Billy Graham denies Jesus is the only Way

[Runestar]

Listen at 1:21

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

May Jesus bless you all HalleluYAH

I remember watching a video a creationist was talking about how some Christians are being tempted to become a freemason. The freemasons tempt you with benefits 'as in money'. Interesting, since it says in the bible the love of money is the root of all evil.

 

[Jim1440]

And I think Billy Graham makes a bit more sense than his son.

It matters not what we "think," but what does the Bible say? That and that alone is what matters.
Although not all that I would hope, Franklin Graham is closer to the truth than Billy Graham was for most of his ministry.

 

[miamited]

Hi all,

For me, the sad part is that we are no different then them. I consider how many times I've said something to someone and they've responded back in some way asking if such and such was what I meant? Then I quickly respond that no, that's not what I meant. I meant that...and then I go on to clarify what point I was trying to make with them.

I'll say to my wife, "Oh, that dress is really, really red." She might come back and ask if I think it's too loud or unbecoming on her. I'll respond that no, the dress looks beautiful on her but it's such an awesome deep red color.

Now, I've listened to Mr. Graham teach and preach at countless revivals over my life. I've watched how he lives his life. I'm fairly well convinced that Mr. Graham is a godly man and that he knows that there is no other name by which men may be saved. He has spoken those very words at nearly every revival he's ever led. So, when people post up stuff like this, I honestly fully believe that someone, somewhere, somehow, has misunderstood what Mr. Graham was saying. And I would also allow that it's very possible that, speaking live and publicly, as this video seems to show, that he didn't really form his answer in the best way that he might have.

Now, the sad part is that we, supposedly born again believers who should have gracious, kind and forgiving hearts, will hear all of the millions of words that a man speaks throughout all of his life and search to find that one 'pearl' that may have been spoken in error or throughtlessly, and pillory that person. It happens all the time in the political arena. We're just like them. There's nothing that seems to set us apart.

Doesn't that strike anyone else as odd or certainly not the way that God's children should behave? Now, this is not some blanket condemnation or observation of everyone participating in this thread. So don't anyone be offended by my comments. I'm speaking in general terms regarding people and christians generally. The person who put all this video 'evidence' together is the one my comments are most directed towards.

God bless you all,
In Christ, Ted

 

[HighwayMan]

It matters not what we "think," but what does the Bible say? That and that alone is what matters.
Although not all that I would hope, Franklin Graham is closer to the truth than Billy Graham was for most of his ministry.

The Bible says that God created humans, and created them to use their brain and free will. If we were not meant to think, we would have been made rocks.

 

[miamited]

The Bible says that God created humans, and created them to use their brain and free will. If we were not meant to think, we would have been made rocks.

Hi highwayman,

That's an oft sounded rejoinder, but it's got a most definite ring of 'the lie' in it.

The Scriptures do say that God created man, but the rest of your statement comes from the Scriptures of highwayman. The Scriptures do allude to the fact that man has freewill, although it is never quite clear on why we have it. Understand that 'freewill' is the phenomenon of not following some already established set 'will'.

The first example in the Scriptures of someone using 'freewill' was Eve in the garden being tempted by Satan. Even though she knew that it was God's will that she not eat the fruit of that particular tree, she chose to exercise her 'freewill' and eat. In the desert, God laid out the law before Israel. Then He acknowledged that they have freewill, but encourages them to follow His will so that they might live

So, I agree that man has 'freewill', I'm just not in such agreement that God gave it to us with the intent to use it as we do.

Yes, God created us with a brain. I'm not sure, honestly I'm pretty confident, that He didn't give us our brain to be used as most of us do. Many people, when they get on this discussion, open up the Scriptures to where God tells the Israelites, 'come, let us reason together', as 'proof' that God wants us to use our brains.

Really! Has anyone ever read beyond that sentence? Because it doesn't then follow that God says, "Hey guys! Give me some of your ideas about how I can do things better. What do you think if I were to do this or that?" No! Not at all! God then goes on to tell the Israelites of all that He has done and who He is and asks them to use their brains to reason out who He is and what He wants and desires of His people.

So, while I understand what you are saying, I'm not necessarily in agreement with it and, personally, I'd be very careful in ascribing to God, the will of man and the purpose for our brains, without some evidence beyond, "Well, because it exists it must be so."

BTW, when you get to that part in the Constitution that we understand we have certain inalienable rights with which we are endowed by our Creator such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness...none of that's in the Scriptures either and I'm not sure there's any proof that God has given us said rights to such things. The Scriptures seem to say pretty much the opposite about those who are headed to God's kingdom. They will be hated, mocked and persecuted. Many have been and will be martyred for the name of Christ. So, I'm just as equally not so sure that our idea that God has endowed us with these rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness has any basis in what the Scriptures teach.

God bless you.
In Christ, Ted

 

[ViaCrucis]

Thats just the words of a mortal man.
Are you a Mason too ?

Everybody's a Mason! Run for the hills!

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Archivist]

Everybody's a Mason! Run for the hills!

-CryptoLutheran

I'm a Mason. I put in a retaining wall out back just last summer.

 

[DingDing]

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

But Job did not know Israel. It is not an obfuscation. Job knew from what came before, not what came after.

