Golf legend Langer: I believe in everything in the Bible

In an interview with the news magazine "Der Spiegel", German professional golfer Bernhard Langer clearly acknowledged his Christian faith. "I believe in God's word and in everything that is written in the Bible," Langer told the magazine at the weekend. He continued: "I don't believe in anything that's not in the Bible. Quite simply." The 67-year-old also expressed his conviction that faith consists of not seeing the present and life as the most important thing, but rather eternal life after death. "We should spend much more time on how we can have eternal life than on the question of why we hit the ball into the water now or what we are doing in the here and now."

Langer, who comes from Anhausen near Augsburg and has lived in the USA for a long time, is Germany's best-known and most successful golfer and a legend of his sport. In his career, he has won the US Masters, one of the most important golf tournaments in the world, twice and the Ryder Cup as part of the European team.

Member of an evangelical "megachurch"

As Langer told Der Spiegel, he attended a Bible study for the first time three days after his first victory at the US Masters in 1985 because he felt nothing but emptiness after the victory. According to the magazine, Langer has described himself as a born-again Christian ever since this Bible study. According to the golfer, his faith has shifted the priorities in his life, which until then had only consisted of golf and revolving around himself; it is the secret and the reason for his long career.

Langer is a member of the Calvary Chapel Church, an evangelical "megachurch" in Boca Raton in the US state of Florida. As reported by Der Spiegel, its founder resigned ten years ago due to adultery and pornography addiction. Critics claimed that the Calvary congregations were part of the evangelical right and represented Christian nationalism. However, this does not necessarily apply to every single Calvary congregation. According to Langer, his church preaches "the word of the Bible and nothing else". Politics is not an issue there. But: "Of course there are many critical issues, and God's word is sometimes very strict in certain ways. I would just like to mention the word 'abortion'. Millions of babies have been aborted in the USA in recent decades." According to the magazine, Langer did not want to say any more on the subject. (stz)