Billy Graham denies Jesus is the only Way

[hedrick]

Now matter how any of us would like to soften Graham's words, his comments leave little doubt that he does not believe that Jesus is the only way to the Father - a very sad video indeed!

By far the most common way to justify inclusivism to say that as the Logos Christ was available before he came to earth. And still may be available to people who haven’t met him as Jesus. This is commonly described as meeting him in your heart. The closest I see to this in Scripture is Paul’s reference to Gentiles who have the law in their hearts. Christ is the new covenant where God’s teaching / law is written in our hearts. Also, as someone quoted above, 1 Cor 10:1-4, which identifies Christ as the rock in which the Jews were baptized into Moses.

In this reading Christ is still the only way to his Father. In some sense inclusivism reverses the traditional reading of John 14:6. Rather than starting with a commitment on where Jesus is, and saying salvation can be only there, it says that wherever people meet God, Jesus is there, because one can only come to God through him.

As others have noted, Graham held that position for some time, not just in old age. I heard him speak on this topic once (on the radio — I haven’t seen him in person). I think the spirit of his teaching was that we don’t know the limits of where God is. But we can be sure that whoever he is, Christ is mediating his presence with mankind.

 

[Disciple37]

I am on the Billy Graham website. This is Billy Graham's response to if Jesus is the only way to heaven. So I am not sure what to believe about Billy Graham.

Is Jesus the Only Way to Heaven? (Billy Graham's website / response to this question link) Quoted below for convenience.

----------------------------------------
How is Christianity different from every other religion in the world? The answer focuses on Jesus Christ, “the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).

Christ means “anointed one.” It is the term for the ancient Hebrew word Messiah—the anointed one whom God would send to save His people. The first believers of the early Christian church recognized Jesus as the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. Their period of world history was full of discouragement and despair. The promised Messiah shone as a beacon in the darkness, and His light has never dimmed: “In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. … The true Light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world” (John 1:4, 9).

Today, as world leaders struggle with seemingly insurmountable problems, this darkening and menacing situation accentuates the brightness of the One who proclaimed, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12).

Jesus alone can offer eternal life because He is the only one who lived a sinless life and provided the perfect sacrifice for our sins by His death on the cross. He lived on earth as man, but was also divine. Because He was divine, He rose again three days after His death—the only one ever to die and come back to life on His own—then ascended into heaven. While the founders of various non-Christian religions of the world have died and been buried, Christ is very much alive!

Jesus was the only one to claim to be God and the only one to prove it. In His words, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Because the Bible is God’s inspired Word and God cannot lie, it does not contradict itself or teach falsehoods. It is in this very Scripture that Jesus is revealed.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

However, it seems in the video that Billy Graham is saying that other religions are saved by Jesus by practicing their religion whether they know Jesus or not. It's weird and absolutely one of Satan's best lies if this video is true ... imagine the amount of Christians he has confused that aren't strong or knowledgeable in their faith yet.

 

[Simon129]

I am on the Billy Graham website. This is Billy Graham's response to if Jesus is the only way to heaven. So I am not sure what to believe about Billy Graham.

Is Jesus the Only Way to Heaven? (Billy Graham's website / response to this question link) Quoted below for convenience.

----------------------------------------
How is Christianity different from every other religion in the world? The answer focuses on Jesus Christ, “the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).

Christ means “anointed one.” It is the term for the ancient Hebrew word Messiah—the anointed one whom God would send to save His people. The first believers of the early Christian church recognized Jesus as the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. Their period of world history was full of discouragement and despair. The promised Messiah shone as a beacon in the darkness, and His light has never dimmed: “In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. … The true Light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world” (John 1:4, 9).

Today, as world leaders struggle with seemingly insurmountable problems, this darkening and menacing situation accentuates the brightness of the One who proclaimed, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12).

