Kathleen Parker of The Washington Post recently wrote an article reacting to Franklin Graham stand for the exclusivity of Christ in the matter of salvation. You can read her article here, if you like.

This post is not specifically about the Franklin Graham and his being disinvited from the White House Observance of the National Day of Prayer. It concerns some statistics mentioned in Kathleen Parker’s article.

Concerning the opinions of Protestant pastors and Islam, mentioned a poll conducted by an evangelical polling firm:

A survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors found that 47 percent agree that Islam is “a very evil and a very wicked religion.” But such opinions may be confined mostly to an older generation. Evangelicals under 30 believe that there are many ways to God, not just through Jesus.

She also cited research by David Campbell of Notre Dame and Robert Putman of Harvard that indicated:

“nearly two-thirds of evangelicals under 35 believe non-Christians can go to heaven, vs. 39 percent of those over 65.”

The main thrust of Ms. Parker’s article seems to be that the last bastion of the exclusivity of Christ in Salvation, evangelical Christians as opposed to those who are more liberal and universalistic concerning salvation, is crumbling. As younger evangelicals drift farther and farther away from the exclusive claims of Christ, while the older generations that believe Jesus meant what he said in John 14:6, are dying off, the “all roads lead to God” mantra will get louder and louder within the church!

Having said that, and setting aside the troubling statistics themselves, the overarching question seems to be, “Why?” Why, when scripture is clear on the matter of Christ being the only way to God, are younger “evangelicals” rejecting the clarity of the very words of Jesus in John 3, not to mention the OT prophets and NT apostles?

There are probably several answers to the question, and I will not render an opinion. Feel free to discuss it. But think about it and consider the implications for what calls itself the “church”, as well as what it says about those who call themselves “evangelical”.

If your own ‘opinion’ tends to universalism, examine scripture on the matter. If you are in fact a genuine believer and truly “evangelical”, the Holy Spirit will set you straight.