McCALL'S MAGAZINE
January, 1978
"I CAN'T PLAY GOD ANY MORE"
excerpt from the article by James Michael Beam
pp. 156-157
"Graham confesses that he has taken a more modest view of his own role in God's plan for man.
'I used to play God, but I can't do that any more. 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 God— through nature for
instance and plenty of other ways of saying ''Yes'' to God.'
In recent years Graham has shown particular affection for Jews. Like most Christian Fundamentalist,
Graham once believed Jews, too, were lost if they did not convert to Christianity. Today Graham is
willing to leave that up to God. "God does the saving," Graham asserts. 'I'm told to preach Christ as the
only way to salvation. But it is God who is going to do the judging, not Billy Graham.'"
ON DOCTRINE NOTE:
The enigma of Billy Graham is hard to unravel on the issue of salvation. Nineteen years later, he
made a very similar statement during an interview with Robert Schuller in 1997:
Dr. Graham: "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 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, have never
heard of Jesus but they've believed in their hearts that there is a God and they tried to live a life
that was quite apart from the surrounding community in which they lived."
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."
Hour of Power television program
"Say 'Yes' To Possibility Thinking" program #1426
May 31, 1997
The concept of salvation without knowledge of Jesus Christ is a hallmark of Universalist belief,
although, on this particular issue I would not say that Billy Graham is a Universalist, since he evidently
does not believe in a universal salvation of all human beings. However, he leaves open the idea that
salvation can be found apart from Jesus Christ by the recognition of God in some manner that he does
not adequately explain, either in the McCall's article or the interview with Robert Schuller.
Apparently he is firmly convinced that belief in Jesus Christ as stated in the gospel message that he
preaches, is a valid means to obtain salvation, so he does preach that message, but he may not believe
that it is the only way of salvation. Although he states, "I'm told to preach Christ as the only way to
salvation," he interjects a very important "but" in the equation, "But it is God who is going to do the
judging, not Billy Graham." Judging by Billy Graham is not the issue, because if Jesus Chirst is the only
way to salvation, according to the Scripture and the message that he preaches, then judgment is against
that standard,
"And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven
that has been given among men by which we must be saved," Acts 4:12.
That is not Billy Graham's standard, but it is God's standard and the foundation of the gospel message
itself. He appears to be troubled regarding the reality that not all people will hear the gospel message,
so he attempts to find a means whereby those people have access to salvation by some means other
than the gospel message that they will never hear. However, if there is another means of salvation, then
part of the gospel message that he claims to have been told to preach consists of a direct lie to which
God is a party. This is an isue that Billy Graham should have addressed publicly many years ago, but he
failed to do so and continues to avoid it today.
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