Jesus alone can offer eternal life because He is the only one who lived a sinless life and provided the perfect sacrifice for our sins by His death on the cross. He lived on earth as man, but was also divine. Because He was divine, He rose again three days after His death—the only one ever to die and come back to life on His own—then ascended into heaven. While the founders of various non-Christian religions of the world have died and been buried, Christ is very much alive!

Jesus was the only one to claim to be God and the only one to prove it. In His words, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Because the Bible is God’s inspired Word and God cannot lie, it does not contradict itself or teach falsehoods. It is in this very Scripture that Jesus is revealed.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

However, it seems in the video that Billy Graham is saying that other religions are saved by Jesus by practicing their religion whether they know Jesus or not. It's weird and absolutely one of Satan's best lies if this video is true ... imagine the amount of Christians he has confused that aren't strong or knowledgeable in their faith yet.

Hi, I think BG is saying that, Jesus is the way/path. If you walk it, you will have eternal life. If you know it but not walk it, you will be damned. If you dunno Jesus, you will not walk the way/path. Whether you may be saved or damned, only God know. Does it sound better?

 

[Another Lazarus]

Jesus once said "if you were blind you would have no sin. You say you see your sin remains". So ANYONE that lives and died that never heard of JESUS is blind.

Tell me in which nations are there people who have never heard of Jesus ?
They hear the Gospel and might also celebrate Xmas, but they are not listening.

Billy Graham is not blind and is not yet died. He is not suppose to justify it. So do we.


May Jesus bless you all HalleluYAH

 

[Another Lazarus]

it says that wherever people meet God, Jesus is there, because one can only come to God through him.

I guess you should say whenever people meet "God", because nobody can meet God without Jesus.

Jhon 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Many are hearing but they are not listening to the words of God.


May Jesus bless you all HalleluYAH

 

[LastSeven]

My question to Another Lazarus is do you know Jesus is lord?

This is to those that wonder about what Billy Graham said. Now we know there are people in this world that died, living that never heard of Jesus. 1st.. praise GOD YOU and I have no say in this. What YOU personally believe the WORD IS REALLY SAYING.. is nto what GOD said. So Jesus once said "if I had not come they would have no sin". Not hard to figure out what that means.

Jesus once said "if you were blind you would have no sin. You say you see your sin remains". So ANYONE that lives and died that never heard of JESUS is blind. So God is just and will never can never judge someone on something they never heard of or new. Now ALL we can do just like Billy Graham did is SPECUTALTE. That they will be judged on the LIGHT they had. What they did with it.

There are not many in this world that I can not will not touch. But this man is one of them. Well.. I dont know how to say it but.. what he has is the same Jesus I know. See most only read a word "JESUS" and bless them so much..they believe what He said and are saved prasie GOD! But you can go soooooooooooooooooooo (yes each "O" makes it deeper hehe) much deeper with God. Most do not want to pay the price to KNOW HIM. HE said.. to the 12.. if you LOVE ME keep my words. Yet when someone comes to Christ "love HIM" do they? No.. this man has word of every lasting life I believe them. Saved you are. Now.. you pray you seek you read you study.. you get to KNOW Him. Then you just walk about people that dont say a word and you simply ask them "you know Jesus dont you " They answer yes.. how did you know? You KNOW Him.. you see HIM in them. I seen it when I was young.. I asked the girl.. you know Jesus dont you? She smiled really big.. YES. Then happen to me. In collage at night watching a movie they were playing out side. This girl walks up and says.. your a Christian aren't you? I said yes how did you know? She said there's just something about you. I was not talking just standing.

All that to say Mr Graham SHINES THIS. You watch this man just over the last 2 years talk about the CROSS and JESUS the only way.. and then to think some OLD video being asked about others that never heard JESUS is lord.. and what happens to them. WHO are they (the world) going to ask? YOU? You have no clue. Do you? Dont you KNOW Jesus? Cant you just ask Him? Where do you think I got that verse "if you were blind you would have no sin you say you see your sin remains"? HE told me. Sorry I could care less any some person tells me.. I ask I seek HIM 1st.

