(Sorry if this has already been discussed, but i didn't see any search results about the topic.)
I was preparing for a Bible study a few weeks ago and was reading Acts 4:12, thinking about the exclusivity of salvation through Christ. It brought to mind news stories in June about the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life's survey finding that the majority of American Evangelicals believed that salvation can be found in other religions.
Wanting details, i went online and looked around. The Pew Forum interviewed over 35,000 people in the US, including over 9,000 people considered "evangelical" (were attending evangelical churches). And yes, their data reports that
57% of the Evangelicals surveyed, agreed with the statement: "Many religions can lead to eternal life". This is opposed to only 36% who agreed with the alternate statement: "My religion is the one, true faith leading to eternal life".
While that percentage is already pretty alarming, what I found even more disturbing was that
86% of the "Evangelicals" surveyed agreed with the statement: "Do you think there is a heaven, where people who have lead good lives are eternally rewarded?" (vs. 6% no, 5% other, 2% don't know or refused to answer). Salvation by works??? What a sad state our "evangelical" churches are in...
--alex
Link to the Pew Forum survey:
Statistics on Religion in America Report -- Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life