Inclusivism and B. Graham

I do not think we should have any sacred cows in the Church -- that is, no one's words spoken publicly are beyond discussion or evaluation. We are to evaluate their words and teachings but not their salvation. So I am posting this to get feedback - not to attack and not to judge salvation. These words do disturb me.

This is re the issue of inclusivism. Inclusivism is becoming more and more accepted in the evangelical church -- I have run into it several times. An inclusivist will say that Jesus is the only way to God but also believes that people can know Jesus through other religions without knowing the name of Jesus; that is, they might encounter Jesus through Buddhism, Islam, etc. Of course, I vigorously disagree with this. But read what is below and see what you all think. Even Schuller was surprise to hear these words, which shows that it is not the normal thing that is said.

The above is just an excerpt. You should read the whole page to get the whole impact of it.

Once again, I am not attacking anyone, only putting this up because this does bother me, and I think, for good reason. Please read it carefully. Once again, someone can be an inclusivist and still Jesus is the only way -- that's the crux of the issue, because what is really being said is that Jesus, while being the only way, is known through other religions.

I think this is a timely topic as I'm running into it in the evangelical church.

 

Because of the Lord. The bible commands us to go to the person in private if we have an issue with them. The number of times has nothing to do with it. </font>[/QUOTE]The Bible commands us to go to a brother when they have personally sinned against us. This is not the situation here at all.

When someone speaks or writes publicly, they should expect evaluations of what they say. I do not need to write or confront him.

 

I don't want to make this all about Billy Graham. What about the issue of inclusivism? Is anyone seeing this in their church or among churches/Christians they know? I've run into it.

 

I think you all do not understand Inclusivism. As I said before, Inclusivists will happily quote Jn 14.6 all day long. But they believe that people can know Christ through other religions; that is, they can know Christ without having heard of him or knowing his name. Read Graham's remarks again.

I am not making up Inclusivism - it is here in the evangelical church.

 

Inclusivists agree with Jesus that he is the only way. But they say that people can know Jesus through other religions -- or that people can know God through other religions like Islam and come to know Christ that way (by knowing God).

I came across this in a large evangelical church (not my church) recently. Three men came up to argue with me because I had said the God of Islam was not the God of the Bible. They argued that Muslims were responding to the evidence of the Creator as declared in Romans 1. Of course, I disagreed. But they held their ground and said that Muslims and people in areas where the gospel was not known could respond to the evidence for God, believe in God and be saved. (One of these men was a new believer but the other two were not).

Inclusivism is very subtle because Inclusivists will agree that Jesus is the only way, but they are also meaning that people who have not heard of Jesus can know him through knowing God in another religion. I am not making this up. Carefully read the quote on page 1 from Billy Graham that I posted and you will see what I mean.

All kinds of doctrines like this are in the evangelical church -- including the denial of hell and open theism as well. Baptists sometimes don't seem to know what's going on outside Baptist churches but they should be aware of this as it affects our witness to unbelievers and it affects believers who are taught these things.