Sorry.. this is one man I will not touch. I forgive you. Its do YOU know Him

I think the verse "to whom much is given, from them much is expected" also applies to this, because it refers to knowledge and understanding.

Sent from mTalk

 

[LastSeven]

okay, but Job just knew the God of Noah.

You do realize that the god of Noah and the god of Israel and the god of DingDing are all the same god, right? Stop obfuscating the point with semantics.

Sent from mTalk

 

[LastSeven]

Otherwise, we'd be doing people a FAVOR by NOT telling them about the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. There would be no point in spreading the gospel if the person didn't need to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as savior.

This explains why babies are saved though they never understood, but as to your point I believe there is still great benefit in knowing the gospel, don't you?

Sent from mTalk

 

[LastSeven]

If He had told us to preach to trees, we don't need a reason other than to know He told us to do it: We salute smartly and follow orders.

On the other hand I don't think god wants a bunch of ignorant monkeys following him either. The reason he wants us to spread the gospel is so that more people may know him.

Sent from mTalk

 

[LastSeven]

Tell me in which nations are there people who have never heard of Jesus ?
They hear the Gospel and might also celebrate Xmas, but they are not listening.

Billy Graham is not blind and is not yet died. He is not suppose to justify it. So do we.


May Jesus bless you all HalleluYAH

They may have heard of Jesus but that doesn't mean they know or understand the gospel.

Sent from mTalk

 

[RDKirk]

This explains why babies are saved though they never understood, but as to your point I believe there is still great benefit in knowing the gospel, don't you?

Sent from mTalk

Yes, contrary to popular opinion, babies are not saved because of any "age of innocence." They carry Adamic sin as we all do. They are judged without sin because they are completely ignorant.

 

[RDKirk]

On the other hand I don't think god wants a bunch of ignorant monkeys following him either. The reason he wants us to spread the gospel is so that more people may know him.

Sent from mTalk

First, I believe this life is better lived saved and confidently knowing Jesus than not knowing Jesus and "groping for Him" all one's life.

We can look again at Job who by the end of the book still does not have the confident promise of Jesus. Jesus is a mystery that was never revealed to him.

I have heard of and spoken to people who spent years "enabled by the Father" to receive the gospel, waiting to hear it without knowing what they were waiting for. They speak of years of anguish, guilt, anxiety, feeling lost and alone. Nobody around them understands. They are like people kidnapped as small children who dimly realize they don't belong where they are, but don't know where they should be.

There might have been people preaching condemnation to them, but those condemnations are lies--because their names were written in the Book of Life before creation. Condemnation never applied to them because hell was never their destiny. Condemnation is not the voice of Jesus, so they never responded to it. It's the Enemy who speaks condemnation; our Lord speaks salvation.

But then someone does speak in the voice of Jesus to them, and it's like the sun suddenly dawning in their lives. They can then have peace, they then know the promise, they then know that what they've been groping for is real. That's one reason we look for them to give them the gospel--it's better to know Jesus in this fallen world than to continue groping for Him in frustration. We have to get out there and find them.

Another is that it feels good to be working in the mission. I think this is something soldiers understand better than civilians.

During WWII, a journalist was embedded with General George Patton's forces while he moved through Italy toward Germany. Patton was a hard commander. He drove his men hard, demanded more from them than any other general. Yet the journalist noted that Patton's men had high morale. What he demanded, they strove to give him. War was still hard, and Patton made it harder, but their morale was high.

When the journalist asked them why their morale was so high, they said, "Because our general is going to win this war."

It is rewarding to get up and have a mission to be part of, to have a fragment of the Commander's mission to today and to end the day knowing that you've taken a step farther in the Commander's mission. It's important, it's challenging, it's rewarding. It's a good life in a fallen world.

The third reason is because it might be that "membership has its privileges." Paul wrote, "Don't you know that you will judge angels?" That is a tantalizing hint that the future age may hold much more for the Body of Christ than merely sitting on clouds strumming harps.

 

[Jipsah]

I am a member of the Royal Canadian Legion.

