What we know about Jimmy Carter’s faith after 100 years

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Former President Jimmy Carter turns 100 on Tuesday.
Here’s a look at how faith shaped his life, including his time in the White House.
Baptist roots
Carter was active in church from a young age. His parents brought him with them to their Baptist church, and he continued to serve that denomination as an adult, including by leading Sunday school classes.
“I’ve always wanted to share my faith with other people,” he told reporter Phil Scoggins in 2009. “Even when I was a midshipman at the Naval Academy, I taught Sunday School every Sunday.”
Religion and racism
In that same interview, Carter talked about leaning on his faith as he fought racism in the South.
He and Rosalynn Carter’s relationship with God gave them the strength to stay put even when their neighbors pushed back against their support for integration.
“We prayed for guidance, and I think it was God’s guidance that kept us here in Plains (in Georgia) which turned out to be very good for us in the years after that,” Jimmy Carter said in 2009.
Faith and politics
Carter built his political career around faith-based values like love and justice, but his comments on religion sometimes led to awkward moments, according to The Conversation.
For example, Carter was famously mocked for discussing his attempts to avoid the sin of lust in an interview with Playboy magazine.
“In the end, many folks agreed with well-regarded columnist Mary McGrory — the interview ‘should have been an off-the-record conversation with God, not one taped by Playboy,’” The Conversation reported.
Prayer in the White House
While serving as president from 1977 to 1981, Carter leaned on God to guide him in difficult moments.
“The most fervent and constant prayers of mine were while I was in the White House because I knew there was enormous responsibility on my shoulders, and we faced some very difficult decisions, too, concerning the lives of tens of thousands of people. So I prayed for wisdom and for God’s guidance that I wouldn’t make a mistake, that I could keep my country at peace and still preserve its integrity and security. Those are the kinds of things for which I prayed,” he told Scoggins in 2009.
Life after politics
Carter lost his reelection bid in 1980.
Once out of the White House, he spent much of his time serving people in need, including through religious engagement. He started teaching Sunday School again at his Baptist church in Georgia.
“His post-presidential commitments involved The Carter Center’s initiatives of fighting disease and seeking international peace and his private efforts of building homes for Habitat for Humanity and teaching Sunday school,” The Conversation reported.
Hospice care
In February 2023, Carter entered hospice care, which led many to believe that he was nearing the end of his life.
But more than 18 months later, the former president is still alive — and still leaning on his faith for comfort.
“He really is, I think, coming to the end. As I’ve said before, there’s a part of this faith journey that is so important to him. And there’s a part of that faith journey that you only can live at the very end, and I think he has been there in that space,” Carter’s grandson, Jason Carter, said in May, per CNN.
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