At one time absolutes were accepted and a statement affirming one position was understood as denying another. However, Graham refused this theory of knowledge, suggesting that his positive affirmation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ does not have an anti-thesis:

A unifying theme of Graham's new thinking is humility. He is sure and certain of his faith in Jesus as the way to salvation. When asked whether he believes heaven will be closed to good Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus or secular people, though, Graham says: "Those are decisions only the Lord will make. It would be foolish for me to speculate on who will be there and who won't ... I don't want to speculate about all that. I believe the love of God is absolute. He said he gave his son for the whole world, and I think he loves everybody regardless of what label they have." Such an ecumenical spirit may upset some Christian hard-liners, but in Graham's view, only God knows who is going to be saved: "As an evangelist for more than six decades, Mr. Graham has faithfully proclaimed the Bible's Gospel message that Jesus is the only way to Heaven," says Graham spokesman A. Larry Ross. "However, salvation is the work of Almighty God, and only he knows what is in each human heart."

In WorldViewWeekend, Ingrid asks, "So why was it that Billy Graham couldn't give a biblical response when asked whether he believes that heaven will be closed to those of other religions?"

His remarks can be understood more clearly when read in the context of his May 31, 1997 interview with Robert Schuller (Reported by The Christian News, October 20, 1997, page 15 and reproduced here)

"SCHULLER: Tell me, what do you think is the future of Christianity?

GRAHAM: Well, Christianity and being a true believer -- you know, I think there's the Body of Christ. This comes from all the Christian groups around the world, outside the Christian groups. I think everybody that loves Christ, or knows Christ, whether they're conscious of it or not, they're members of the Body of Christ ...I think James answered that, the Apostle James in the first council in Jerusalem, when he said that God's purpose for this age is to call out a people for His name. And that's what God is doing today, He's 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 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're going to be with us in heaven."

"SCHULLER: What, what I hear you saying, that it's possible for Jesus Christ to come into human hearts 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?

GRAHAM: Yes, it is, because I believe that. I've met people in various parts of the world in tribal situations, that they have never seen a Bible or heard about a Bible, and never heard of Jesus, but they've believed in their hearts that there was a God, and they've tried to live a life that was quite apart from the surrounding community in which they lived."

"SCHULLER: (R.S. trips over his tongue for a moment, his face beaming, then says) I'm so thrilled to hear you say this. There's a wideness in God's mercy.

GRAHAM: There is. There definitely is.''

God's grace and mercy are amazing and there is not a sinner alive who can not be forgiven and received by Him through Jesus Christ. However, to suggest or even imply that there is another way of salvation is a dangerous lie which endangers the souls of those who would be calmed into believing their sincerity and pursuit of something other than faith in Jesus Christ an adequate path to God.

Update:

in the outer (and a number of my Christian brothers and sisters) continue to defend Graham's position on the basis of his life and prior work (which are indeed remarkable):

Hopefully hardliners will not slap him too hard for his apparent “softness” on the gospel but instead will respect the wisdom and humility his words express based on a life that has been lived sacrificially for the sake of the gospel.

Unfortunately, this is a logical fallacy which uses one's reputation to establish a position despite its irrelevance to the argument and evidence to the contrary.

SmartChristian criticizes Ingrid's article without addressing Graham's statements. "This is a great example of someone seeing a demonic false teacher under every bush," he writes.

One of the problems with assessing Billy Graham's theological views is that his reputation, fame and incredible evangelism are always employed to counter any realistic assessment. God has used the man in great ways but his theological views on several important topics are simply wrong (and have been wrong for a long time).

GetReligion has an excellent post on the Newsweek article by Meacham that presents Graham's recent comments, suggesting he has experienced a conversion to humility and ecumenism:

Surely Meacham knows that Graham has been giving these very same answers to basic questions for decades, at the very least since the hard lessons of the Watergate era. There is a reason that Christian fundamentalists have, since the 1950s or thereabouts, called Graham a dangerous man who has sold out to modernity. You can look it up.

Think Christian writes: What a grace-filled way to approach the end of a life filled with enthusiasm, activism, evangelism, and even the occassional mistake. Note the first comment testifying about how Graham led a couple to the Lord.

The following from StrangeBaptistFire:

Pragmatism is deadly force, and it is a plague in this convention. As John MacArthur stated in the classic Ashamed of the Gospel,

…when pragmatism is used to make judgments about right and wrong, or when it becomes a guiding philosophy of life, theology, and ministry, inevitably it clashes with Scripture. Spiritual and biblical truth is not determined by testing what “works” and what doesn’t. We know from Scripture, for example, that the gospel often does not produce a positive response (1 Cor. 1:22, 23; 2:14). On the other hand, satanic lies and deception can be quite effective (Matt. 24:23, 24; 2 Cor. 4:3, 4). Majority reaction is no test of validity (cf Matt. 7:13, 14), and prosperity is no measure of truthfulness (cf Job 12:6). Pragmatism as a guiding philosophy of ministry is inherently flawed. Pragmatism as a test of truth is nothing short of satanic.

May the Lord show mercy on Billy Graham, for by his own admission he did not study the scriptures in his lifetime as much as he would have liked.

Timmy Brister, a student at the Billy Graham School of Evangelism, states, "My heart was grieved when I heard news of this interview of Billy Graham.."

I agree with Chip Thornton regarding Ian Murray's book Evangelicalism Divided (see my right column):

Murray excellently traces one aspect of the metamorphosis of Dr. Graham’s theology, namely, inclusivism (note: much of the following is taken from Murray’s book). Inclusivism is the idea that one religion is best, but salvation is possible in other religions. This idea strikes at the heart of the exclusive atonement of Jesus Christ (John 14:6), thus striking at the very heart of the gospel that Dr. Graham spent the last 60 years proclaiming.

In his conclusion, Thornton lamments:

Had Dr. Graham studied more and read more of the Bible, he might have come to the same unflinching conviction as did our Lord Jesus Christ; for Jesus Christ clearly stated in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh to the Father, but by me.” In the original language, our Lord actually emphasizes the personal pronoun “I” by stating it twice, i.e., “I, even I am the way, the truth, and the life: . . . “

Tags: Billy Graham ecumenical universalism bible church evangelicals ecumenism