Aha! Servants of the British Royal Family with its ties to the Illuminati and its Reptilian Alien ancestry! (Oops, almost forgot that I'm an Anglican. Nevermind...).

 

[Jipsah]

OK, you bring the burgers.

, Oh, a member of the Burgerbuilders as well, I see. The plot thickens...

 

[Disciple37]

This explains why babies are saved though they never understood, but as to your point I believe there is still great benefit in knowing the gospel, don't you?

Sent from mTalk

A baby is saved because he or she is not at the age of accountability yet, which is different for every child. By God's grace and mercy, though the child is sinnful because he was born into sin, God saves the child for damnation. Once a child is mentally competent enough to make a decision for or against God, then that child is held accountable. It's why it's so important for us to even teach our children about salvation.

There's great benefit in knowing the Gospel because you will NOT be getting into heaven without putting your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and in him alone. This knowledge comes from the gospel, so yes, the gospel is important for many different reasons, but one is to even know how to be saved. No person will enter heaven unless their faith and hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

[LastSeven]

A baby is saved because he or she is not at the age of accountability yet, which is different for every child. By God's grace and mercy, though the child is sinnful because he was born into sin, God saves the child for damnation. Once a child is mentally competent enough to make a decision for or against God, then that child is held accountable. It's why it's so important for us to even teach our children about salvation.

There's great benefit in knowing the Gospel because you will NOT be getting into heaven without putting your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and in him alone. This knowledge comes from the gospel, so yes, the gospel is important for many different reasons, but one is to even know how to be saved. No person will enter heaven unless their faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ.

I don't think that's right. We've all heard the "age of accountability" theory but it just doesn't make sense to me.

It makes a lot more sense to save or condemn people based on their knowledge (or lack of knowledge) about the word of god. To whom much is given, from them much is expected. Which implies that to whom little is given, little is expected.

 

[RDKirk]

I don't think that's right. We've all heard the "age of accountability" theory but it just doesn't make sense to me.

It makes a lot more sense to save or condemn people based on their knowledge (or lack of knowledge) about the word of god. To whom much is given, from them much is expected. Which implies that to whom little is given, little is expected.

Jesus said, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains. -- John 9

And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know their right hand from their left -- Jonah 4

 

[LastSeven]

Jesus said, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains. -- John 9

And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know their right hand from their left -- Jonah 4

Love it. That makes perfect sense. If you don't know right from wrong, then you're not guilty of doing wrong. So that applies to infants, mentally retarded and people who don't know about Jesus. That whole "age of accountability" thing would only cover the infant and that doesn't make sense.

EDIT: And now this makes a lot more sense too:

Genesis 3
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

That's why Adam and Eve were free of sin before they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They didn't know right from wrong, so they were not guilty of doing any wrong.

And perhaps it even explains this:

Isaiah 65:17
See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.

On the new earth there will be no more sin, because we won't know right from wrong. And if we don't know, then we're not guilty.

 

[Archivist]

During WWII, a journalist was embedded with General George Patton's forces while he moved through Italy toward Germany.

Not trying to derail the thread, but I did have to respond to this. Patton didn't serve on the Italian mainland. I think you mean France.

 

[RDKirk]

Love it. That makes perfect sense. If you don't know right from wrong, then you're not guilty of doing wrong. So that applies to infants, mentally retarded and people who don't know about Jesus. That whole "age of accountability" thing would only cover the infant and that doesn't make sense.

Well, there is a gradation, because Psalm 19 tells us that creation itself testifies of God (actually, of the person of Christ because Colossians tells us that creation came through Christ). Romans 1 tells us that God does hold people responsible for acknowledging as much of Him as creation testifies...so nobody of any age to have contemplated creation is completely excused.

But even Romans 1, while a condemnatory passage in itself, yet points out the reason for condemnation is how they've handled what they know, not what they don't know.

The bottom line I draw from all this is that the Lord's judgment takes into consideration what a man has done with as much as he knows.