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Hillary:  I’ve “felt the presence of the Holy Spirit”…but not Sure Jesus is the Only Way to Heaven

Orginally published on Monday, March 10, 2008 at 7:57 AM
by Todd Rhoades

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....

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?


This post has been viewed 3448 times so far.


  There are 132 Comments:

  • Posted by Peter Hamm
    Friday, March 21, 2008 at 4:46 PM

    CS,

    If they are my friends long enough, no doubt they will.

    And to tag onto what Wendi just said, even in Paul’s letters there is a lack of “balance” with regard to the “complete presentation” of the Gospel. For instance, Galatians is woefully lacking in the repentance department. I wonder if it’s possible that people who heard only that letter might have figured out the rest of it based on the Holy Spirit’s influence.

    I’m simply not pushy with the Gospel, but anyone who know me knows where I stand. The reason? I’m trying to usher people into a restored friendship with God through Jesus, not a personal relationship with theology.

    And the answer to the obvious question that follow is this. Yes, I think it is VERY possible for someone to come into a correct saving relationship with God based on an incomplete or even bad presentation of the Gospel. God is really big that way.

  • Posted by
    Friday, March 21, 2008 at 5:16 PM

    Wendi:

    “Genesis 1:31 “God saw all that he had made, and it was very GOOD.  And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.”

    INTRINSICLY, human beings are good because everything God created is good.”

    That is a great verse, but there is a hole in the logic in using this to justify humans as being good.

    In the verse used, God saw that what he had made WAS good.  Then, you followed up by saying, “human beings ARE good.” The verb tense makes all of the difference.  The past condition does not justify the current state of things.

    I WAS a boy once, and AM a man now.  I cannot say that I AM still a boy, even though I have many of the same facets of being a boy, such as arms, legs, eyes, etc.

    By sinning against God, Adam and Eve, who were good, became evil.  Consequently, this has made the rest of us evil as well.  Like David said in Psalm 51, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Or, like Isaiah 64 says, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”

    If we applied the logic you used in saying that all God created WAS good and STILL IS good, then this planet should be paradise, with no wars, sickness, famine or disease.  How do I know that the world is evil now?  The Bible says so.  In fact, the Bible says that there will come a day when God destroys it, so that He can recreate it.

    Moving onto the point about Jesus and the presentation of the Gospel…

    Much like Katrina said, Jesus presented grace to the humble and the Law to the proud.  He also used supernatural means to show his power as God.  Speaking of which…

    “in order to follow Jesus’ model, I think it is best for us to ask questions and discover the story of the person we’re talking to before we launch into our “gospel presentation.””

    Jesus was omnipotent, so He knew all of their stories ahead of time, so he could keep the conversation short and to the point when needed.  Now, if we use the Apostles as an example, who lacked omnipotence as an ability, they did not always discover the story of the person before giving the Gospel.  Case in point Philip talking to the Ethiopian Eunuch.  But you know what he did there, too?  He gave the grace to the humble--the man already knew the Law.

    --
    CS

  • Posted by
    Friday, March 21, 2008 at 5:28 PM

    CS – we’re gonna have to agree to disagree about the current condition of man, what it means to have God’s image within us and yet be fallen and sinful creature.  And we’re gonna have to disagree about whether we state every facet of “the gospel” in every conversation we have with a seeker or non-believer.

    BUT PLEASE HEAR THIS, and I hope you will agree . . . at the end of the day our differences are small and quite unimportant.

    We both love Jesus.  We both understand our need for His redemption because of our own depravity.  We both are eternally grateful for the grace we’ve received.  We both want very much to be used by the HS to help others know Jesus and experience grace.  And the HS has and will continue to use both of us.  Grace again.

    126 comments is enough for one thread.

    Wendi

  • Posted by
    Friday, March 21, 2008 at 5:52 PM

    If man is inherently evil, and God hates evil, then “God Damn America” starts to make a lot of sense.  Perhaps we should put that on our currency.

    Jesus wasn’t God with skin. He was a man, the Word of God made flesh—and evil.

    What I think I’ll do with my evil daughter is burn her if she doesn’t do what I say.  Perhaps if I begin acting like God, I’ll become more Godlike. Think?

  • Posted by
    Friday, March 21, 2008 at 7:04 PM

    Let’s really frustrate Phil and go for 200 on this post.  70 more and we will really get a prize.  Probably double what Peter got for posting 100.  By the way if we post 70 more rounds of is man good or bad or how do I tell people about Jesus I will join Phil.

    Today a guy I have been praying for the past few weeks called me and asked if we could talk.  He said after talking to his girlfriend about Good Friday that he felt like his life story was being told and that he needed Christ.  As we spoke I asked him if there was any reason he could think of not to give his heart to Christ and turn from his sins to Christ.  He said none he could think of and so as of about an hour ago, Welcome to the Family Bill!  Please join me in praying for Bill’s new faith in Christ.

  • Posted by
    Friday, March 21, 2008 at 8:33 PM

    Wendi:

    “BUT PLEASE HEAR THIS, and I hope you will agree . . . at the end of the day our differences are small and quite unimportant.

    We both love Jesus.  We both understand our need for His redemption because of our own depravity.  We both are eternally grateful for the grace we’ve received.  We both want very much to be used by the HS to help others know Jesus and experience grace.  And the HS has and will continue to use both of us.  Grace again.”

    In this, I can totally agree.  But I have to disagree with you about 126 posts being enough.  I think we can easily get a bicentennial, especially with knuckleheads like Joe.  =)

    --
    CS

  • Posted by
    Friday, March 21, 2008 at 10:21 PM

    Yea Leonard!
    That is the coolest statement so far on this thread.  Isnt it true that we dont really know, we can posit based on our best and most informed guess’s as to the nature of man, but at the core we do need a savior who was willing to honor God and love us enough to die for us.  I am glad because I need(ed) it.
    Leonard that is the way to celebrate the res!

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