Obama in private meeting with Christian leaders
by Anne Thomas
Posted: Wednesday, June 11, 2008, 20:30 (BST)
Barack Obama has shared his position with US Christian leaders on a wide range of issues including gay rights, abortion and the Iraq war in a private meeting on Tuesday.
Among those present were Dallas megachurch leader Bishop TD Jakes and Franklin Graham, the son of renowned evangelist Billy Graham.
Bishop Jakes, who does not endorse presidential candidates, told the Associated Press that the discussion “went absolutely everywhere” and that the meeting brought together “just about every Christian stripe”.
Some conservative evangelicals have kept their distance from Obama over his support for abortion rights and gay rights.
Jakes acknowledged that some of those present at the meeting clearly had concerns over some of Obama’s political positions, the Associated Press reported.
Richard Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals, said that Obama had invited leaders at the meeting to share “anything that’s on your mind that is of concern to you”.
"I think it's important to point out this isn't a group of people who are endorsing Obama," Cizik said in an interview with AP. "People were asked for their insider wisdom and understanding of the religious community."
According to AP, he told Obama: “Religious Americans want to know why is it you love this country and what it stands for and how we can make it better."
The group of around 30 leaders discussed protection of the traditional family, same-sex marriage, gay rights, religious freedom, genocide, poverty in the US and “how we might even improve America’s standing in the world”, revealed Cizik.
Franklin Graham’s spokesman Mark DeMoss said, meanwhile, that the evangelist had found Obama to be “impressive” and “warm”, and revealed that he asked Obama whether “he thought Jesus was the way to God, or merely a way”, although he declined to disclose Obama’s answer.
“[Graham] feels that dialogue with someone who may be president is useful whether or not you agree with them on everything or anything,” said DeMoss.
Joshua Dubois, director of faith outreach within the Obama campaign, said that the Democratic nominee and Christian leaders “discussed policy issues and came together in conversation and prayer”. He added that more sessions of a similar nature would follow in the coming months.
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The comments below are readers' personal opinions and are in no way intended to reflect the editorial opinion of Christian Today.
Added: Friday, August 29, 2008, 15:57 (BST)
Christ is the way, to live.......not die. The begining of life is through Jesus. Faith, Hope, Love. Love being the greatest of the three. There are people in the world who are on missions in East Africa, North Korea, and Iraq whom are kept secrete so that they can risk their lives to deliver the messege of Love from God. Those whom have not been led to Christ, whom have not heard his name, such as some tribes in the amazon, and other third world nations will be given an opportunity. People don't realize that being a man of faith, and Love is not just determining what your destination will be upon your last breath. It's about your first breath born again with the Love intilled in your heart with the Lord.
With that, you can not be stopped, and you will reach Joy in life that is contageous.
Acts 11:24
Acts 11:24, detroit, MI
Added: Saturday, August 2, 2008, 7:40 (BST)
"OK there you go – Jesus Christ is not the only way. That’s what the man believes. But ostensibly Mr. Obama believes the Bible is truth. If so, the Bible says at John 14:6 that Jesus Christ said:
“I am the way, the truth and the life. No man can come unto the Father but through me.”
John 14:6"
I guess all those billions of people who were born before Christ and after Christ who had never even heard Christ's name let alone any knowledge of what he said are just plain out of luck, eh? All the Chinese, Africans, Indians and North and South American Indians that were born, lived and died without any knowledge of Christianity are now burning in hell because the right time and geography just didn't work out for them. If God condemns all these billions of people to an eternity of torture because he couldn't figure out a way to communicate his wishes and desires for all of them, what does that say about his sense of fairness for mankind? And if you can somehow twist an explanation out of the bible to grant them some kind of salvation, then Christ isn't the only way, is he? If God could create the universe and all that's in it in six days, why would he just give his word to a small tribe of wandering sheepherders in the middle east and not everyone else? Christian teachings make God look like an idiot and a sadistic megalomaniac. And on top of all that, Christ's teachings were very specific on how to treat the poor, the sick, the disadvantaged and I know very few Christians who actually follow those teachings. They,d much rather focus on tax cuts, other people's sex lives and promoting wars.
