You know I have followed the Reverend Billy Graham for years and believe him to be one of the greatest Christian figures of our time.
But even great Christian ministers have to be called on it when they start letting the world influence the way the gospel is preached.
This is what Graham said on Larry King Live recently.
Now with his infirmity and the many stents he has had placed in his brain, I give him the benefit of the doubt, but am STILL called to make clear that his stance IS NOT BIBLICAL.
The full counsel of God's Word is to be preached, not just Jesus loves me. For a second there I thought I was listening to Joel Osteen.
Billy Graham on Larry King Live
But even great Christian ministers have to be called on it when they start letting the world influence the way the gospel is preached.
This is what Graham said on Larry King Live recently.
KING: Do you feel the same about other faiths?
GRAHAM: Absolutely.
KING: Do you feel the same about Judaism, Mormonism?
GRAHAM: Absolutely.
KING: Buddhism?
GRAHAM: I love them all, and welcome them all, and love to be with them, and friends with all of them. For example, I just talked to a man in New York City, he was a Mormon.
KING: My father-in-law.
GRAHAM: Your father-in-law. And I've loved the Mormons for years, and yet there is a big divide between the Mormons and some of the other groups. But I have great friends among the Mormons. And the same among the Catholics. Of course, I loved Pope John Paul II and watched the whole process of his suffering, his dying and the tremendous -- my daughter went to represent me ...
KING: I know. You were on with us the night he died.
GRAHAM: That's right. Thank you.
KING: But what about those faiths -- the Mormons and the others that you mentioned -- believe in Christ. They believe they will meet Christ. What about those like the Jews, the Muslims, who don't believe they ...
GRAHAM: That's in God's hands. I can't be the judge.
KING: You don't judge them?
GRAHAM: No.
KING: How do you feel...
(CROSSTALK)
GRAHAM: ... going to hell and all that.
KING: How do you feel when you see a lot of these strong Christian leaders go on television and say, you are condemned, you will live in hell if you do not accept Jesus Christ, and they are forceful and judgmental?
GRAHAM: Well, they have a right to say that, and they are true to a certain extent, but I don't -- that's not my calling. My calling is to preach the love of God and the forgiveness of God and the fact that he does forgive us. That's what the cross is all about, what the resurrection is all about, that's the gospel. And you can get off on all kinds of different side trends, and in my earlier ministry, I did the same, but as I got older, I guess I became more mellow and more forgiving and more loving. And the Jerry Falwells and people like that, I love them, I thank God for their ministry, he has a great university and two or three of my grandchildren have gone there, they have had a tremendous change in their lives for being there, and some of the other people are the same way, but at the other end of the extreme.
Ron (INAUDIBLE) here in New York years ago, preached against me, or spoke against me. I loved him with all my heard. I went to see him, and all these people.
KING: We'll be back with the extraordinary Reverend Billy Graham right after this.
Now with his infirmity and the many stents he has had placed in his brain, I give him the benefit of the doubt, but am STILL called to make clear that his stance IS NOT BIBLICAL.
The full counsel of God's Word is to be preached, not just Jesus loves me. For a second there I thought I was listening to Joel Osteen.
Billy Graham on Larry King Live