Why are 64% of American churchgoers wrong about Heaven?

Michie · 2026-01-20T07:29:08-0600

What are American churchgoers being taught from the pulpit these days about what happens after death? Clearly something is terribly amiss. A 2025 study by Dr. George Barna and Dr. David Closson reveals the dire situation.

Only 36% correctly affirm: "You will go to Heaven if you repent of sin and accept Christ." The rest of American churchgoers are completely misguided regarding who goes to Heaven.

The Family Research Council released the study a few months ago. And here is what people in the pew actually think:

"Everyone goes to Heaven" (14%).
"Everyone is purified, then goes to Heaven" (12%).
"Don't know" (12%).
"You go to Heaven if you did good deeds" (11%).
"You cease to exist" (7%).
"You are reincarnated" (7%).
"You go to Hell" (2%).

Why are two-thirds of churchgoers wrong about something so foundational to Christianity? If your pastor is not preaching the Gospel, you should switch to a church where the truth of Scripture is being taught.

Half of American churchgoers (49%) either do not know who goes to Heaven, or believe that everyone goes to Heaven, or think that everyone is purified and then goes to Heaven. These statistics are shocking! And remember, these are people who actually attend church!

Continued below.

Why are 64% of American churchgoers wrong about Heaven?

What is the point of attending a church where the Gospel is not taught and celebrated

www.christianpost.com

d taylor · 2026-01-20T07:31:48-0600

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Sadly these 36% have it wrong also. The only way to Eternal Life is only through belief in Jesus for Eternal Life (God's free gift).

Michie · 2026-01-20T07:56:52-0600

d taylor said:
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Sadly these 36% have it wrong also. The only way to Eternal Life is only through belief in Jesus for Eternal Life (God's free gift).

Oh.. my impression was you had to believe in a flat earth too from reading your posts.

This is a different topic. It’s about what what people think happens when one dies.

Tuur · 2026-01-20T10:24:05-0600

d taylor said:
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Sadly these 36% have it wrong also. The only way to Eternal Life is only through belief in Jesus for Eternal Life (God's free gift).

In this case, it’s the same thing. If someone believes Jesus Christ, they will repent. If someone believe Jesus Christ paid for our sins, how can they count His blood as so cheap as to willfully sin? Repentance is a consequence of salvation through Christ, not the means of salvation.

d taylor · 2026-01-20T12:00:06-0600

Tuur said:
In this case, it’s the same thing. If someone believes Jesus Christ, they will repent. If someone believe Jesus Christ paid for our sins, how can they count His blood as so cheap as to willfully sin? Repentance is a consequence of salvation through Christ, not the means of salvation.

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God's grace is not cheap, it is free. It has been that way long before Adam even committed sin.

It is only belief that gives a person God's free gift of His Life. Repentance plays no part in belief. If repentance was part of belief that would have been stated in The Gospel of John. The only book in The Bible whose stated purpose for being written, was to tell people how to have life (eternal life).

Michie · 2026-01-20T12:48:56-0600

chevyontheriver · 2026-01-20T13:27:25-0600

Michie said:
What are American churchgoers being taught from the pulpit these days about what happens after death? Clearly something is terribly amiss. A 2025 study by Dr. George Barna and Dr. David Closson reveals the dire situation.

Only 36% correctly affirm: "You will go to Heaven if you repent of sin and accept Christ." The rest of American churchgoers are completely misguided regarding who goes to Heaven.

The Family Research Council released the study a few months ago. And here is what people in the pew actually think:

"Everyone goes to Heaven" (14%).

"Everyone is purified, then goes to Heaven" (12%).

"Don't know" (12%).

"You go to Heaven if you did good deeds" (11%).

"You cease to exist" (7%).

"You are reincarnated" (7%).

"You go to Hell" (2%).

Why are two-thirds of churchgoers wrong about something so foundational to Christianity? If your pastor is not preaching the Gospel, you should switch to a church where the truth of Scripture is being taught.

Half of American churchgoers (49%) either do not know who goes to Heaven, or believe that everyone goes to Heaven, or think that everyone is purified and then goes to Heaven. These statistics are shocking! And remember, these are people who actually attend church!

Continued below.

Why are 64% of American churchgoers wrong about Heaven?

What is the point of attending a church where the Gospel is not taught and celebrated

www.christianpost.com

Funerals have become canonizations.

Michie · 2026-01-20T15:58:16-0600

chevyontheriver said:
Funerals have become canonizations.

I think that’s always been somewhat of a problem. But it seems to me, that many are avoiding the more unpleasant aspects of the faith when it comes to educating the laity and the laity practicing a more cafeteria mindset when it comes faith.

chevyontheriver · 2026-01-20T18:10:50-0600

Michie said:
I think that’s always been somewhat of a problem. But it seems to me, that many are avoiding the more unpleasant aspects of the faith when it comes to educating the laity and the laity practicing a more cafeteria mindset when it comes faith.

It sometimes feels like the new presumption is that it IS a cafeteria now and that those of us who expect a sit-down dinner are 'backwardists'.

iluvatar5150 · 2026-01-20T19:36:26-0600

North of 70% of evangelicals fawn over a president who conducts himself in a manner that is deliberately, overtly unChristian in a variety of ways. If they can't grasp the notion that things like lying, cruelty, and greed are bad, how do you expect them to grasp doctrinal nuances?

Tuur · 2026-01-20T20:45:17-0600

d taylor said:
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God's grace is not cheap, it is free. It has been that way long before Adam even committed sin.

It is only belief that gives a person God's free gift of His Life. Repentance plays no part in belief. If repentance was part of belief that would have been stated in The Gospel of John. The only book in The Bible whose stated purpose for being written, was to tell people how to have life (eternal life).

