O Timothy April 2011 - Way of Life Literature

W A Y O F L I F E L I T E R A T U R E
credit, the man is willing to state clearly
what he believes or doesn’t believe
(though he seems to fudge about being a
universalist). Zondervan has probably
done as much to muddy the waters of
biblical truth in the minds of professing
believers as any institution on earth today.
Why back off now
It’s great that evangelicals like Al Mohler have
made strong statements about Rob Bell’s
heretical new book, but Billy Graham has said
many of the same things. It’s extremely
hypocritical to pick and choose which heretics
you are going to denounce.
“CONSERVATIVE EVANGELICAL”
HYPOCRISY (Friday Church News
N o t e s , M a r c h 2 5 , 2 0 1 1 ,
www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org,
866-295-4143) - Some of the
“conservative” evangelicals are criticizing
Rob Bell in a pretty strong way. John
Piper tweeted, “Good bye, Rob Bell.”
Albert Mohler, Jr. of Southern Baptist
Seminary described Bell’s view as
“Velvet Hell.” I’m glad to see a bit of
backbone among some evangelicals and a
level of doctrinal conviction that would
drive them to actually name the name of a
false teacher, but it appears very
hypocritical at the same time. The view
that atheists and pagan religionists might
be saved without submitting to Jesus
Christ is not new. Billy Graham has been
saying it for decades, but I don’t recall
any outcry from the evangelical world,
i n c l u d i n g f r o m G r a h a m ’s o w n
denomination, the Southern Baptist
Convention. In an interview with
McCall’s magazine, January 1978,
entitled “I Can’t Play God Any More,”
Graham said: “I used to believe that
pagans in far-off countries were lost—
were going to hell—if they did not have
the Gospel of Jesus Christ preached to
them. I no longer believe that. … I believe
that there are other ways of recognizing
the existence of God—through nature, for
i n s t a n c e — a n d p l e n t y o f o t h e r
opportunities, therefore, of saying ‘yes’ to
God.” In 1985, Graham affirmed his
belief that those outside of Christ might
be saved. Los Angeles reporter David
Colker asked Graham: “What about
people of other faiths who live good lives
but don’t profess a belief in Christ”
Graham replied, “I’m going to leave that
to the Lord. He’ll decide that” (Los
Angeles Herald Examiner, July 22, 1985).
In 1993, Graham repeated this doctrine in
an interview with David Frost. “And I
think there is that hunger for God and
people are living as best they know how
according to the light that they have. Well,
I think they’re in a separate category than
people like Hitler and people who have
just defied God, and shaken their fists at
God. … I would say that God, being a
God of mercy, we have to rest it right
there, and say that God is a God of mercy
and love, and how it happens, we don’t
know” (The Charlotte Observer, Feb. 16,
1993). In an interview with Robert
Schuller in May 1997, Graham again said
that he believes people in other religions
can be saved without consciously
believing in Jesus Christ. “[God’s] calling
people out of the world for His name,
whether 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 that they are saved, and that
they're going to be with us in
heaven” (television interview of Billy
Graham by Robert Schuller, broadcast in
southern California, Saturday, May 31,
1997). What is Rob Bell saying today that
Billy Graham hasn’t been saying for more
than 30 years
FULLER SEMINARY PRESIDENT
PRAISES ROB BELL’S BOOK (Friday
Church News Notes, March 25, 2011,
www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org,
866-295-4143) - Richard Mouw,
President of Fuller Theological Seminary,
told USA Today that “Rob Bell’s newlyreleased
Love Wins is a fine book and that
I basically agree with his theology” (“The
Orthodoxy of Rob Bell,” Christian Post,
Mar. 20, 2011). This tells us just how
terribly far Fuller Seminary has fallen
from its roots in Charles Fuller’s “only
through the blood” evangelistic ministry.
Mouw agrees with Bell that it is wrong to
say, “Accept Jesus right now, because if
ten minutes from now you die without
accepting this offer God will punish you
forever in the fires of hell.” Mouw
comments, “What kind of God are we
presenting to the person” The answer is
the God of the Bible and the God that was
preached by the founders of Fuller
Theological Seminary. It is Bell and
Mouw who have the new god. Mouw says
that after a rabbi friend of his died, he
“held out the hope that when he saw Jesus
he would acknowledge that it was Him all
along, and that Jesus would welcome him
into the heavenly realm.” I’ve never read
anything like that in the Bible, but C.S.
Lewis taught this very thing. Mouw says
that those who question Mother Teresa’s
salvation just because she believed a false
gospel should be ashamed of themselves.
Mouw implies that Bell’s critics just want
to keep people out of heaven, which is
patently ridiculous and slanderous. Mouw
would have us believe that he is more
compassionate than Jesus, who stated
very bluntly, “Except ye repent, ye shall
all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3, 5). Both
Bell and Mouw complain about their
“critics,” but they don’t draw back from
lashing out pretty fiercely at the
“fundamentalists.” Bell calls hellfire
preaching “lethal,” “toxic,” “unloving,”
“creepy,” a “cheap view of God.” No
judgmental criticism there! Nothing but
compassionate, tolerant dialogue!
C.S. LEWIS’S INFLUENCE ON THE
EVANGELICAL DOWNGRADE OF
HELL (Friday Church News Notes,
March 25, 2011, www.wayoflife.org
fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) -
C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) has been called a
“Superstar” by Christianity Today. A 1998
CT poll rated Lewis the most influential
evangelical writer, and In light of the
wretched spiritual-doctrinal-moral
condition of “evangelicalism” today, that
is a very telling statistic and certainly no
praise for C.S. Lewis. One of the ways
22 1 Timothy 6:20,21