If the President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is against it, it must be good for the rest of us.

Jesus Reconsiderd: Book Sparks Evangelical Debate

Brian McLaren, an influential evangelical leader, suggests in a new book that Jesus is not the only way to salvation. Traditional evangelicals fiercely object to his ideas. But McLaren is tapping into a generational divide between young evangelicals and their parents.

The long-time fundamentalist Moody-Bible message that says we got the truth and you ain’t is fading in the minds and hearts of the young … even inside the churches.

How dare those young people think for themselves?

'My Jesus is not your Jesus. My Savior is not your Savior. I own the true redeemer and you can only call Him Savior & Redeemer if I agree with you.
You can only call Jesus your friend if I agree with what you mean by that.
You can only resist evil as I define evil.
Any other resistance to an evil of your own perception is heresy and God will punish you for that and for not believing me.'
And, of course, the implied ... "Me and God. Ain't that right God?"

"Mohler says McLaren and others like him are trying to rewrite the Christian story. And what alarms Mohler is that young believers are attracted to this message. ...surveys show that nearly two-thirds of evangelicals under age 35 believe non-Christians can go to heaven, but only 39 percent of those over age 65 believe that. That's because young evangelicals have grown up in a religiously plural society.

"And, it's really hard to condemn someone to eternal damnation on the basis of their religion when you know them well and have come to love them," he says.

Campbell adds that young believers are more flexible about Christian doctrine in general. "We also know that — particularly within the evangelical community — the younger you are, the less likely you are to take the Bible literally, to believe that the Bible is the inerrant 'word of God,' as compared to a book of moral precepts," he says.

Surveys by Campbell and others show young evangelicals differ from their elders in a lot of ways. They pray less often, read the Bible and go to church less often. And they're more open to culture and social issues, such as evolution and gay rights."