Basic Bible Beliefs: Survey and Response

I sent a survey to 97 people on 9/16/10 and so far have received 26 responses.
First the survey, then MY response.

26 responses
Summary See complete responses

1. The only way to Heaven is through Faith in Jesus Christ
Strongly disagree 3 12%
Somewhat disagree 0 0%
Somewhat agree 1 4%
Strongly agree 22 85%
People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.

2. Salvation is given to those who believe and who do certain things like be baptized or confess their sins to a minister
Strongly disagree 18 69%
Somewhat disagree 2 8%
Somewhat agree 4 15%
Strongly agree 2 8%

3. The Bible is only Authoritative Text to reveal to us the will of God for all mankind
Strongly disagree 1 4%
Somewhat disagree 0 0%
Somewhat agree 1 4%
Strongly agree 24 92%

4. All other world religions are false religions based on false texts and false prophets. (Ed. note, I should have said "Except Judaism" it is obviously biblical in view of the Old Testament.)
Strongly disagree 2 8%
Somewhat disagree 2 8%
Somewhat agree 3 12%
Strongly agree 19 73%

5. Groups that claim to be Christian but don't teach that Jesus is God, that his death bought our salvation, and that some people are not saved are heretical and not truly Christian.
Strongly disagree 0 0%
Somewhat disagree 1 4%
Somewhat agree 3 12%
Strongly agree 22 85%

6. People are seeking after God, Christians just need to show them Jesus
Strongly disagree 1 4%
Somewhat disagree 4 15%
Somewhat agree 8 31%
Strongly agree 13 50%

7. Jesus is still seeking to save the lost though none of them are looking for Him
Strongly disagree 3 12%
Somewhat disagree 4 15%
Somewhat agree 9 35%
Strongly agree 10 38%





Now just so you know, among the 97 recipients (should have been 100 but 3 of my emails were bad) were very few ministers or seminary types. Most were folks who call themselves Christians and who I believe try to live like it.


The answer I was looking for to #1 was Strongly Agree, Faith in Christ is the only way to Heaven. Jesus himself said, "I AM the way the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me." And Paul wrote, "There is no other name given among men whereby we MUST be saved."

#2 I hoped to see Strongly DISagree. The cry of the Reformation was Grace alone through Faith alone. THe Bible says, "For by Grace are you saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God.

For #3 The response was great in that most Strongly agreed. The Bible, not the Quran, the Urantia Book, the BgahdVaGita, the Book of Mormon, is the AUTHORITATIVE book of God. That is not to say truth cannot be found elsewhere. All truth is GOd's truth and men sometimes stumble across. It is sometimes mixed with lies by the Devil. But the Bible is God's truthful revelation of Himself.

#4 was tricky because of my mistake. The answer I was looking for was Strongly Agree that all other religions are false. BUT, I should have excluded Judaism from the claim that religions other than Christianity are false. Judaism is based on truth. They have stopped short of the later revelation of Truth in Jesus Christ, but they are not based on False Prophets. In the last book of the Bible we are warned to not add or take away from God's Word. Any other religion does just that.

There were 3 issues in #5: The deity of Christ, His sacrificial death, and universalism. These are three issues under attack today and for 2000 years. Strongly Agree: Groups that teach differently should be considered heretical. Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Unitarian/Universalist churches, and a few of the new Emergent groups are going there too.

#6 Was another Tricky one. Strongly Disagree! Only one got it right! It’s true that Christians need to lift up the name, person and work of Jesus. What is not true is that people are seeking him. You might think you were. You might have heard others say they were. But the Bible teaches Rom 3:11 “...there is none that understands; there is none that seeks after God." We know Jesus seeks the lost, and the Father Seeks worshipers. But Jesus says fallen man seeks things like “What shall we eat, how shall we be clothed.” Jesus no one comes to the Father unless the Father draws them. So the initial movement is not man looking for God but God drawing man to Himself.

And #7 was to balance #6. Strongly Agree: Jesus is still seeking to save the lost even though humanity does not look for God.

Now some of you may disagree with what I believe, but can you see the Biblical reason behind it? Maybe you interpret the Bible differently but I used very plain texts from the Bible. Not those that are hard to understand.

Maybe you just disagree with the Bible. That's fair. Dangerous! But Fair.