Taken from http://religions.pewforum.org/maps#
| Belief in God | Importance of Religion in One’s Life | Church Attendance | Religious Affiliation | Believe their Religion is One True Faith |
| 71% Absolutely Certain | 56% Very Important | 39% Once a week | 79% Christian | 24% Their religion is one true faith leading to Eternal Life |
| 17% Fairly Certain | 26% Somewhat Important | 33% Once/Twice per month | 16% Unaffiliated | 70% Many religions lead to Eternal Life |
| 4% Uncertain | 16% Not Important | 27% Seldom or Never | 2% Jewish | 3% Neither |
| 1% Muslim | 4% Don’t Know | |||
| 1% Buddhist |
A few things I find interesting included:
– Most of the country are Christians, yet most of the country believe in more than one way to eternal life. I am personally under the impression that most Christians are pretty direct and cut-and-dry with who goes to heaven or not. I’m suprised by this statistic, but also happy. I feel God is very merciful and also just and therefore, the many mansions in heaven that await those who accept Him. I just wasn’t under the impression that this many people were Christians.
– An overwhelming majority of the country believes in God, yet our laws dictate how we are or are not supposed to pray in public schools. If the overwhelming majority of the country is Christian, wouldn’t you think Christian prayers would be a given for the 1% of other faiths who are in the country as well? I think it is absurd not to allow prayers and talk of God in public places when the overwhelming majority of the country expresses belief in a Christian God.
– Finally, I’m impressed that so many people still go to church.
What stands out to you about these statistics?
Grace for Grace 
3 comments
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December 11, 2009 at 2:49 am
Ezra
Yes, whatever halcyon days we had, whatever generations we thought were solidly Christian–these days are over. And really, we should consider this to be a blessing. Because, as the statistic also reveals, there are many who call themselves Christian who are not; the Christian message IS NOT about attaining “clean living, good behaviour, moral purity” – it’s about confessing our sins and finding forgiveness in the crucified and risen Lord–finding that salvation comes about by grace and is received in faith! That road is always a road less taken.
Perhaps some of you might be in a period of mourning: The world and her culture have been changing drastically for at least 40 years. It’s not that the world has ceased proclaiming Christian values – it never really did. Jesus isn’t a clean-cut, soft spoken gentleman who applauds good behavior and conservative thinking. Christ Jesus comes in mercy, with an un-attractive appearance from which we’d hide. His message isn’t on par with right or left-winged thought. He wants us not taking comfort in a “Christian world” but in the promise that he takes away all sins. That He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. It’s called the “scandal of particularity”–and oddly, even many “Christians” are not comfortable with the idea that God will be the one God (YHWH) who will do things in his own prescribed way. But, as declared in The Revelation, “Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let those who are vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy” (21:11).
As in the Gospel of St. Luke, chapter 7, Jesus wants His people listening to John’s message. He wants His people looking to the wilderness for their salvation and not soft frilly garments in king’s courts. “Blessed is the one who is not offended by Me” Christians never had the majority. If they did, then they weren’t preaching Christ crucified for the sins of the world. For that is a scandal that has forever placed the church in the cross-hairs of persecution. Now the axe is at the foot of the tree. The sifting of true Christians from false Christians is beginning.
Consider when Christianity, too, was in the cross-hairs: The late Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s writings and sermons became stronger and more faithful to the Gospel as he and his people withstood persecution, even faced ultimate death. Grace is costly. Rejoice not in statistics, but that God has brought you into the kingdom of grace, through the blood of Jesus Christ.
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.
Ezra
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December 11, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Doug
It seems to me that the Lord Jesus Christ makes exclusive claims about himself that are hard to ignore! The fact that so many who claim to be Christian do just that is a result of ignorance of God’s Word and a post-modern worldview that believes anything goes. If in the end what one believes really doesn’t matter-why did Jesus have to die on the cross for our atonement? What do you do with Jesus’ statements about “broad is the way that leads to hell” and “no man comes unto the Father but by me” and so on? If in the end it doesn’t really matter what you believe-why did our Father go through so much trouble?
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July 20, 2011 at 1:10 pm
JesusFreak
It matters what you believe but many people think God is all about religion. But its not your involvement in religion the God wants….it’s your involvement in a relationship that he wants. Our Father wants each one of us to have a personal relationship with him. And not just 1 hour on Sunday, he wants us to be his every minute of our life.
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