by Eric Lyons<\/p>\n
In 2006, Baylor University published the results of a survey indicating more Americans claim affiliation with Christianity than with any other religion. In fact, the report claimed that “82 percent of Americans are Christians” (see Tooley, 2006). Sadly, the vast majority claiming Christianity as their religion have no respect for what their law (the New Testament) or their lawgiver (the Christ) teaches.<\/p>\n
One year after Baylor University published its findings, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life surveyed 35,000 Americans. Seventy percent of those surveyed answered in the affirmative that “many religions can lead to eternal life” (Van Biema, 2008). “Nearly across the board, the majority of religious Americans” believe that Christianity is not the only way to everlasting life, including 83 percent of mainline Protestants, 79 percent of Roman Catholics, and 57 percent of Evangelicals (“Americans…”). C. Welton Gaddy, the president of Interfaith Alliance, was encouraged by the outcome of the survey, saying, “It indicates a level of humility about religion that would be of great benefit to everyone” (“Americans…”).<\/p>\n
Sadly, millions of Americans have bought into Gaddy’s “humble religion.” The truth is, however, “Christians” claiming that Christ is not the only way to eternal life are actually conceited, cowardly conmen (or disturbingly uninformed of the teaching of Christ and the New Testament apostles and prophets). The night before Jesus’ crucifixion, He told His disciples, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me<\/em>” (John 14:6). Later, Peter appeared before the Jewish Council and proclaimed that salvation is only through Jesus: “There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved<\/em>” (Acts 4:12, NASB). Jesus and Peter made it very clear. If someone wants to know the truth about the way to eternal life, he will only learn that truth through Christ, “Who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom<\/em>” (II Timothy 4:1). Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life<\/em>.” As if that were not clear enough, Jesus declared: “No one comes to the Father except through Me<\/em>” (John 14:6). No one else can give a person salvation; “there is no other name under heaven…by which we must be saved<\/em>” (Acts 4:12).<\/p>\n How can a rational person profess to be a Christian, while at the same time maintaining that “many religions can lead to eternal life”? The New Testament unmistakably teaches that the way to salvation is not through Confucius, Buddha, Mohammed, Gandhi, or Krishna; it is only through Christ, Whose words will judge the world in the last day (John 12:48). Thus, Jesus instructed man to “enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it<\/em>” (Matthew 7:13-14). Jesus has drawn a line in the sand. He stands on one side ready to lead followers to eternal life. On the other is any and all others who “shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord<\/em>” (II Thessalonians 1:9).<\/p>\n To call oneself a Christian and then proclaim that there are many ways to eternal life does not indicate “a level of humility about religion that would be of great benefit to everyone.” On the contrary, it exposes the “Christian” as a coward who arrogantly dismisses the words of the Son of God. This so-called “Christian” has no respect for the rigidity of the Truth that Jesus embodied and taught. Sadly, this most recent survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life simply shows that America is a country full of professed “Christians” who have lost their spiritual bearings.<\/p>\n “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish<\/em>” (Luke 13:3).<\/p>\n “God…commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man<\/em> [Jesus] whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead<\/em>” (Acts 17:30-31).<\/p>\n “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins<\/em>” (Acts 2:38).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n by Eric Lyons In 2006, Baylor University published the results of a survey indicating more Americans claim affiliation with Christianity than with any other religion. In fact, the report claimed that “82 percent of Americans are Christians” (see Tooley, 2006). Sadly, the vast majority claiming Christianity as their religion have no respect for what their…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1444,463],"class_list":["post-90030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-cowardice","tag-humility"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":68054,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/prejudice-in-the-university\/","url_meta":{"origin":90030,"position":0},"title":"Prejudice in the University","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 14, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ed Harrell Christianity Magazine, Volume 11, #7, August 1994 In a recent book entitled The Soul of the American University: From Protestant Establishment to Established Nonbelief, George M. Marsden of Notre Dame, an evangelical historian, let the cat out of the bag - the only minority in a university\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27815,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/tv-and-religion\/","url_meta":{"origin":90030,"position":1},"title":"TV and Religion","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Floyd Chappelear Stand, October 1993 I would like to add some thoughts concerning the way television networks treat the subject of religion. Numerous surveys have shown that \"at best\" the media treats religion as if it were an unimportant, insignificant part of people's lives in spite of the fact\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4338,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/cafeteria-style-religion\/","url_meta":{"origin":90030,"position":2},"title":"Cafeteria-Style Religion","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 13, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ethan R. Longhenry An investigation of the local bookstore or magazine rack or a quick search on the Internet shows how Americans today are very interested in \"spirituality.\" Plenty of books abound across the whole spectrum -- \"Christian inspiration,\" \"New Age,\" and many books describing elements of Eastern religions.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61246,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/confidence-in-religious-institutions-at-a-39-year-low\/","url_meta":{"origin":90030,"position":3},"title":"Confidence in Religious Institutions at a 39-Year Low","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 18, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Source:\u00a0Christopher Burbach, \"Are We Losing Faith in Religion?,\" Omaha World-Herald, 18 July 2012. Gallup does a yearly survey called \"Confidence in Institutions\" since 1973. One question is whether those surveyed had confidence in the church or organized religion. What exactly constitutes a church or an organized religion is not defined.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Issues"","block_context":{"text":"Issues","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":89553,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/religion-by-majority\/","url_meta":{"origin":90030,"position":4},"title":"Religion by Majority","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 19, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dub McClish A Pew Poll of 35,000 Americans, released in June 2008, revealed some interesting statistics about religious beliefs. More than half (57%) of \"evangelicals\" (strong in their belief in the Bible and in Jesus as God's only begotten Son, right?) opined that Christianity is not the only way\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":85392,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-bible-truly-relevant-for-african-americans\/","url_meta":{"origin":90030,"position":5},"title":"Is the Bible Truly Relevant for African-Americans?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: As an African-American Christian, I often find myself caught between two worlds. I'm sure you've heard how, before being enslaved in America, African people practiced ancient spiritual traditions. However, once they were brought here, they were forced into a distorted version of Christianity-often under duress, facing violence, mutilation, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90030\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}References<\/h2>\n
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