(I would appreciate
readers citing references of others who believe that some, who never
hear the gospel during their lifetime, may nevertheless be saved.
Significant citings will be posted here.)
Posting
#18
DR.
BILLY GRAHAM AND OTHER VOICES
No, we do not claim that Dr.
Billy Graham has adopted the premise of Evangelical Inclusivism.
However, one of the frequent objections to this perspectie is —
If it is possible that accountable adults can be saved without hearing
the gospel, why should we send out missionaries? Billy Graham
recognizes the need for, and has spent a lifetime in, world evangelism.
In light of this the following exchange is of interest:
GRAHAM
QUOTED
In the October 20,
1996 issue of Parade Magazine, the Rev. Billy Graham was
quoted as saying, "I fully adhere to the fundamental tenets of
the Christian faith for myself and my ministry. But as an American,
I respect other paths to God." As one can imagine this
caused quite a stir. Was Graham saying he believed there are
ways, other than "the fundamental tenets of the Christians faith,"
by which sinners can be reconciled to God? Islam, for instance, or
Buddhism?
GRAHAM
EXPLAINS
Graham set the record
straight in his "Dear Friend" letter (Jan., 97): "The
Bible clearly teaches that no one can come to the Father except through
Christ (John 14:6)," he wrote. "There is only one Way, and
that Way is Jesus Christ." A spokesperson for Graham, A. Larry
Ross, amplified the theme. "He [Graham] believes there is only
one path to God--through repentance and faith in the atoning death
of Jesus Christ," Ross wrote in The Church Herald (Feb.
97).
Graham and Ross were
wrestling with one of the most widespread, appealing, and Christ-dishonoring
errors confronting the evangelical church today -- the teaching that
there are many paths to God. The New Age Movement heralds this
notion as the good news of the gospel and so do many mainline churches.
The teaching that there are many paths to God (called "Pluralism")
other than the doing and dying of Jesus Christ , is often considered
the politically correct view in this non-discrimination age.
The question of "other
paths to God" is one of the most disturbing and frequently mentioned
issues that ministers are asked about today. Even Billy Graham, who
has a sterling reputation as a Christian leader, had trouble answering
this question clearly. Ross's clarification necessarily implies there
is no possibility of salvation for those who have not heard the gospel's
message.
GRAHAM
MISINTERPRETED
In our increasingly
smaller world we frequently rub elbows with Muslims, Buddhists and
others. We grieve over the thought that millions upon millions of
such people have lived and died without hearing the gospel's message
and presumably are eternally lost. This perplexing grief is fertile
soil in which the fable about many paths leading to God can flourish.
This is especially true among young people.
We need to face this question
squarely: "Are ALL THOSE who have lived and died without hearing
a single word of the biblical message eternally lost?"
Dr. Billy Graham
is quite correct when he says, "There is only one Way and that
Way is Jesus Christ."
However, we may not so limit
this one Way to only those who have heard the gospel as claimed by
A. Larry Ross (above), namely, — that "there is only
one path to God--through repentance and faith in the atoning death
of Jesus Christ" Such a restriction casts a man-made shadow upon
the world-embracing good news concerning the one who "is the
atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for
the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2).
GRAHAM
INTERVIEWED
Even Billy Graham does
not agree with A. Larry Ross's restriction that is accepted by many
evangelicals as the touchstone of Christian orthodoxy. Below
is an interview of Graham by Robert Schuller:
SCHULLER - What do you think is the future of Christianity?
GRAHAM - I don't think we are going to see a great sweeping revival
that will turn the whole world to Christianity at any time. I think
James answered that at the first council at Jerusalem when he said
that God's purpose for this age is to call out a people for his name
(Acts 15:14). And that is what God is doing today. He is calling
people out of the world for his name, whether they come from the Muslim
world or the Buddhist world or the Christian or non-believing world,
they are members of the body of Christ because they have been called
by God.
