Former President Jimmy Carter has announced that he has cancer and that it has spread to his brain. His time in office as the 39th president of the United States was pivotal in uncovering the relationship between religion and politics in the public sphere. On the campaign trail in 1976, he spoke openly about his personal faith, becoming one of the first presidential candidates to do so. Since then, every candidate has had to answer questions about his or her beliefs. Jimmy Carter — for better or worse — brought religion firmly into the American political process. Here we bring you an overview of his writings on his personal faith.
Background
Articles and stories:
- Read “Ailing Jimmy Carter ‘at Ease With Whatever Comes,’” by Alan Blinder and Richard Fausset for The New York Times, Aug. 20, 2015.
- Read “Former President Jimmy Carter Says He Has Cancer,” by Alan Blinder and Michael D. Shear on Aug. 12, 2015, for The New York Times.
- Read “Religion and human rights: An interview with President Jimmy Carter (part one)” and “Religion and human rights: An interview with President Jimmy Carter (part two)” by Jonathan Merritt for Religion News Service, July 1, 2013.
More background:
- The Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals at Wheaton College maintains a biography page for Carter. It also maintains a page on evangelicals and politics that includes Carter’s role. The institute closed in December 2014, but its resources remain online.
- “God in America,” a PBS series from Frontline and American Experience, looks at the religious beliefs of presidents from George Washington to Barack Obama.
Carter’s writings on faith:
- Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President was a 1982 book.
- Living Faith is a 1996 book and his second spiritual memoir.
- Sources of Strength: Meditations on Scripture for a Living Faith is a 1997 book.
- An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood is Carter’s 2001 memoir. In it, he describes the faith of his childhood and of his mother, Miss Lillian.
- The Personal Beliefs of Jimmy Carter: Winner of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize is a compilation of his memoirs and his Bible lessons.
- Read “Losing my religion for equality,” an essay Carter wrote in 2009 on his decision to leave the Southern Baptist Convention after 60 years.
- NIV Lessons From Life Bible: Personal Reflections With Jimmy Carter is a 2012 book of Bible lessons by Carter.
- A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence and Power is a 2014 book that examines religion-based inequality directed at women throughout the world.
James Earl Carter, 39th President of the United States