Hillary: I’ve “felt the presence of the Holy Spirit”…but not Sure Jesu
- Posted by: Todd
- Posted on: Mon, March 10, 2008
- Viewed 181
- (100) comments so far
Hillary said, “I believe in the father, son, and Holy Spirit, and I have felt the presence of the Holy Spirit on many occasions in my years on this earth.”
Luo then asked, “Can I ask you theologically, do you believe that the resurrection of Jesus actually happened, that it actually historically did happen?”
Clinton replied, “Yes, I do.”
Luo: And, do you believe on the salvation issue – and this is controversial too – that belief in Christ is needed for going to heaven?
Clinton: That one I’m a little more open to. I think that it is, as we understand our relationship to God as Christians, it is how we see our way forward, and it is the way. But, ever since I was a little girl, I’ve asked every Sunday school teacher I’ve ever had, I asked every theologian I’ve ever talked with, whether that meant that there was no salvation, there was no heaven for people who did not accept Christ. And, you’re well aware that there are a lot of answers to that. There are people who are totally rooted in the fact that, no, that’s why there are missionaries, that’s why you have to try to convert. And, then there are a lot of other people who are deeply faithful and deeply Christ-centered who say, that’s how we understand it and who are we to read God’s mind about such a weighty decision as that.
Luo: And your attitude toward the Bible about how literally people should take it. ...
Clinton: I think the whole Bible is real. The whole Bible gives you a glimpse of God and God’s desire for a personal relationship, but we can’t possibly understand every way God is communicating with us. I’ve always felt that people who try to shoehorn in their cultural and social understandings of the time into the Bible might be actually missing the larger point that we’re supposed to take from the Bible.
Hillary on prayer: “I’ve always responded that I was fortunate enough to be raised to understand the power and purpose of prayer...But had I not been, probably one week in the White House would have turned me into one… It’s wonderful to know that the sustaining power of prayer is there for so many of us.”
Clinton said in the November speech one of her favorite passages of the Bible is the book of James’ admonition that “faith without works is dead.”
“But I have concluded that works without faith is just too hard,” she said. “It cannot be sustained over one’s life or the generations. And it’s important for us to recognize how, here in what you are doing, faith and works comes together.”
More here at WorldNetDaily.com...
OK… your thoughts?
Sen. Hillary Clinton has "felt the presence of the Holy Spirit" in her life and believes in the historical resurrection of Jesus Christ, but she is ambivalent about the necessity of belief in Christ for salvation, according to segments of a New York Times interview that either went unused or received little attention at the time of publishing. Christian Broadcasting Network reporter David Brody unearthed the quotes, which came from New York Times reporter Michael Luo's interview with the senator in July....
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Peter Hamm on Mon, March 10, 2008
[I’ve always felt that people who try to shoehorn in their cultural and social understandings of the time into the Bible might be actually missing the larger point that we’re supposed to take from the Bible.]
I liked that statement! I’ve seen a lot of it lately.
Look… There are plenty of people who call themselves Christ-followers who believe one can get to heaven apart from Christ. I’m willing to admit that those folks might one day be in heaven even if they are wrong about this issue, as I’m sure I will find I am wrong about a great many things one day.
Daniel on Mon, March 10, 2008
Why must it always come back to ‘going to heaven when you die’? Why do we make such a big fuss about a temporary holding tank? Why does the story of the calling of a people of God enjoined with the task of showing God’s individual and social salvation off to the world never get any mention?
With that out of the way, Clinton sounds boringly orthodox. Though of course her politics might seem problematic to many.
My two cents.
-Daniel-
Rob on Mon, March 10, 2008
Sincerity of heart doesn’t make them right. Paul was sincerely serving God as he was killing Christians, but he was wrong. Being wrong on how to get to heaven is crucial. If there’s many ways to heaven why would Jesus waste his time dying?
Also, as a Christ follower, how could she condone abortion and gay marriage?
Peter, like you, I’m sure I may be wrong on a lot of issues, but you can’t be wrong on Jesus being the only way to God. And you can’t possibly believe that there’s another way to salvation other than Jesus, that goes against all of the New Testament teaching.
