Polls Of Evangelicals Clash On Salvation

Polls of evangelicals clash on salvation
New survey finds most see Christianity as only way to heaven


The TENNESSEAN • By BOB SMIETANA • Staff Writer • July 8, 2008

Most evangelicals believe that the only way into heaven is to have Jesus punch your ticket, say researchers at Nashville-based LifeWay Research. A newly released LifeWay poll of 2,500 churchgoers contradicts a major finding of the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. Pew researchers found that most evangelicals held an inclusive view of heaven, with 59 percent saying that many religions lead to eternal life.

But LifeWay found that less than a third of evangelicals believed salvation could be found outside Christianity. Ed Stetzer, director of LifeWay research, says that, at least when it comes to evangelicals, Pew was asking the wrong question. Pew pollsters asked respondents to choose between two options: "My religion is the one, true faith leading to eternal life" or "Many religions can lead to eternal life."

Pew researchers, who polled more than 35,000 Americans, did not attempt to find out what respondents meant by "many religions." "We made no attempt to define the term religion," says Greg Smith, a research fellow at the Pew Forum.

Two different questions

LifeWay, on the other hand, asked specifically about Christianity: "If a person is sincerely seeking God, he or she can obtain eternal life through religions other than Christianity." Those are two completely different questions, says Stetzer. While evangelicals believe that other Christians, such as mainline Protestants or Catholics, may go to heaven, they draw the line at other faiths.

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