January 12, 2000
Graham wouldn't target religions
___Targeting Muslims and Jews for conversion is not the approach Billy Graham would take to Christian evangelism, he said in a nationally televised interview Jan. 2.
___Graham, appearing on Fox News Sunday, was interviewed by Tony Snow about a variety of topics, ranging from his view of the new millennium to how he fended offtemptation as a highly public figure.
GRAHAM
___Snow referenced the recent controversy between Southern Baptist Convention leaders and religious leaders in Chicago over a plan to send thousands of Southern Baptists into Chicago, some of whom would seek specifically to convert adherents of other religions.
___"Is that the sort of thing the Baptist convention should be doing?" Snow asked.
___Graham responded: "I'm a Southern Baptist, and I normally defend my denomination. I'm loyal to it. I believe in them. They have some of the finest people in the world in our denomination. But I have never targeted Muslims. I have never targeted Jews. I believe that we should declare the fact that God loves you, God's willing to forgive you, God can change you, and Christ and his kingdom is open to anybody who repents and by faith receives him as Lord and Savior."
___The issue of Southern Baptists seeking to convert Muslims, Jews and Hindus made headlines around the world this fall, sparked first by release of an SBC prayer guide for Jewish conversion during that religion's High Holy Days. A similar controversy erupted later when the SBC issued a prayer guide for conversion of Hindus.
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