<< Actually nowhere in the "interview" does Bill Graham say that you can be saved apart from Christ. If you have ever heard any of his rallies, sermons, etc. the BIGGEST emphasis that he gives is that ONLY through Christ can you be saved. He ALWAYS emphasis that living a good life is not good enough. Reading the "interview" I can see how this would be misinterpreted. Billy Graham is simply saying in the interview that people can become Christians from whatever religion, because God will move their hearts-sometimes in ways they don't understand. God can use anything to "bother" people into realizing theat they are missing something in their lives-which ultimately is Christ. Any evangelical Christian that knows some basic theology will tell you this. >>
Okay, now that's retarded. This is an excerpt of the Billy Graham interview:
GRAHAM: [God 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 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."
INTERVIEWER: 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.
CrobUSA and the author of the linked page are 100% correct. Read the excerpt again. With regard to people who worship different gods or no god at all, "[Graham] thinks they are saved, and that they are going to be with [the Christians] in heaven." Graham further believe in and agrees with the statement that "it's possible for Jesus Christ to come into human hearts and soul and life, even if they've . . . never had exposure to the Bible." There CANNOT be any misinterpretation of Graham's argument: that it is NOT necessary to seek Jesus Christ for salvation in order to enter the kingdom of Heaven.
Needless to say, this is in direct contradiction to multiple passages in the Bible, which unequivocally maintain that those who do NOT seek Jesus for salvation will not go to heaven - plain and simple. Graham's purpose is simple -- he is attempting to resolve the classic anti-Christian argument that God MUST be either a) unjust or b) NOT omnipotent if he allows half the world to worship some other God and then sends them to hell for not seeking Jesus for salvation. Graham's resolution is this: that the half of the world that has never heard of Jesus Christ can still go to Heaven, therefore, God is not acting unjustly. Unfortunately, Graham's resolution 1) CONTRADICTS numerous Bible passages and 2) fails to explain why an omniscient and omnipotent God, who went through the trouble of creating all the humans on the planet, is not capable of not behooved to tell one half of the world of his own existence!!!
Graham's defense is non-rigorous, and could only conceivably impress those who WANT to believe...that is, people who will accept a clearly irrational explanation simply because they want it to be true.
However, I agree that the deal may be hot for some people, and unlike the stupid free bible threads, not every Christian knows where to get a free Billy Graham book.
Valsalva