He was the subject of countless jokes about his unmatched toughness, but the late actor and martial arts grandmaster Chuck Norris often pointed to a different source of strength: his faith in God.
The actor, known for his role in “Walker, Texas Ranger” and a decadeslong career in Hollywood, died Thursday at age 86, his family announced Friday.
Throughout his life, Norris was outspoken about his Christian faith. Here are four times he publicly proclaimed his faith in Christ.
1. Norris told Liberty University students he is ‘hot for the Lord’
Norris delivered a commencement speech at Liberty University in 2008, where he discussed “how instrumental God has been in my life.” Although he was baptized at age 12, the actor said he “wound up drifting from my faith” after his career took off, acknowledging that he had “been in films and I had fame and fortune, but I was very unhappy, and I couldn’t figure out why.” Norris said his marriage to his wife, Gena, was the turning point in his life that brought him back to his faith: “It’s like the Holy Spirit hit me and said, ‘Chuck it’s time to come home.’” “I was hot for the Lord, and I still am to this day,” he proclaimed. Norris read aloud the Scripture passage Proverbs 19 to the graduates before urging them to “Let Him direct your steps,” assuring them, “if you do, you can’t go wrong — I promise you.”
“The Lord has directed my steps now through the last 10 years,” he said of a journey that began when he found his wife reading the Bible.
The president of Liberty University at the time, Jerry Falwell Jr., introduced Norris as “the type of role model to young people that has become rare in the entertainment field.” Norris also received a Doctor of Humanities degree from the school before delivering the commencement address.
2. Norris advocated for Bible studies in schools
In a 2013 op-ed for NewsBusters, Norris advocated for the inclusion of Bible studies in public schools, insisting that the idea was not inconsistent with the principles of the Founding Fathers, specifically Thomas Jefferson.
While he acknowledged that “Jefferson thought it best that (religious education) not be included among the curricula in the earliest stages of children’s schooling,” Norris stressed that “Jefferson, who is regarded today by so many as the ‘great separatist,’ did not separate religious education and expression from public education.”
“In fact, he was against limiting education and stifling Americans’ freedoms in any form, including religious expression and education,” he added. Norris pondered what Jefferson might have thought about contemporary public education in the U.S., where the Bible is “scorned and prohibited.”
Norris, who served on the board of the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools, included multiple quotes from Jefferson’s 1785 book Notes on the State of Virginia in his column. Jefferson’s writings indicated that he opposed “putting the Bible and the Testament into the hands of children at an age when their judgments are not sufficiently matured for religious enquiries” while supporting the inclusion of “the first elements of morality” in their minds to be “further developed as their judgments advance in strength.”
3. Norris decried ‘religious neutering’
In a series of op-eds published by Townhall in 2014, Norris decried what he referred to as “religious neutering” and then-President Barack Obama’s response to it. Norris used the term in response to a Maryland school district canceling all religious holidays from its school calendar.
Warning that the United States was on a “slippery slope” toward religious intolerance, Norris expressed disgust that “We haven’t even hit Thanksgiving yet, and already the war on Christmas is underway.” He took issue with Obama’s reaction to the erasure of “Christian and Jewish references” from “civic calendars,” asking, “Is he crying out in defense of religious liberty and our First Amendment?”
“Nope,” Norris wrote in response to his own question. “He’s as silent as a church mouse, just as he’s been for the past six years on any such matter. And animosity toward religion continues to grow.”
In a subsequent op-ed less than a week later, Norris addressed the religious significance of Thanksgiving and urged Obama to mention God.
“If Obama is looking for a Thanksgiving address this Thursday to model, then I recommend he look no further than presidents George Washington or Abraham Lincoln,” Norris wrote. “I dare him to cite them even in part.”
Norris’ op-ed also mentioned “the devoted Christian faith of the pilgrims and how they crossed the Atlantic clutching to their Geneva Bible,” fondly recalling Washington and Lincoln’s Thanksgiving speeches as reflective of “a time in the U.S. when people and even presidents weren’t afraid to stand for traditional values and encourage others to do the same.”
4. Norris said his mother ‘prayed for me all my life, through thick and thin’
In May 2021, Norris wrote an op-ed for WND.com in honor of the 100th birthday of his mother, Wilma Norris Knight, who lived to be 103. “Mom has been an example of perseverance and faith her whole life,” Norris wrote. “She’s also endured the deaths of her two husbands, a stepson, two grandchildren, and my younger brother Wieland in the Vietnam War. She’s had cancer repeatedly and has gone through roughly 30 different surgeries for a host of issues — and yet she’s still here to tell about it.” “My mother has prayed for me all my life, through thick and thin,” he added. “When I was born, I almost died from complications. When nearly losing my soul to Hollywood a few decades ago, she was back home praying for my success and salvation. She even prayed for me to find a woman to change my life, and it worked.” In addition to highlighting his mother’s positive influence on his spiritual life, Norris’ op-ed expressed gratitude for his wife, Gena, as well.
“I equally celebrate my wife, Gena, during this Mother’s Day week. Gena helps me run all my enterprises and is CEO of our new artesian bottled water company, CFORCE. But most of all she is the mother of our twins, the love of my life, and my best friend,” he asserted. “I am overwhelmed with gratitude to God for these two incredible women’s influence in my life.”
“I thank God for you both every day! And I thank you for helping God to make me all I can and should be,” he concluded.
