The Courier-Journal: The Kentucky Baptist Convention withdrew a speaking invitation to a well-known pastor and author after his latest book raised the possibility that people could be saved without becoming Christians.
The convention had heavily promoted the planned speech by Brian McLaren of Maryland at a two-day evangelism conference in Louisville, Ky., Feb. 28-March 1.But church leaders withdrew the invitation late last month.
McLaren, pastor of Cedar Ridge Community Church in Maryland, was listed in a recent Time magazine article as one of America's 25 most influential evangelicals.
He is a leader of what is known as the "emergent church" movement. In a book published last year, "A Generous Orthodoxy," he described this as an effort to go beyond traditional labels of liberal and conservative and find new methods to reach people who aren't being reached by churches.
He wrote that that not all people may need to be Christians to be followers of Jesus. Some people, he suggested, may be able to be "Buddhist … (or) Jewish or Hindu followers of Jesus."
That statement was "clearly out of line," said Kentucky Baptist Convention President Hershael York, a professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. "The one thing Kentucky Baptists agree about is the exclusivity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That means Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation."
