FROM THE EDITORS August 18, 2008 Issue

IT'S ENCOURAGING WHEN PEOPLE APPEAR INCREASINGLY READY TO SEEK AND FOLLOW THE BIBLE'S INSPIRED PROMISE OF ETERNAL GOOD.

HEAVEN CAN'T WAIT

Editor

IS HELL BECOMING obsolete? According to an extensive study by the widely respected Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, the answer may be yes. An unusually large polling sample of 35,000 Americans, representing many different religious groups, as well as atheists and agnostics, confirmed what experts have been observing for some time now—public belief in hell is losing its foothold.

It's not that people have given up their conviction in the hereafter; at the same time that just 59 percent of those responding said they think there is a hell, 74 percent of them said they believe in heaven—the exact same percentage as those who said they believe there is an afterlife.

According to John C. Green, a professor of political science at the University of Akron and a senior fellow with the Pew Forum, the discrepancy is significant—"Many more people believe in heaven than believe in hell," he says. His explanation? "It does seem to be associated with a decline in viewing God as a judge, and as someone who punishes people, but a continuing emphasis on a view of God as someone who is merciful and generous and forgiving." He notes that people no longer automatically see heaven and hell as "two sides of the same coin" ("What lies beneath: Why fewer Americans believe in hell than in heaven," The Boston Globe, June 29, 2008).

Send a comment to the editors

This is the end of the issue. Ready to explore further?

Online features Audio