Let's say someone receives an expensive gift, one he could never afford. Then let's say he treats it as a common thing. Maybe it's a priceless painting that he hangs on the wall and uses as a dart board. That's treating an expensive thing as though it were cheap. What does that say about what he thinks of the painting and of the person who gave it to him?

What then are we to make of someone who says he believes Jesus Christ dies for his sins, yet then deliberately continues with his sins? What does that say about how he regards Christ's sacrifice? And if he believes he is a sinner in need of salvation, will he then, after receiving it, deliberately continue to sin?

What I think you're saying is that repentance is a work and we are not saved by our works. That is true. Christ came and died on the cross for our sins and was resurrected on the third day; He didn't come and hand out lists of how to work our way into Heaven. Someone who doesn't believe and works hard to reform is still lost. Yet someone who believes will, as a consequence of that, turn from sin.

RileyG · 2026-01-20T21:05:33-0600

Most people think “everyone goes to heaven” because many faithful have lost their sense of sin.

RileyG · 2026-01-20T21:07:54-0600

chevyontheriver said:
Funerals have become canonizations.

I even have a dear atheist friend who died a year and a half ago. On her birthday, people wished her “happy heavenly birthday” and “I hope heaven is filled with chocolate” etc

She didn’t believe in God, Heaven, nor Hell.

It’s just incredibly odd and a theological incorrect statement.

(I’m not stating she was damned, only God makes that call).

d taylor · 2026-01-20T23:31:57-0600

Tuur said:
Let's say someone receives an expensive gift, one he could never afford. Then let's say he treats it as a common thing. Maybe it's a priceless painting that he hangs on the wall and uses as a dart board. That's treating an expensive thing as though it were cheap. What does that say about what he thinks of the painting and of the person who gave it to him?

What then are we to make of someone who says he believes Jesus Christ dies for his sins, yet then deliberately continues with his sins? What does that say about how he regards Christ's sacrifice? And if he believes he is a sinner in need of salvation, will he then, after receiving it, deliberately continue to sin?

What I think you're saying is that repentance is a work and we are not saved by our works. That is true. Christ came and died on the cross for our sins and was resurrected on the third day; He didn't come and hand out lists of how to work our way into Heaven. Someone who doesn't believe and works hard to reform is still lost. Yet someone who believes will, as a consequence of that, turn from sin.

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I do not need some man created analogy or how a person regards Jesus' sacrifice. I have the promise from God stated in The Bible that anyone who believes in Jesus receives Eternal Life (God's free gift). So i will believe God over any man created belief any day.

So here is God promise you can either believe it or not.

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.

Michie · 2026-01-20T23:41:40-0600

d taylor said:
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I do not need some man created analogy or how a person regards Jesus' sacrifice. I have the promise from God stated in The Bible that anyone who believes in Jesus receives Eternal Life (God's free gift). So i will believe God over any man created belief any day. Satan and other fallen angels believe. More than that, they know. Are they going to Heaven too?

So here is God promise you can either believe it or not.

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.

Believing and picking up one’s cross and following Him are two different things. Grace does not give anyone a license to sin. We work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Satan and other fallen angels believe too. More than that, they know. So are they going to Heaven too?

d taylor · 2026-01-21T00:06:16-0600

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Scott Adams and his death just shows how sad a state Christianity is in. His so called christian friends could not even tell a dying Scott Adams how to receive God's free gift of Eternal Life. By believing in Jesus for Eternal Life!

Whether he ended up believing and going to heaven is not known, but if he did. It certainty was not because he was told to believe in Jesus for Eternal Life.

Michie · 2026-01-21T00:16:41-0600

Mmmhmm. You you seem to think you are qualified to be be pretty good about this whole salvation eternal judgement thing. I have my doubts.

Michie · 2026-01-21T00:22:06-0600

So anyway, back to the topic I posted.

Many Christians in America realize that we need a revival in our nation today. The results of the Barna survey reveal the depths to which such a revival is desperately needed, both among the clergy and among everyone sitting in congregations all across the country.

Scottish evangelist and teacher Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) said, "We preach to men as if they were conscious they were dying sinners. They are not; they are having a good time." Therefore, we must pray fervently that the Holy Spirit convicts hearers of their sin and reveals to them the only remedy for their separation from God.

The new birth is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. And the Gospel message is a spiritual message that can only be understood and believed as the Holy Spirit works in a person's heart. Churchgoers who fail to believe the simple Gospel message fail to know the Lord, in spite of their religious observances.

What about you, my friend? Do you know you are a sinner who is lost and condemned apart from God's mercy and grace? Come to the cross today in repentance and faith. Turn away from works righteousness and place all of your confidence in Heaven in the sacrifice Christ completed for you on the cross.

At the end of the day, what is the point of attending a church where the Gospel is not taught and celebrated?

BPPLEE · 2026-01-21T01:54:26-0600

iluvatar5150 said:
North of 70% of evangelicals fawn over a president who conducts himself in a manner that is deliberately, overtly unChristian in a variety of ways. If they can't grasp the notion that things like lying, cruelty, and greed are bad, how do you expect them to grasp doctrinal nuances?

Wow. Someone found a way to make a thread about Heaven be about Trump

iluvatar5150 · 2026-01-21T04:28:03-0600

BPPLEE said:
Wow. Someone found a way to make a thread about Heaven be about Trump

The thread is about how American churchgoers are misguided about basic principles. I pointed out an example of how it’s even worse than the OP describes.

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Why are 64% of American churchgoers wrong about Heaven?

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