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Heaven for the Godless?
In June, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life published a controversial survey in which 70 percent of Americans said that they believed religions other than theirs could lead to eternal life.
This threw evangelicals into a tizzy. After all, the Bible makes it clear that heaven is a velvet-roped V.I.P. area reserved for Christians. Jesus said so: “I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” But the survey suggested that Americans just weren’t buying that.
The evangelicals complained that people must not have understood the question. The respondents couldn’t actually believe what they were saying, could they?
So in August, Pew asked the question again. (They released the results last week.) Sixty-five percent of respondents said — again — that other religions could lead to eternal life. But this time, to clear up any confusion, Pew asked them to specify which religions. The respondents essentially said all of them.
And they didn’t stop there. Nearly half also thought that atheists could go to heaven — dragged there kicking and screaming, no doubt — and most thought that people with no religious faith also could go.
What on earth does this mean?
One very plausible explanation is that Americans just want good things to come to good people, regardless of their faith. As Alan Segal, a professor of religion at Barnard College told me: “We are a multicultural society, and people expect this American life to continue the same way in heaven.” He explained that in our society, we meet so many good people of different faiths that it’s hard for us to imagine God letting them go to hell. In fact, in the most recent survey, Pew asked people what they thought determined whether a person would achieve eternal life. Nearly as many Christians said you could achieve eternal life by just being a good person as said that you had to believe in Jesus.
Also, many Christians apparently view their didactic text as flexible. According to Pew’s August survey, only 39 percent of Christians believe that the Bible is the literal word of God, and 18 percent think that it’s just a book written by men and not the word of God at all. In fact, on the question in the Pew survey about what it would take to achieve eternal life, only 1 percent of Christians said living life in accordance with the Bible.
Now, there remains the possibility that some of those polled may not have understood the implications of their answers. As John Green, a senior fellow at the Pew Forum, said, “The capacity of ignorance to influence survey outcomes should never be underestimated.” But I don’t think that they are ignorant about this most basic tenet of their faith. I think that they are choosing to ignore it ... for goodness sake.
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Source: New York Times
Something I've pondered over my life is, how "Christian" do you have to be to get into Heaven? How much sin can one man make and still be forgiven? Can you not believe, then change your mind and accept the lord as your savior in the end? Was the Bible the work of god, or simply testament by men during that era?
Religion is a tricky subject because of so much that is unknown. None of us were there to be witness to Jesus... all you have is faith. Then you read articles like this were in this case, you have 70% of Christian America who believes even those that are Atheist will get to Heaven. Personally, I believe in God, Jesus, and that I am saved... and I can't allow myself to think differently because this is how I was raised... that, and the fear of the alternative to Heaven for doubting scares the heck out of me.. Do I think you can be saved in the end? From what the Bible tells me, yes. If you accept the lord into your life as your savior and ask for forgiveness, and mean it, you will be saved. At the same time (and by no means am I any kind of expert on the Bible, which is probably one of my worst flaws considering this is my life I'm talking about), I've interpreted the opposite... that if I, you, whomever doesn't learn about Jesus, and have a personal relationship with him, that it's just not good enough.
So are you (provided you're Christian) in the 70% that believe even those that have lived Godless lives will be saved, or are you the other percentage that thinks those people are headed the opposite direction? Elaborate your thoughts. Don't just say I'm headed to hell... explain why!