.....or so they say.
There is no doubt that Billy Graham is THE iconic evangelist. There is no one in the latter half of the 20th century that could compare with him. I have met a few
important people in my life, including premiers, a prime minister, an Olympic gold medalist, Mr. Hockey, and so on, but I considered it a particular privilege when Billy Graham, on a crusade in Vancouver BC, came to Regent College (where I was employed at the time) and spent time with the faculty and staff. After shaking his hand, I didn't want to wash it for days.
Yet it is that self-same Billy Graham who stunned the evangelical world with televised broadcasts in his later years where he took the position that many would become members of the Kingdom of God who had never heard of Christ. To go further, he felt that there were people of other faiths, or no faith at all, who were called by God to be his children.
Apparently he, too, was troubled with the idea of a person having to have specific knowledge about Jesus and the Gospel to obtain eternal life.
The first of these two broadcasts occurred in May 31, 1997 on the Hour of Power
television program hosted by the well-known pastor Robert Schuller. View the interview at http://www.encyclopedia.com/video/TNCnxA91fHE-robert-schuller-billy-graham-speaking.aspx.
Here is a portion of the transcript:
Dr. Schuller: "Tell me, what is the future of Christianity?"
Dr. Graham: "Well, Christianity and being a true believer, you know, I think there's the body of Christ which comes from all the Christian groups around the world, or outside the Christian groups. I think that everybody that loves Christ or knows Christ, whether they're conscious of it or not, they're members of the body of Christ. And I don't think that we're going to see a great sweeping revival that will turn the whole world to Christ at any time."
"What God is doing today is 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 they need something that they don't have and they turn to the only light they have and I think they're saved and they're going to be with us in heaven."
Dr. Schuller: "What I hear you saying is that it's possible for Jesus Christ to come into a human heart 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?"
Dr. Graham: "Yes it is...
Dr. Schuller: "This is fantastic. I'm so thrilled to hear you say that. There's a wideness in God's mercy.
Dr. Graham: There is. There definitely is."
Startling stuff. But it didn't stop there.
Dr. Graham appeared from time to time on the recently retired Larry King's interview program. No appearance was more memorable than the one on June 16, 2005 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YPKdbpVT6I&feature=related). First off, he appears to deny that people, even evil people, will go to Hell. Hell was created for one purpose, and it has nothing to do with humanity.
KING: And do you think he loves the people of 9/11, the people in the planes on 9/11 as much as he loves you?
GRAHAM: Yeah, he does. He does. I can't explain 9/11, except the evil of man. I think that there is a force in the world, a force of evil. There are two great forces, God's force of good and the devil's force of evil, and I believe Satan is alive and he is working, and he is working harder than ever, and we have many mysteries that we don't understand.
KING: Does God love him?
GRAHAM: Does God what?
KING: Satan. Does he love Satan?
GRAHAM: Well, he created him as Lucifer. In the 22nd of Ezekiel, it tells us about it, and he must love him, but the end of Satan is hell. Hell was created for the devil and his angels, or his demons, not for men.
Later in the interview he makes it clear that he loves people of all faiths. In fact, while not doubting their sincerity or motives, he refers to other preachers who lack his love for humankind generally as extremists.
KING: Are you forgiving of the infirmities of other people?
GRAHAM: Absolutely. I am. I mean, I...
KING: Isn't that hard?
GRAHAM: ... try to forgive. I never hold a grudge. In fact, many people say that I never get angry. I don't think I get angry. But maybe I do sometimes, but I keep it. I don't explode to anybody.
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.
Graham's controversial views go back some time. In Nov. 1993 he was honoured by Time Magazine on his 75th birthday. At that time he made these comments about Hell:
The only thing I could say for sure is that hell means separation from God. We are separated from his light, from his fellowship. That is going to be hell. When it comes to a literal fire, I don't preach it because I'm not sure about it. When the Scripture uses fire concerning hell, that is possibly an illustration of how terrible it's going to be -- not fire but something worse, a thirst for God that cannot be quenched.
