A Vortex With a Different Name....

Check out the following video I came across the other day when I was watching those contrasting You Tube videos of John MacArthur and Brennan Manning.  I came upon a snippet from a Larry King show about what happens when we die.  This portion of the video featured Marrianne Williamson discussing her views and was entitled New Ager and Catholic Agree on Salvation.

 

New Ager and Catholic Agree on Salvation.

Marianne says:

"I believe that we are all the sons of God and I believe that Jesus was...and is... a fully actualized human being who now has the function of helping others who choose...who feel that he is their way to arise as well."

She goes on to say:

There are others who experience that vortex as it were without the name Jesus on it.  And I find it very unfortunate, and slightly offensive, this notion that if someone does not proclaim the name Jesus....you're talking about Jews, you're talking about atheists, agnostics, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, who somehow, even if they aren't babies...if they do not proclaim the name Jesus to me that is an incorrect understanding of Jesus himself. 

Hmmm...someone can experience that vortex without the name Jesus on it.  Sort of a rose by a another name would smell as sweet kind of thought.

During one of my recent internet treks I came upon the following excerpts from an interview between Charles Schuller and Billy Graham.  This interview was from several years ago and was hot news at the time (another instance of me being a day late and a dollar short concerning the things I write about)  It is still hot fodder for those web sites that warn of false prophets/wolves in sheep's clothing/ cults etc.  

 

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. And I don't think that we're going to see a great sweeping revival that will turn the whole world to Christ at any time. I think James answered that, the Apostle James in the first council in Jerusalem, when he said 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 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 souls 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: I, I'm so thrilled to hear you say this. There's a wideness in God's mercy.

GRAHAM: There is. There definitely is.

And a little while later, I came across the following quote from  Norman Vincent Peale in a television interview with Phil Donahue in 1984.

Peale said:

 "It's not necessary to be born again. You have your way to God; I have mine. I found eternal peace in a Shinto shrine...I've been to Shinto shrines; and God is everywhere."

"Donahue exclaimed,

"But you're a Christian minister; you're supposed to tell me that Christ is the Way, and the Truth and the Life, aren't you?" Peale replied, "Christ is one of the ways! God is everywhere." Peale told Donahue when he got to the Pearly Gates, "St Peter would say, I like Phil Donahue; let him in!"

And from another site I found another quote credited to Peale

"If one follows the teachings of Buddha, one will get to the same place Jesus teaches about because Buddha taught many principles Jesus did. There isn't a particular heaven the Buddhists go to and the Taoists go to and the Christians go to and the Jews go to. They're all God's children."

Tomorrow another snippet from another video where Deepak Chopra voices his views about an exclusive God.