 

[Ronald]

Listen at 1:21

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

May Jesus bless you all HalleluYAH

I didn't interpret his message as a denial of Jesus being the only way. He said, you may not even be conscious or know Jesus, but that GOD WILL CALL YOU AND YOU WILL COME. THEN IN THE PROCESS OF THIS DIVINE APPOINTMENT HE OPENS YOUR EYES AND YOU "BEGIN TO SEE" THE LIGHT.
People don't all of a sudden KNOW JESUS. They must hear the word and/or read it to discover. We a led to the truth and the seed that is planted needs to be nourished - it's a process. So it is true that people come when they are drawn by the Father, yet do not understand and know Jesus initially, but the LIGHT is revealed to them through the WORD. The extant to which a person knows Jesus is based on their familiarity/study of the WORD. And btw, all OLD TESTAMENT Jews believed in the coming Messiah, the Christ, yet did not know Who Jesus was until the LIGHT was shined on them and they believed.
So people are drawn to the Word before they know Jesus, which is what Billy Graham was stating. He even supports this fact in his opening comment about people having faith and loving Jesus.

 

[miamited]

Hi ronald,

I'd say that's likely a pretty good understanding of what Mr. Graham was actually trying to convey to his audience.

God bless you,
In Christ, Ted

 

[HighwayMan]

I didn't interpret his message as a denial of Jesus being the only way. He said, you may not even be conscious or know Jesus, but that GOD WILL CALL YOU AND YOU WILL COME. THEN IN THE PROCESS OF THIS DIVINE APPOINTMENT HE OPENS YOUR EYES AND YOU "BEGIN TO SEE" THE LIGHT.
People don't all of a sudden KNOW JESUS. They must hear the word and/or read it to discover. We a led to the truth and the seed that is planted needs to be nourished - it's a process. So it is true that people come when they are drawn by the Father, yet do not understand and know Jesus initially, but the LIGHT is revealed to them through the WORD. The extant to which a person knows Jesus is based on their familiarity/study of the WORD. And btw, all OLD TESTAMENT Jews believed in the coming Messiah, the Christ, yet did not know Who Jesus was until the LIGHT was shined on them and they believed.
So people are drawn to the Word before they know Jesus, which is what Billy Graham was stating. He even supports this fact in his opening comment about people having faith and loving Jesus.

My interpretation is that Billy Graham was indeed talking about Muslims, Hindus etc. as such - not those who used to be part of a different faith, but have since come to know Jesus by that name through reading the Bible. In fact it would be a completely pointless statement to make. Is there anyone in history who has ever believed that people who have become real Christians but at one point in their lives used to be of another faith won't be going to heaven? It would be entirely unnecessary for Graham to be making that clarification.

No, to me it is clear that he is indeed talking about actual Muslims/Hindus etc., not former ones.

 

[RDKirk]

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

There are lots of people in the US who have heard people bible-thumping about "Jesus" but have not heard the gospel. Just because someone says "Jeeeezuuus!" doesn't mean he's given the gospel.

 

[Another Lazarus]

He said "Everybody that loves Christ or knows Christ, whether they're conscious of it or not, are part of Christ's body. He's calling people out of the world for his name.

Whether they come from the Muslim world, the Buddhist world, the Christian world, the unbelieving 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 that they are saved.
They're going to be with us in heaven."

Thanks for writing down what he has said for our perusal.

If we live at the times of Abraham and Daniel where Jesus has not been born yet and Salvation not yet declared through out the world of Gentiles, then he may have points.

But the Gospel and Salvation has been declared thru out the world, he should not say such a conclusion that the Muslim and the Buddhist and the Unbelieving World are also the body of Christ. How could you force the Unbelievers to become the body of Christ which they refuse ?

1 Petr 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?


May Jesus bless you all HalleluYAH

 

[RDKirk]

But the Gospel and Salvation has been declared thru out the world, he should not say such a conclusion that the Muslim and the Buddhist and the Unbelieving World are also the body of Christ. How could you force the Unbelievers to become the body of Christ which they refuse ?

No, not everyone has heard the gospel. Lot's of people have heard of "Christians"--and much of that has been heinous--but most people in this world have still not heard the voice of Christ from the lips of a member of His body.

I have run into new Christians in the US--adults--who accepted Christ instantly upon hearing a verse like 2 Corinthians 5:17, who testify, "I had never heard that before."

 

[HighwayMan]

There are lots of people in the US who have heard people bible-thumping about "Jesus" but have not heard the gospel. Just because someone says "Jeeeezuuus!" doesn't mean he's given the gospel.

That is an excellent point, and one that so many, many other Christians unfortunately miss. And I think is what Billy Graham was alluding to.

 

[LastSeven]

Is it enough to be blameless before the Lord to be a member of the body of Christ, or do you literally need to understand the gospel and accept it, in order to be a member?

 

[RDKirk]

Is it enough to be blameless before the Lord to be a member of the body of Christ, or do you literally need to understand the gospel and accept it, in order to be a member?

Ho hooo! Now you've introduced a whole other factor: What if the person has heard the gospel, but doesn't understand it properly?

And then we get denominations and factions.

This stuff can get absurd, can't it?

 

[ken777]

What if the person has heard the gospel, but doesn't understand it properly?

Jesus taught that to whom much is given much is required. In Revelation chapters 2 & 3, the description of the 7 churches suggests different levels of spirituality.

When grading a student's work, the teacher usually starts with 100% and deducts points for what is wrong. God starts at zero and we get "points" for what we get right ... anything above zero is a pass. A crude parallel I know, but I find it helpful.