Jesus is the only way to God
Adam E. George on Mon, March 10, 2008
[who are we to read God’s mind about such a weighty decision as that] We’re not reading God’s mind, we’re reading what He has given us in the scriptures. And, what the Savior says is what the Savior says: “No one comes to the father but by me.”
Nuff said.
Drew Powell on Mon, March 10, 2008
At the end of the day, the stone the builders rejected has become the corner stone… There are no gray areas in Christ. Theology: pre, post, lose, always have it, etc. These are for conjecture, however salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone is not debatable. Again, the way, the truth and the life… Therefore, our yes is yes, anything else is from the evil one.
Chad on Mon, March 10, 2008
Preach it, Rob, preach it! All Hillary is doing is throwing out her politically correct answer to this question. If she says, “Jesus is the only way to salvation,” then she could offend those who don’t agree with her and lose their vote.
It’s about time those who are running for public office start standing up for the truth and show some character and integrity. Even if their stance might cost them votes. One day we will all stand before God and be held accountable. That should be a concern for our politicians and not whether they get all the votes they can.
Either the Word of God is truth or it is a lie. We can’t have two contradictory ways for man to be saved. Either Jesus is the only way to salvation or there is no salvation found in Him. As for me and my house, we will follow the New Testament teachings and stand on the truth that “salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
CS on Mon, March 10, 2008
“That one I’m a little more open to.”
Why would people who call themselves Christians believe that Jesus Christ is not the only way to Heaven. Is God schizophrenic? Could you imagine a God who applies different, contrary ways of getting to Heaven (or even different types of heavens), to people across the globe? What would that say about His character.
No, there is only one way. And that is through Jesus Christ.
“I think the whole Bible is real.”
Whew! I’m glad that the Senator has confirmed that the Bible is not a piece of mass hallucination.
—
CS
Phil DiLernia on Mon, March 10, 2008
I’m shocked that you guys didn’t point out that Hillary believes in Jesus’ resurrection!
What I don’t understand is this; how did she come to know of the resurrection of Jesus? Through the Bible.
Then why isn’t that same Bible good for gaining knowledge about how people move from children of darkness to children of light? Seems hypocrytical, not well thought out, and quite frankly ... nonsensical.
However, about Jesus and salvation we must be a bit humble. FOR CERTAIN anyone who rejects Christ CANNOT BE SAVED. However for those who have not heard His name and have yet responded to the amount of revelation they have received (aborted babies and infants who die before being able to process truth come to mind) cannot we as followers of Christ have some humility and claim that Christ’s sacrfice IS IN FACT BIG ENOUGH to pay for their sins and we trust God to know what is right in those circumstances? Can we then claim, as scripture says, that Jesus’ payment was IN FACT for the sins of the whole world - EVERYONE’S - and that the people we are speaking with do not have the excuse or even opportunity of the aborted baby, man in the jungle, etc.
This way we can stop the excuses and digging like the reporter who interviewed Hillary. Personally I would have asked him what he thought about Jesus (after admitting the possibility that God’s grace can cover those who have never heard but have not rejected the Spirit by following idols.)
God’s peace.
Phil
Peter Hamm on Mon, March 10, 2008
CS,
I think the interview happened before we “learned” that Moses was high all the time. http://www.mondaymorninginsight.com/images/smileys/wink.gif
In all seriousness. following Jesus is not an intellectual exercise in knowing and doing all the right things and rejecting and not doing all the wrong things. It is a journey in faith where we follow Jesus. If we are born again and filled with His Spirit, we can be wrong about a great many things and still be “saved”. And, presumably, the Holy Spirit WILL in that case lead us into all truth (note that doesn’t necessarily imply that we know all truth instantly…)
I simply can not make a really long list of stuff that if you’re wrong about this particular intellectual part of the faith you are damned. I don’t find that distinction in Jesus’ teachings.
I do NOT imply that multiple statements that contradict can be right, however. This is a difficult tension, but one I am more interested in living in than ignoring.
CS on Mon, March 10, 2008
Peter:
“In all seriousness. following Jesus is not an intellectual exercise in knowing and doing all the right things and rejecting and not doing all the wrong things. It is a journey in faith where we follow Jesus. If we are born again and filled with His Spirit, we can be wrong about a great many things and still be “saved”. And, presumably, the Holy Spirit WILL in that case lead us into all truth (note that doesn’t necessarily imply that we know all truth instantly…)”
Absolutely true. Yet, we have to balance this statement with correct understanding of Jesus.
