TruthBook Religious News Blog

By Bob Allen
Thursday, 18 December 2008

WASHINGTON (ABP) -- A majority of American Christians believe that at least some non-Christian faiths can lead to eternal life, says a new survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

Even among evangelicals, a branch of Protestant Christianity identified with the idea that an individual must be "born again" into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ in order to be saved, nearly as many Christians said many religions can lead to eternal life (47 percent) as those who believe theirs is the one true faith (49 percent).

The survey, released Dec. 18, followed up an earlier poll that found that seven Americans in 10 believe many religions can lead to salvation while less than one quarter say their faith is the only one that is true. Critics of that study questioned those findings, suggesting that for many Christians, "other religion" might have meant a different Christian denomination instead of a non-Christian faith.

The new study asks those who say many religions can lead to eternal life questions about specific faiths. Sixty-nine percent said Judaism can lead to eternal life, compared to 52 percent for Islam, 53 percent for Hinduism, 42 percent for atheists and 56 percent for people with no religious faith.

While white evangelicals are more exclusive in their beliefs about salvation than the general public, nearly two-thirds said it is possible for a Jewish person to go to heaven (64 percent) and a third said the same about Muslims (35 percent) and Hindus (33 percent). One in four evangelicals said atheists could attain eternal life (26 percent) and a third (35 percent) said it is possible for people with no religious faith.

Catholics (84 percent) and white mainline Protestants (82 percent) are most likely to say that many religions can lead to salvation. White evangelicals and black Protestants, meanwhile, have grown more strict on the question. Last year 37 percent of white evangelicals said theirs is the only true faith. This year that percentage rose 12 points to 49 percent.

Evangelicals who attend church at least once a week are twice as likely as those who attend less frequently to say their faith is the only path to heaven -- 60 percent to 30 percent.

About one third of Americans say one's beliefs determine who achieves eternal life, while an equal number say it depends on one's actions. A tenth of the population say it is a combination of belief and action. The rest say something else determines salvation, they don't believe in eternal life or they don't know.

The survey is based on results of telephone interviews of 2,905 adults conducted in July and August. The margin of error is plus or minus 2 percen

Labels: Bob Allen, Christian, faith, heaven, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, religion, salvation

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Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Leader's Insight: A Broad and Diverse Bloc

New research shows five kinds of Christians in America.
by Eric Reed, Leadership managing editor

A new report in the Fall issue of Leadership journal shows great disparity among people in the United States who call themselves "Christian." In fact, this nationwide survey of more than 1,000 self-identified adherents reveals five distinct types of practitioners with very different views on salvation, the Bible, morality, and the cultural impact of their faith.

For news reporters and news consumers, this diversity requires careful attention to the variety of opinion among people generally labeled "Christian." Not all Christians think alike on cultural issues, and the survey makes the reasons clearer.

The survey was conducted for Christianity Today International (publisher of Leadership journal) and Zondervan Publishers by the research firm Knowledge Networks. It is one step in the development of NationalChristianPoll.com, a new research database for surveying the opinions of Christians in the United States on a variety of issues.

Who Are my Christian Neighbors?

While between 70 and 80 percent of people in the United States identify themselves as Christian according to a number of studies, what those people mean by the term varies widely. Respondents to our new survey were almost evenly divided among five categories:

Active Christians (19%): Committed churchgoers, often in positions of church leadership; believe salvation comes through Jesus Christ; Bible readers.

Professing Christians (20%): Similar beliefs to Active Christians, but less committed to church attendance; focus more on personal relationship with God and Jesus, less on Bible reading or faith sharing.

Liturgical Christians (24%): High level of spiritual activity; regular churchgoers, recognizing the authority of the church; predominantly Catholic and Lutheran.

Private Christians (24%): Largest and youngest segment; believe in God and have spiritual interest, but not within the church context; only one-third attend church at all, almost none are church leaders.

Cultural Christians (21%): God aware, but do not view Jesus as essential to salvation; affirm many ways to God; express little outward religious behavior.

We found that almost 9 in 10 Active and Professing Christians said "accepting Christ as Savior and Lord" is key to being a Christian, while Liturgical, Private, and Cultural Christians favored a more general "believing in God" as important to being a Christian. For half or more of the people in America who call themselves "Christian," Christ is not the defining figure in their faith.

Labels: Bible, Christianity Today International, Eric Reed, faith, lChristianity, morality, salvation