Surveying Our Religious Landscape

RELIGION IN THE NEWS

A report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media.  This week’s item is from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, June 23, 2008.  The following are excerpts:  The U. S. Religious Landscape Survey Report by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life details the religious makeup, religious beliefs and practices as well as social and political attitudes of the American public.  This survey of more than 35,000 American adults is one of the largest and most comprehensive studies of its kind.  Data on their beliefs and practices reveal that all thought half of Americans say religion is very important in their lives, most hold a non-dogmatic view of their faith with majorities believing that there is more than one way to interpret the teachings of their own faith and that many religions, not just their own, can lead to eternal life.

Tom:

Dave, I’ve been working with you for almost 3 decades now, and one of the things about having worked together for that long, at the very least given what we’ve, you know, the projects that we’ve done, the books that you’ve written, and some I’ve got to help you with, and the films, videos, the documentaries that we’ve done, at the very least, in that time span, I’ve been able to see trends in the evangelical church.  I came out of Roman Catholicism, and now I am learning about Christianity, and I’m, you know, learning a lot.  So, over 30 years I’ve been able to see certain things develop among evangelicals.  These are people who led me to Christ, who helped bring me into the kingdom by explaining the gospel, and showing me the scriptures, and so on.  Now, the changes have been mind-boggling in 3 decades.  Twenty-three years ago we did, The Seduction of Christianity, and I remember a couple of years later we thought it couldn’t get any worse than this, but it has, almost at an exponential rate.  Now, having said that, I want you to comment on some of the responses to this survey.  I’ve been selective, mainly dealing with evangelicals and some others, but I want you to comment.  Fifty-three percent of evangelicals, actually I could really bump it up to sixty when you look at the actual survey, but let’s say fifty-three percent of evangelicals believe there is more than one true way to interpret the teachings of my religion, that is evangelical Christianity.

Dave:

Well, Tom, again, you have to be careful, it looks pretty bad, but I don’t know what they mean by interpret, because— one true way to interpret the teachings of my religion.  Well, first of all, evangelicals shouldn’t call it a religion, it’s not a religion, it’s a relationship with God.  But anyway-

Tom:

The Pew Foundation Forum picked that term.

Dave:

Right.  Well, I don’t see how you can be an evangelical and believe this.   The evangelical believes what Jesus said:  “I am the way, the truth, the life; no man comes to the Father but by Me.”  They would surely believe what Peter said to the rabbis:  “Neither is there salvation in any other.”  There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.  So, how could they call themselves evangelicals, I don’t know.

Tom:

But Dave, we’re seeing this, especially in regard to the EmergingChurch.  They are saying there are no absolutes, so there is no absolute truth.  So then everything is open for discussion, conversation is the term they like to use.

Dave:

Absolutely no absolutes!

Tom:

Yeah, all right.  Now, related to what you just said, 57% of evangelicals believe that many religions can lead to eternal life.  From evangelicals?  You know, as I said, just going back just a little over 30 years when I came to Christ I was in Roman Catholicism.  Why didn’t they just say, Hey, Tom, hang in there—it’s a little confusing but you know, you will still reach eternal life.  Now Dave, they are saying that today, they didn’t say it 30 years ago to me.

Dave:

Well, Tom, I could probably, if I dug deep enough into my memory, come up with a couple of quotes where Billy Graham has said pretty much the same thing when he’s on a talk show and he’s being interviewed—this is the only way.  Well, he hedges a bit.  But of course, many religions can lead to eternal life?  Impossible!  If you’re an evangelical, this is contrary to what the Bible teaches.

Tom:

Well, I’ll push on to: the survey said that 83% of mainline Protestants and 79% of Catholics believe that many religions can lead to eternal life, 82% of Jews believe that many religions can lead to eternal life?  Now Dave, this is the apostate church, this is the religion of the Antichrist.  We’re seeing it formulated day by day.

Dave:

Well, it’s not surprising about the Jews, because I presume these are not true believers in God, most Jews are liberal.  Well, they have been beat down and they are trying to get back in the good graces, so they are liberally minded somewhat.

Tom:

Well, the survey says 53% of Jews believe that the Bible is a book written by men, and it’s not the Word of God.  So what kind of foundation do you have?

Dave:

Tom, we specialize in proving that this is God’s Word.  It claims to be God’s Word.  Sixty times, I think Ezekiel says, “The Word of the Lord came unto me saying…..”  The whole Bible claims to be a revelation from God.  The writers of it say it, and yet we’ve got liberals, we’ve got modernists, we used to call them that, who would say, Yeah, but Peter didn’t really write the Book of Peter, and the gospel, that wasn’t written until centuries later, so these men are liars.  And Paul says, “If Christ is not risen from the dead…” 1 Corinthians 15, “then we are false witnesses, we are liars.”  And Peter specifically said in 2 Peter 1, “We have not followed cunningly devised fables….”  Now this is not some guy writing several centuries later, pretending to be Peter, if it is it is more dishonest.  So, the whole Bible claims to have been written by eyewitnesses, by men who were inspired of God.  If it is not what they say, then they are liars and it’s all based upon a fraud.  Paul goes on and he says if that’s the case, then we’re not only false witnesses, but it’s hopeless, Christianity has nothing to offer.

Tom:

Dave, just one qualification to that, certainly that’s true of the New Testament, but Moses was not an eyewitness to Genesis.  Just for somebody out there who says, wait a minute, guys.

Dave:

Well, he was an eye witness to an awful lot that he talked about; he spoke to God face to face.