For example, (to plagiarize slightly from Todd Friel) if I believed that Jesus was incarnate in the form of a small taco-loving dog, and that if by hopping around 20 times while shouting, “Oprah!” I would go to Heaven, I would be wrong.
More practically, the Mormons claim to know and love Jesus Christ, but their understanding of him is contrary from the Jesus Christ of the Bible. They believe such things as Him being a created being, the spirit-brother of Lucifer, having sex with no less than three wives, and that He lives on a planet near the star called, “Kolob.” This is a damnable heresy.
We can be wrong about a great many things, from tongues to tithing, but if we are wrong in our understanding of Jesus Christ, nothing else matters.
—
CS
Leonard on Mon, March 10, 2008
One of the primary roles the Holy Spirit plays in our lives is to reveal the centrality and truth about Christ. I have no doubt Hillary has felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. Why? Becasue God loves her deeply and would seek to reveal himself to her. I would hope each of us would remember this truth.
One other thought I have is my tendency to sit here and judge her. I admit that I wanted to find some fault in her thinking because that would make my dislike more palatable somehow. This attitude would make my understanding no better than hers because it makes my understanding on the prideful and mean side..
Jim on Mon, March 10, 2008
There is one point that is missed in this interview, and the following discussions: Hillary and some of the other Democrats are those who hired “evangelical” coaches to help them learn how to speak to evangelicals. I seriously doubt that the positions she takes on abortion, homosexual marriage, and “it takes a village” to raise a child, which shreds parental rights, reflect Biblical positions on these topics.
Hillary’s response that she believes that the Bible is “real” is a fairly common way many liberals, and non-christians use to actually attack the Bible. I attended a very liberal seminary for one year, and I heard phrases like that for that year. Of course they believe the Bible is real, but they also believe that it’s wrong, inaccurate, misinformed, and written by uneducated, uninformed men. What they don’t believe is that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God. If they believed that, then their other positions would be so contrary to Scriptural teaching.
Jesus taught that the way to fellowship with God is a narrow path, and not a wide path. Jesus also declared that He was the only way to fellowship with the Father. So, Jesus was either uninformed and absolutely crazy, or we had better take His declaration to be eternally accurate; there are no other options. Yet, if we believe the Bible is real, then we can’t pick and chose by our own standards of what we think is real. The “the Bible is real” crowd set themselves up as the discerners of what is truth and accurate, as well as what is “truth”.
I have a good friend who was a Congressman from our district through the Clinton years, and the filth they promoted is beyond description. The Congressman said he hated going to the White House, because you never knew what you would run into when you entered a room. The sexual immorality was unbelieveable-he walked in on men with men, women with women, and regular heterosexual encounters, all in the open in the rooms in the Clinton White House. Keep in mind that Hillary ran the White House, so she gave approval for all of that activity. Knowing this attitude in the White House re. sex, it is easy to see that no one in the White House was surprised by the Monica Lewinski affair.
Peter Hamm on Mon, March 10, 2008
Jim writes “Keep in mind that Hillary ran the White House, so she gave approval for all of that activity.”
Jim, that seems a ridiculous statement. And your “friend’s” accounts, third-hand as they are now as I hear them, aren’t that useful either.
CS writes [We can be wrong about a great many things, from tongues to tithing, but if we are wrong in our understanding of Jesus Christ, nothing else matters.] So true, and many of us have very different lists of what we can be wrong about.
A. Hildebrand on Mon, March 10, 2008
In deed low level theology. Difficult questions
simple answers. What about all those people
committing horendous brutalities killing innocent people before they have a chance to become believers. Will they go scot free? Surely in a just judgement the killers would carry some responsibility for killing unbelievers.
Peter Hamm on Mon, March 10, 2008
A. Hildebrand writes
[What about all those people committing horendous brutalities killing innocent people before they have a chance to become believers. Will they go scot free? Surely in a just judgement the killers would carry some responsibility for killing unbelievers.]
If God was merely just no one would go scot-free. But because of Christ’s sacrifice, we can expect mercy and not merely justice. And in that case, yes… some will go scot-free who deserve what we all deserve.
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