In his July 10 nationally syndicated column, Cal Thomas discussed a July 7 New York Times article that reported that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) “said she believed in the resurrection of Jesus, though she described herself as less sure of the doctrine that being a Christian is the only way to salvation.” Thomas asserted: “This is a politician speaking, not a person who believes in the central tenets of Christianity.” He went on to suggest that a Christian cannot believe that “there are other ways to God than through Jesus.”

Thomas wrote: “The quality and depth of one's relationship with God should be personal and beyond the judgment of others, unless one is running for president and chooses to talk about it as part of a campaign plan to win the election.” He asserted:

Liberal faith, which is to say a faith that discounts the authority of Scripture in favor of a constantly evolving, poll-tested relevancy to modern concerns -- such as the environment, what kind of SUV Jesus would drive, larger government programs and other “do-good” pursuits -- ultimately morphs into societal and self-improvement efforts and jettisons the life-changing message of salvation, forgiveness of sins and a transformed life.

Thomas suggested that the “central tenets of Christianity” bar a Christian from believing that “there are other ways to God than through Jesus.” He wrote:

One might ask, which the reporter did not, that if there are other ways to God than through Jesus, why did He bother to come to earth, allow Himself to be crucified and suffer rejection? He might have stayed in Heaven and told people about a spiritual GPS system that would get them there another way.

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Sen. Clinton is entitled to whatever faith she wants to practice, but when she uses it as an election tactic, she should not be allowed to alter classic Christian theology.

As Media Matters for America has noted, the July 7 Times article asserted that Clinton's public references to her spiritual life “have come under attack, both from conservatives who doubt her sincerity ... and liberals who object to any injection of religion into politics.” Yet the article cited only one named conservative source attacking the “sincerity” of Clinton's faith -- Weekly Standard senior editor Andrew Ferguson -- as well as unnamed “conservative bloggers.” It did not quote -- either by name or anonymously -- any “liberals who object” to Clinton's “injection of religion into politics.”