
|url=https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1202&context=towns_books
|location=Shippensburg, Pennsylvania
|publisher=Destiny Image Publishers
|isbn=978-0-7684-0541-5
|archive-date=March 8, 2022
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308225647/https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1202&context=towns_books
|url-status=live
}}
*{{cite journal
|last=Williams
|first=Daniel K.
|year=2010
|title=Jerry Falwell's Sunbelt Politics: The Regional Origins of the Moral Majority
|journal=Journal of Policy History
|volume=22
|pages=125–147
|issue=2
|doi=10.1017/S0898030610000011
|s2cid=146148193
|issn=1528-4190
}}
*{{cite book
|last=Winters
|first=Michael Sean
|author-link=Michael Sean Winters
|year=2012
|title=God's Right Hand: How Jerry Falwell Made God a Republican and Baptized the American Right
|url=https://archive.org/details/godsrighthandhow0000wint
|url-access=limited
|location=New York
|publisher=HarperOne
|isbn=978-0-06-197067-2
|access-date=April 11, 2022
}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{sisterlinks|d=Q313896|n=Category:Jerry_Falwell|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|s=no|wikt=no}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070224122624/http://www.falwell.com/ Jerry Falwell Ministries]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070518074938/http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1621229,00.html Jerry Falwell Photo Gallery (1933–2007)] from Time.com
*{{YouTube|VpemBObQ3bw|title=Jerry Falwell speaking|t=13m57s}} about ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' (1982)
*{{IMDb name|id=0266566|name=Jerry Falwell}}
*{{C-SPAN|2921}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel}}
{{s-new|office}}
{{s-ttl|title=Senior Pastor of [[Thomas Road Baptist Church]]|years={{circa|1956}}&nbsp;– 2007}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Jonathan Falwell]]}}
{{s-aca}}
{{s-new|office}}
{{s-ttl|title=President of [[Liberty University]]|years=1971–1997}}
{{s-aft|after=John Borek}}
{{s-bef|before=John Borek}}
{{s-ttl|title=President of [[Liberty University]]|years=2003–2007}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Jerry Falwell Jr.]]}}
{{s-npo}}
{{s-new|office}}
{{s-ttl|title=President of the [[Moral Majority]]|years=?–1987}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Jerry Nims]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{American Social Conservatism}}
{{PTL scandal}}
{{Evangelical Protestantism in the United States}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falwell, Jerry}}
[[Category:Jerry Falwell| ]]
[[Category:1933 births]]
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:20th-century apocalypticists]]
[[Category:20th-century Baptist ministers from the United States]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:21st-century apocalypticists]]
[[Category:21st-century Baptist ministers from the United States]]
[[Category:American anti-LGBTQ evangelical Christian activists]]
[[Category:Activists from Virginia]]
[[Category:American anti-abortion activists]]
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[[Category:American critics of Islam]]
[[Category:American evangelicals]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
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[[Category:American twins]]
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[[Category:Baptists from Virginia]]
[[Category:Baptist writers]]
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[[Category:Dispensationalism]]
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[[Category:Liberty University people]]
[[Category:Male critics of feminism]]
[[Category:Critics of feminism]]
[[Category:New Right (United States)]]
[[Category:People from Lynchburg, Virginia]]
[[Category:Religious controversies in the United States]]
[[Category:School segregation in the United States]]
[[Category:Southern Baptist ministers]]
[[Category:University and college founders]]
[[Category:Virginia Republicans]]
[[Category:Writers from Lynchburg, Virginia]]
[[Category:American right-wing activists]]