JDL51, Ft. Lauderdale, U.S.
Added: Tuesday, July 1, 2008, 19:59 (BST)
The question presented was whether Jesus Christ is THE way or merely A way to salvation. Mr. Obama reportedly said “Jesus is the only way for me. I'm not in a position to judge other people." The clear implication of Mr. Obama’s answer is that Jesus may not be, or is not necessarily, the only way for the entire human race.
That which Mr. Obama’s answer implies is fully confirmed as reported by CATHLEEN FALSANI , Sun-Times Columnist (April 5, 2004) who in an hour long interview with Mr. Obama reports that Mr. Obama stated the following:
"I'm rooted in the Christian tradition. I believe that there are many paths to the same place, and that is a belief that there is a higher power, a belief that we are connected as a people.”
[http://www.suntimes.com/news/falsani/726619,obamafalsani040504.article]
OK there you go – Jesus Christ is not the only way. That’s what the man believes. But ostensibly Mr. Obama believes the Bible is truth. If so, the Bible says at John 14:6 that Jesus Christ said:
“I am the way, the truth and the life. No man can come unto the Father but through me.”
John 14:6
Likewise, Acts 4:12 says:
"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
So, Mr. Obama says there are “many paths to the same place”. Mr. Obama makes Jesus Christ a liar because Jesus Christ said: “I am the way, the truth and the life. No man can come unto the Father but through me.”
Mr. Obama refuses to acknowledge as true Jesus Christ’s claim that He is the only way to God and salvation for ~ not just Mr. Obama ~ but the entire human race. Pluralism repudiates truth as an absolute for all and embraces the notion that what is true for you need not be truth for someone else. Tolerance used to mean (and by my book still does) that one “puts up with” folks that don’t have it right. . . but now means (to many) that I must accept opposing views as equally valid as mine.
The keystone to Christianity and to the Christian faith is that Jesus Christ is the only way to God & Salvation for the ENTIRE human race. Everybody else is wrong and in need of Jesus Christ. Mr. Obama does not hold to this and is therefore not a Christian, as his belief falls outside the pale of Biblical orthodoxy i.e., his belief is heretical.
Given the fact that mutuality exclusive tenets of world religions cannot both be true and given the fact that the Bible states Jesus Christ is the Only Savior of the world it seems all Protestants, Baptists and Catholics must, unless the be rank hypocrites, repudiate Mr. Obama’s pluralistic view about how people are saved and how they get to God.
I will admit that, to be consistent, President Bush is off base also and shares the same company as Mr. Obama. ABC's Charles Gibson interviewed President George W. Bush. Mr. Gibson asked the below questions and President Bush responded as indicated:
Q. "Do we all worship the same God, Christian and Muslim?"
A. "I think we do. We have different routes of getting to the Almighty."
Q. "Do Christians and non-Christians and Muslims go to heaven in your mind?"
A. "Yes they do. We have different routes of getting there."
I will note that President Bush did concede in the same interview that some believe in a false god: Q. Does bin Laden? Does Abu Musab al-Zarqawi pray to the same God that you and I do? A. I think they pray to a false god otherwise they wouldn't be killing innocent lives like they have been.
But President Bush’s confusion does not redeem Mr. Obama from the false statement that he is a Christian. In any event, if indeed President Bush and Mr. Obama both refuse to admit there is only one way for salvation for the entire human race than they are Universalists and don’t believe in the Biblical keystone of the Christian faith: that Jesus Christ is the only way to God & Salvation for the ENTIRE human race.
bibleman, hagerstown, MD
Added: Saturday, June 14, 2008, 3:51 (BST)
I pray they led to Jesus Christ and to be saved.I do not believe that a person can be a christian and be for same sex marriages, abortion and be associated with ISLAM.
don duncan, chesnee sparetanburg
