Billy Graham's New Thinking on Salvation

From Slice of Laodecia.com


This week Newsweek online is featuring a long article on Billy Graham and his "new thinking". So why was it that Billy Graham couldn't give a biblical response when asked whether he believes that heaven will be closed to those of other religions? He says he doesn't "want to speculate about all that..." Why speculate, Dr. Graham, when you have the whole counsel of God in your hands? Is the man a universalist? Based on his comments on Dr. Schuller's program several years ago, I am incined to say yes. If God loves everyone "regardless of what label they have" than why travel the globe preaching about Christ as the way to salvation? Why preach at all? Why spend your life trying to get people to make "decisions" for Christ if heaven is open to the Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Wiccans and everyone else? What a confused mess this man's theology is. At one point in the article, Dr. Graham laments the fact that he never went to seminary. You don't need to go toseminary to believe what the Lord Jesus Christ said when he stated, "narrow is the way, and few there be that find it." or "I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me." For years, the Graham Association, when contacted about the outright heretical statements Graham has made, has made excuses for its founder, due to his age and his infirmity. If he is so infirm that he cannot rightly divide the word of truth, his handlers need to send the media away and refuse interviews. Graham's spiritual confusion is doing no service to the Kingdom of God. Here's a quote from Newsweek.

"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."
"Pilgrim's Progress", Newsweek, August 14
(Last page of article.)


Note how a Graham spokesman was contacted after the reporter heard Graham say that about other religions entering heaven. It surprised even the reporter. Mr. Ross knows perfectly well that Dr. Graham wasn't referring just to God knowing those who are saved. Dr. Graham was referring to those of other religions who, as he put it on Schuller's show are operating according to the light they have and are thus, saved. But Mr. Ross's job is to re-interpret Dr. Graham for the donating public so that those who aren't paying attention won't notice that Mr. Graham believes that good Hindus will be in heaven to worship the Lamb. Read this transcript from the interview between Dr. Graham and Robert Schuller on the Hour of Power, back on May 31, 1997.

NEWS BRIEF: "Graham Believes Men Can Be Saved Apart From Name Of Christ", by Robert E. Kofahl, Ph.D., television interview of Billy Graham by Robert Schuller, on May 31, 1997. The following segment is an exact transcript of an excerpt close to the end of the broadcast. Reported by The Christian News, October 20, 1997, page 15.

"SCHULLER: Tell me, what do you think is the future of Christianity?

GRAHAM: Well, Christianity and being a true believer -- you know, I think there's the Body of Christ. This comes from all the Christian groups around the world, outside the Christian groups. I think everybody that loves Christ, or knows Christ, whether they're conscious of it or not, they're members of the Body of Christ ... I think James answered that, the Apostle James in the first council in Jerusalem, when he said that God's purpose for this age is to call out a people for His name. And that's what God is doing today, He's calling people out of the world for His name, whether they come from the Muslim world, or the Buddhist world, or the Christian world, or the non-believing world, they are members of the Body of Christ, because they've been called by God. They may not even know the name of Jesus, but they know in their hearts that they need something that they don't have, and they turn to the only light that they have, and I think they are saved, and that they're going to be with us in heaven."

"SCHULLER: What, what I hear you saying, that it's possible for Jesus Christ to come into human hearts and soul and life, even if they've been born in darkness and have never had exposure to the Bible. Is that a correct interpretation of what you're saying?

GRAHAM: Yes, it is, because I believe that. I've met people in various parts of the world in tribal situations, that they have never seen a Bible or heard about a Bible, and never heard of Jesus, but they've believed in their hearts that there was a God, and they've tried to live a life that was quite apart from the surrounding community in which they lived."

"SCHULLER: [R.S. trips over his tongue for a moment, his face beaming, then says] I'm so thrilled to hear you say this. There's a wideness in God's mercy.

GRAHAM: There is. There definitely is."