Billy Graham's apostasy ... (2)
Billy Graham's New Age Thoughts on Salvation
He Won't Speculate About Whether Heaven is Open to Non-Christians
Billy Graham's noncommittal remarks to Newsweek regarding the salvation of idolaters suggest that he has embraced Universalism. According to Graham's New Age thoughts about salvation, those who worship false gods might be welcomed into heaven.
Billy Graham Will Not Say If A Good Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or Secular Person Will Make It Into Heaven
By Ingrid Schlueter - http://www.libertytothecaptives.net/billy_graham_new_salvation.html
The August 14, 2006 issue of Newsweek online features a long article on Billy Graham and his ministry. Toward the end of the article, Dr. Graham's "new thinking" on the Bible is discussed. Apparently, Dr. Graham's ''new thoughts'' have to do with nothing less than salvation. Here's a quote from the article.
"A unifying theme of Graham's new thinking is humility. He is sure and certain of his faith in Jesus as the way to salvation. When asked whether he believes heaven will be closed to good Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus or secular people, though, Graham says: "Those are decisions only the Lord will make. It would be foolish for me to speculate on who will be there and who won't ... I don't want to speculate about all that. I believe the love of God is absolute. He said he gave his son for the whole world, and I think he loves everybody regardless of what label they have." Such an ecumenical spirit may upset some Christian hard-liners, but in Graham's view, only God knows who is going to be saved: "As an evangelist for more than six decades, Mr. Graham has faithfully proclaimed the Bible's Gospel message that Jesus is the only way to Heaven," says Graham spokesman A. Larry Ross. "However, salvation is the work of Almighty God, and only he knows what is in each human heart."
To read the entire article, click HERE or go to
How dare we give the impression to those in false religions who worship false gods, that we can't know whether they'll be in heaven or not? God's Word has already stated that only those who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved.
("Pilgrim's Progress", Newsweek, August 14 issue)
Quote source: Does Billy Graham Believe in the Narrow Way?
The Lord Jesus Christ said that no man can come unto the Father except by him:
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6
Billy Graham will not stand on the words of the only one who "hast the words of eternal life." (John 8:68)
If you support Billy Graham's ministry you would benefit from reading the forthright but non-malicious expose of Billy Graham and His Friends by Dr. Cathy Burns.
Also read THIS or go to
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/micro_stories.pl?ACCT=617800&TICK=NEWS&STORY=/www/story/08-06-2006/0004410863&EDATE=Aug+6,+2006
NEWSWEEK COVER: Billy Graham in Twilight
Evangelist Rev. Billy Graham on His View of The Bible: 'I'm Not a Literalist in The Sense That Every Single Jot and Tittle is From The Lord. This is a Little Difference in My Thinking Through The Years' On Whether Heaven Will be Open to All Good People: 'It Would be Foolish for Me to Speculate on Who Will be There ... I Believe The Love of God is Absolute. He Said He Gave His Son For The Whole World, and I Think He Loves Everybody Regardless of What Label They Have.'
NEW YORK, Aug. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- As Evangelical minister's Rev. Billy Graham's days dwindle, the man whose heyday was consumed with preaching and with presidents is increasingly reflective. Graham spends hours now with his Bible, at once savoring and reconsidering old stories and old lessons. "I'm not a literalist in the sense that every single jot and tittle is from the Lord," Graham says in the current issue of Newsweek. "This is a little difference in my thinking through the years. There are things that I just don't understand." He is not questioning the incarnation or the Atonement, but is arguing that the Bible is open to interpretation, and fair-minded Christians may disagree or come to different conclusions about specific points. As part of Newsweek's August 14 cover story, "Billy Graham In Twilight" (on newsstands Monday, August 7), in a series of candid, in-depth, exclusive interviews, Managing Editor Jon Meacham speaks to Graham, who reflects on his new way of thinking, the state of the world, the Bible and on the prospect of death.
A unifying theme of Graham's new thinking now is humility. He is sure and certain of his faith in Jesus as the way to salvation, but when asked whether he believes heaven will be closed to good Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus or secular people, Graham says: "Those are decisions only the Lord will make. It would be foolish for me to speculate on who will be there and who won't ... I don't want to speculate about all that. I believe the love of God is absolute. He said he gave his son for the whole world, and I think he loves everybody regardless of what label they have."
In interviews with Newsweek in recent months, Graham has made it clear that partisan politics and the culture wars feel far away, writes Meacham. He will not offer opinions on stem-cell research, for instance, and he has stopped giving political counsel to the powerful, a habit that began with Eisenhower. He was tempted to call President George W. Bush at one point in the run-up to the Iraq war to advise him on the difference between Sunnis and Shiites, but decided against it. "I've been watching the news from the Middle East full time. I think that history began there, and it is going to end there. The whole Bible is centered in the Middle East and so many of the events that are taking place in some ways already have taken place many times, and my heart goes out to all those people who are suffering on all sides ... I pray for those people constantly -- they're on my mind, they're on my heart. I pray that somehow they will find a solution. I'm not sure they will ever find a permanent solution. Christ, who I believe is going to come back, will settle all of those things in a great period of righteousness," says Graham.
Graham is an evangelist still unequivocally committed to the Gospel, but increasingly thinks that God's ways and means are veiled from human eyes and wrapped in mystery. "There are many things that I don't understand," Graham tells Newsweek. He does not believe that Christians need to take every verse of the Bible literally; "sincere Christians," he says, "can disagree about the details of Scripture and theology-absolutely." And he is an old man who loved the life he led and acknowledges that aging and facing the prospect of death are things he has only recently come to embrace. "I can't say that I like the fact that I can't do everything I once did," he says, "but more than ever, as I read my Bible and pray and spend time with my wife, I see each day as a gift from God, and we can't take that gift for granted."
If he had his life to live over again, Graham says he would spend more time immersed in Scripture and theology. He never went to seminary, and his lack of a graduate education is something that still gives him a twinge. "The greatest regret that I have is that I didn't study more and read more," he says. "I regret it, because now I feel at times I am empty of what I would like to have been. I have friends that have memorized great portions of the Bible. They can quote [so much], and that would mean a lot to me now."
(Read entire cover story at http://www.Newsweek.com. Click "Pressroom" for news releases.)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14204483/
SOURCE Newsweek
