60 Percent of U.S. Born-Again Christians under 40 Say Salvation Can Be Received through Jesus, Buddha or Muhammad

Amanda Casanova | ChristianHeadlines.com Contributor | Updated: Aug 30, 2021
60 Percent of U.S. Born-Again Christians under 40 Say Salvation Can Be Received through Jesus, Buddha or Muhammad

60 Percent of U.S. Born-Again Christians under 40 Say Salvation Can Be Received through Jesus, Buddha or Muhammad

A new study found that more than 60 percent of born-again Christians in America between 18 and 39 years of age believe that people can receive salvation through Buddha, Muhammad and Jesus.

The “Religious Views & Practices Survey” from Probe Ministries said there is a “striking decline” in evangelical religious beliefs and practices over the last decade. Meanwhile, the number of those who claim to be self-proclaimed believers has jumped by nearly 25 percent.

The study also said there was a drop in “basic biblical worldview” and in belief in the accuracy of the Bible, salvation and Jesus being sinless, The Christian Post reports. That number in 2020 was 16 percent, compared to 47 percent in 2010.

“So, the percentage of Born Again Christians with a biblical worldview (of either type) has been cut in half over the last decade,” says the study, which compared the 18–29 age group from 2010 with the same age group 10 years later, now 30–39. “This result is a startling degradation in worldview beliefs of Born Again Christians over just 10 years.”

Kerby Anderson, president of Probe Ministries, said the survey results mean even born-again Christians “can have a false view of Jesus Christ and embrace a pluralistic worldview. Pastors and church leaders just can’t assume any longer that the members of their church or Christian organization have a biblical worldview.”

Anderson said he worried that cultural trends are responsible for the changing beliefs.

“These disturbing trends are, yes, due to pastors not consistently teaching biblical theory. But they can also be attributed to young Christians who are not paying attention, who are focused — nearly exclusively, it seems — on their phones, social media and other content they deem more compelling,” he said.

The study suggests, Anderson said, that “we have to continue to explain the cost of salvation ... that there is no way to salvation, other than through the sacrificial and atoning death of a sinless Christ. That no one can come to the Father except through the Son, but also that anyone may come through Him.”

The study interviewed 3,100 Americans ages 18 to 55.

Photo courtesy: Pexels/Leah Kelley


Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.



60 Percent of U.S. Born-Again Christians under 40 Say Salvation Can Be Received through Jesus, Buddha or Muhammad