64% of white evangelicals believe that Judaism can lead to eternal life.
35% of white evangelicals believe that Islam can lead to eternal life.
33% of white evangelicals believe that Hinduism can lead to eternal life.
Most shocking of all, 26% of white evangelicals believe that atheism can lead to eternal life!
Now, a couple things to note as you digest these numbers. First, they are the result of Pew Forum polling, so the numbers have to be understood as broadly representative.
Second, the definition of an "evangelical" does not mean what it once did. Evangelicals used to be defined by belief in the virgin birth, the physical bodily resurrection of the Jesus Christ and his imminent second coming, the inerrancy and infallibility of the Scriptures, and other critical Christian doctrines. Not so in today's pluralistic postmodern society. People are free to remain within "evangelical" circles and churches while questioning or outright denying any or all of the previous doctrines.
David Wells, a keen observer of contemporary evangelicalism and professor of historic and systematic theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts, recently wrote a book entitled The Courage To Be Protestant. In it, he laments "Much 'born-again' religion is simply cultural spirituality that has no doctrinal moorings, inspires little or no Christian commitment, and often opposes itself to the institutional church and to Christian truth. As a slice of American religion, it is interesting. As a barometer of Christian believing, it should be taken with a grain of salt." Later, he writes "A majority of 52 percent of born-againers in fact reject the idea of original sin outright." So, the "evangelical" response in the Pew Forum study is skewed towards contemporary American spirituality as opposed to the historic doctrinal commitments of true evangelicals.
Anyhow, here is a link to the Pew Forum report. It's very interesting, very saddening, but it's also encouraging. Interest in spirituality is relatively high, and if we are willing to look for God's activity, we'll be sure to find opportunities to engage our communities in gospel conversations.
35% of white evangelicals believe that Islam can lead to eternal life.
33% of white evangelicals believe that Hinduism can lead to eternal life.
Most shocking of all, 26% of white evangelicals believe that atheism can lead to eternal life!
Now, a couple things to note as you digest these numbers. First, they are the result of Pew Forum polling, so the numbers have to be understood as broadly representative.
Second, the definition of an "evangelical" does not mean what it once did. Evangelicals used to be defined by belief in the virgin birth, the physical bodily resurrection of the Jesus Christ and his imminent second coming, the inerrancy and infallibility of the Scriptures, and other critical Christian doctrines. Not so in today's pluralistic postmodern society. People are free to remain within "evangelical" circles and churches while questioning or outright denying any or all of the previous doctrines.
David Wells, a keen observer of contemporary evangelicalism and professor of historic and systematic theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts, recently wrote a book entitled The Courage To Be Protestant. In it, he laments "Much 'born-again' religion is simply cultural spirituality that has no doctrinal moorings, inspires little or no Christian commitment, and often opposes itself to the institutional church and to Christian truth. As a slice of American religion, it is interesting. As a barometer of Christian believing, it should be taken with a grain of salt." Later, he writes "A majority of 52 percent of born-againers in fact reject the idea of original sin outright." So, the "evangelical" response in the Pew Forum study is skewed towards contemporary American spirituality as opposed to the historic doctrinal commitments of true evangelicals.
Anyhow, here is a link to the Pew Forum report. It's very interesting, very saddening, but it's also encouraging. Interest in spirituality is relatively high, and if we are willing to look for God's activity, we'll be sure to find opportunities to engage our communities in gospel conversations.
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