Billy Graham's daughter Anne Graham Lotz is proud to be an "evangelical feminist."
For those curious, Lotz explains that an "evangelical feminist" is a woman "who is a strong, bold, free-spirited leader inside and outside of her home, unashamed of her faith in God, His Word, His Son, and His gospel."
In an article for Charisma News, Lotz writes that she is proud to have been raised in a strong evangelical home where women were both respected and honoured by a woman who held a significant position of leadership—her own mother Ruth Graham.
"Her strong character and faith are legendary. I am convinced there would not be a Billy Graham as we have known him, if there hadn't been a Ruth Graham beside him," she says.
Even though she had to stay at home and raise five children, she never considered the task "a demeaning burden," and instead considered it "the highest privilege she could be given."
But that was not all Ruth did. As an intellect who had an insatiable appetite for books, Ruth helped her husband write many of his bestselling books. She also served as a missionary by caring for their sick neighbours, and when her last child left home, she became a speaker like her husband and published her own poetry and writings.
There are also many evangelical feminists in the Bible, says Lotz, and it all began "with Eve, who was given equal dominion over the earth with Adam; [and] Sarah, whose faith, along with that of her husband, Abraham, was extraordinary, enabling her to bear a son at 90 years of age — a son who became one of the patriarchs of the Jewish people."
Lotz also cites Hagar, Ishmael, Rahab, Ruth, Deborah, the Virgin Mary, and Mary Magdalene, who bore the distinction of being the first evangelist to the world.
"So if 'evangelical feminism' means women who know what they believe, who are strong in their convictions, who are bold in their actions, who are courageous to stand up and speak out for Jesus Christ while being godly wives and mothers, then I celebrate them today. And I would be honoured to be counted in their number," says Lotz.