To conclude this rather lengthy look at one of my heroes, Billy Graham seems to believe that while Christ's death and resurrection made entry into the Kingdom of God possible--by satisfying God's justice and allowing his love to beam forth uninhibited--one doesn't have to know about Christ's work to benefit from it. Nor does Hell appear to be the default destination for the human race unless they consciously accept Christ as his fellow evangelists have typically taught.
important people in my life, including premiers, a prime minister, an Olympic gold medalist, Mr. Hockey, and so on, but I considered it a particular privilege when Billy Graham, on a crusade in Vancouver BC, came to Regent College (where I was employed at the time) and spent time with the faculty and staff. After shaking his hand, I didn't want to wash it for days.
Yet it is that self-same Billy Graham who stunned the evangelical world with televised broadcasts in his later years where he took the position that many would become members of the Kingdom of God who had never heard of Christ. To go further, he felt that there were people of other faiths, or no faith at all, who were called by God to be his children.
Apparently he, too, was troubled with the idea of a person having to have specific knowledge about Jesus and the Gospel to obtain eternal life.
television program hosted by the well-known pastor Robert Schuller. View the interview at http://www.encyclopedia.com/video/TNCnxA91fHE-robert-schuller-billy-graham-speaking.aspx.
Here is a portion of the transcript:
Dr. Schuller: "Tell me, what is the future of Christianity?"
Dr. Graham: "Well, Christianity and being a true believer, you know, I think there's the body of Christ which comes from all the Christian groups around the world, or outside the Christian groups. I think that everybody that loves Christ or knows Christ, whether they're conscious of it or not, they're members of the body of Christ. And I don't think that we're going to see a great sweeping revival that will turn the whole world to Christ at any time."
"What God is doing today is 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 they need something that they don't have and they turn to the only light they have and I think they're saved and they're going to be with us in heaven."
Dr. Schuller: "What I hear you saying is that it's possible for Jesus Christ to come into a human heart 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?"
Dr. Graham: "Yes it is...
Dr. Schuller: "This is fantastic. I'm so thrilled to hear you say that. There's a wideness in God's mercy.
Dr. Graham: There is. There definitely is."
Startling stuff. But it didn't stop there.
KING: And do you think he loves the people of 9/11, the people in the planes on 9/11 as much as he loves you?
GRAHAM: Yeah, he does. He does. I can't explain 9/11, except the evil of man. I think that there is a force in the world, a force of evil. There are two great forces, God's force of good and the devil's force of evil, and I believe Satan is alive and he is working, and he is working harder than ever, and we have many mysteries that we don't understand.
KING: Does God love him?
GRAHAM: Does God what?
KING: Satan. Does he love Satan?
GRAHAM: Well, he created him as Lucifer. In the 22nd of Ezekiel, it tells us about it, and he must love him, but the end of Satan is hell. Hell was created for the devil and his angels, or his demons, not for men.
Later in the interview he makes it clear that he loves people of all faiths. In fact, while not doubting their sincerity or motives, he refers to other preachers who lack his love for humankind generally as extremists.
KING: Are you forgiving of the infirmities of other people?
GRAHAM: Absolutely. I am. I mean, I...
KING: Isn't that hard?
GRAHAM: ... try to forgive. I never hold a grudge. In fact, many people say that I never get angry. I don't think I get angry. But maybe I do sometimes, but I keep it. I don't explode to anybody.
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.
Graham's controversial views go back some time. In Nov. 1993 he was honoured by Time Magazine on his 75th birthday. At that time he made these comments about Hell:
To conclude this rather lengthy look at one of my heroes, Billy Graham seems to believe that while Christ's death and resurrection made entry into the Kingdom of God possible--by satisfying God's justice and allowing his love to beam forth uninhibited--one doesn't have to know about Christ's work to benefit from it. Nor does Hell appear to be the default destination for the human race unless they consciously accept Christ as his fellow evangelists have typically taught.
No comments:
Post a Comment