The new survey asks those who say many religions can lead to eternal life whether or not they think a series of specific religions (including Judaism, Islam and Hinduism) can lead to eternal life, as well as whether they think atheists or people who have no religious faith can achieve eternal life. The findings confirm that most people who say many religions can lead to eternal life take the view that even non-Christian faiths can lead to eternal salvation. Indeed, among Christians who say that many religions can lead to eternal life (65% of all Christians), the vast majority (80%) cite an example of at least one non-Christian religion that can lead to salvation, and fully six-in-ten (61%) name two or more non-Christian religions. Even among white evangelical Protestants, nearly three-quarters (72%) of those who say many religions can lead to eternal life name at least one non-Christian religion that can lead to salvation.
American adults express a variety of views on how people can achieve eternal life. When asked to describe in their own words what determines whether a person will attain eternal life, nearly three-in-ten (29%) say that a person’s actions are most important. A similar number (30%) says that belief is the key factor in achieving everlasting life. One-in-ten refer to a combination of belief and actions as necessary for eternal life, and almost as many (8%) cite some other factor as most important. In addition, more than one-in-ten (14%) indicate they are unsure of what leads to eternal life, and another 7% volunteer they do not believe in eternal life.
Trends in Opinions About Religious Exclusivity
Although this survey finds that roughly two-thirds (65%) of religiously affiliated Americans continue to say many religions can lead to eternal life, this number is slightly lower than the seven-in-ten who said this in 2007 and is down 11 points since 2002. White Catholics and white mainline Protestants are the groups most likely to say that many religions can lead to eternal life, with 84% and 82%, respectively, expressing this point of view. Attitudes on this issue among these groups have remained largely unchanged.
Results for this survey are based on telephone interviews conducted under the direction of Abt SRBI, Inc., among a nationwide sample of 2,905 adults 18 years of age or older, from July 31-Aug. 10, 2008 (2,254 respondents were interviewed on a landline telephone and 651 were interviewed on a cell phone, including 262 who had no landline telephone). Both the landline and cell phone samples were provided by Survey Sampling International.
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