They may not even know the name of Jesus but they know in their heart
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
are going to be with us in heaven.
SCHULLER - What I hear you saying is that it is possible for Jesus
Christ to come into the heart, the soul, the life of someone even
though they have been born in darkness and never had exposure to the
Bible. Is that a correct interpretation of what you are saying?
GRAHAM - Yes it is, because I believe that. I've met people in various
parts of the world and in travel situations who have never seen a
Bible or heard about the Bible or of Jesus Christ -- but believe in
their heart that there is a God and they try to live a life separate
from those around them.
SCHULLER - You don't know how thrilled I am to hear you say that.
There is a wideness in God's mercy.
GRAHAM - There is.
(From
Schuller's "Hour of Power," program # 1426, entitled "Say
'Yes' to Possibility Thinking," May 31, 1997.).
-
- - - - - - - - -
"Graham had embarked on
a long, inexorable march to the middle, from which he never retreated,
and through the years he had progressively softened his views, even
on matters touching core doctrine. As early as his 1949 Los
Angeles campaign, when he'd emerged from his battle with doubt, he
had decided that Hell was not necessarily a bottomless pit of fire
and brimstone but the everlasting punishment of 'separation from God.'
He has stopped worrying about whether pagans are cut off from salvation,
and has even come close to syncretism, suggesting that devout believers
of other faiths have found ways of 'saying yes to God' " ("The
Big Tent," New Yorker, 2005, August 22, P. 51).
OTHER
VOICES # 1
The
Gospel of Jesus Christ: An Evangelical Celebration
The June 14, 1999 issue of
Christianity Today included the document "The Gospel of
Jesus Christ: AN EVANGELICAL CELEBRATION." This is an expression
of the basic tenants of evangelical Christianity and was endorsed
by many prominent theologians. It is evident that the framers
of this document worked with assumption "A)," namely,
that it is the teaching of Scripture that "All persons will be
finally lost except those who the bible declares will be saved"
(See Posting # 1).
A
Response to "An Evangelical Celebration"
Evidence that this "Evangelical
Celebration" document is based on assumption "A" is
found a "Letter to the Editor" (below) published in CT October
4, 1999, P. 15. Among evangelicals are some who believe that
there may be salvation even among accountable adults who never heard
the gospel during their lifetime on earth. Those who signed this letter
call attention to this fact.
After expressing perplexity
"that this presentation of the gospel focuses so much on justification
and so little on sanctification" the letter continues:
"Furthermore, we are disappointed that the traditional evangelical
affirmation that 'Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation' (which
we stoutly affirm) is linked with the controversial opinion that 'the
Bible offers no hope that sincere worshipers of other religions will
be saved without personal faith in Jesus Christ.' God's treatment
of those in other religious traditions who have not heard and rejected
an authentic presentation of the gospel by the Holy Spirit in fact
has been a subject of evangelical investigation and disputation for
centuries.
In this regard, we are surprised by the affirmation
that 'saving faith includes mental assent to the content of the gospel.'
We wonder how God saves infants and mentally retarded people; or people
who lived before the time of Christ; or anyone who doesn't hear the
actual propositions of the gospel message in his or her lifetime.
Such phrasing represents only the 'exclusivist'
camp in these matters of evangelical dispute and leaves out 'inclusivist'
evangelicals. It therefore does not belong in a 'uniting' document.
We join with CT, therefore, in celebrating the
majority of this document with which we agree. We are sorry,
however, that it does not in fact represent adequately the evangelical
consensus it purports to reflect."
The above letter appears over the following signitures:
Gerald
R. McDermott
Nancy
Murphy
Alan
G. Padgett
Cornelius
Plantinga, Jr.
John
G. Stackhouse, Jr.
Jonathan
R. Wilson
Nicholas
Wolterstorff
OTHER
VOICES # 2
At
their 212th General Assembly meeting in June of 2000 the Presbyterian
Church USA adopted the following resolution with a large majority
of delegates voting in favor of it:
