These days, it’s popular to claim that adherents of various religions all worship the same God. To claim otherwise is to be labeled intolerant and promptly silenced. But what does God Himself say in His Word? Our 2020 State of Theology survey shows that many professing Christians are listening more to culture than to Scripture. Conducted in partnership with LifeWay Research, the full results of this survey are now available.
Today, 42 percent of U.S. evangelicals agree with the following statement: “God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.” On the contrary, the Bible teaches that “there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5). Only worship that is offered through Christ is acceptable in God’s sight.
One of our Teaching Fellows, Dr. Stephen Nichols, recently commented on these disturbing results from the State of Theology survey.
Religious pluralism may be a popular idea in America, but it has damning consequences. No one comes to the Father but through Jesus Christ, who alone is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). Christians must be unyielding in proclaiming the exclusivity of Christ. By God’s grace, we hope the 2020 results from our State of Theology survey will encourage the church to stand firm for the truth of God’s Word.
Evangelicals were defined by this survey as people who strongly agreed with the following four statements:
- The Bible is the highest authority for what I believe.
- It is very important for me personally to encourage non-Christians to trust Jesus Christ as their Savior.
- Jesus Christ’s death on the cross is the only sacrifice that could remove the penalty of my sin.
- Only those who trust in Jesus Christ alone as their Savior receive God’s free gift of eternal salvation.
