More Christians Willing to Share Heaven

Assumption of Mary Magdalene into Heaven, Domenichino 1620

There’s an old joke about the two Lutherans strolling through Heaven and they come upon a high stone wall.

“What’s over there, on the other side of the wall?” one asks the other.

“Shhhh. It’s the Catholics. They think they’re the only ones here.”

I'm sure we're all greatly relieved to see Christian beliefs loosening up regarding the hereafter. According to a major new survey, a majority of American Christians ~ 52 percent ~ now think at least some non-Christian faiths can lead to eternal life. And 80 percent name at least one non-Christian faith that can do so. These are among the key findings of a national survey conducted this past summer by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life among nearly 3,000 adults. According to the Pew Forum:

The poll also finds that roughly one-third of Americans (30%) believe that whether one achieves eternal life is determined by what a person believes, with nearly as many (29%) saying eternal life depends on one’s actions. One-in-ten Americans say the key to obtaining eternal life lies in a combination of belief and actions. The remaining one-third of the public says that something else is the key to eternal life, they don’t know what leads to eternal life or they don’t believe in eternal life.

The new survey asks those who say many religions can lead to eternal life whether or not they think a series of specific religions ~ including Judaism, Islam and Hinduism ~ can lead to eternal life, as well as whether they think atheists or people who have no religious faith can achieve eternal life. The findings confirm that most people who say many religions can lead to eternal life take the view that even non-Christian faiths can lead to eternal salvation.

Click here to read the survey’s detailed findings.