The Survey

I was reading an article by The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life published on April 15, 2013. It read in part as follows:

An extensive new survey details statistics on religion in America and explores the shifts taking place in the U.S. religious landscape. Based on interviews with more than 35,000 Americans age 18 and older, the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey finds that religious affiliation in the U.S. is both very diverse and extremely fluid. More than one-quarter of American adults (28%) have left the faith in which they were raised in favor of another religion – or no religion at all. If change in affiliation from one type of Protestantism to another is included, 44% of adults have either switched religious affiliation, moved from being unaffiliated with any religion to being affiliated with a particular faith, or dropped any connection to a specific religious tradition altogether.

I don’t know if you might have been a part of this survey, or not, but either way, I would like to ask you two survey questions if you have time to respond. (This survey will not be published and your answers will remain anonymous.)

It could be that one or both of these questions were on the Pew survey (I don’t have access to the questions), and if so, I don’t mean to be redundant. You can answer with a simple )Yes, or )No. If you are unsure about the basis of the question, or the context, I have provided supplementary information where you can “examine” the original material.

Question 1. Have you ever entered through the “narrow gate” which opens onto the “difficult” road, which few find, that leads to life?

Question 2. If the answer to question 1 above is “No,” Do you understand that you have inadvertently entered the “wide” gate which opens onto a “broad” road which many find, but leads to destruction?

Supplementary Information: Subject: The Greatest Sermon ever preached. Speaker: Jesus of Nazareth (the Messiah; the Son of God). Text of message: Matthew 5:3-7:27 with emphasis on 7:13-14.

You see – Changes in choice of religion, or an abandonment of religion, or a particular part of any religion, or embracing a new religion or any part of that religion, matter not at all. Statistics tell us much about religion, and absolutely nothing about the saving grace of an infinite Savior.

BTW (by the way), a disclaimer that “there are no incorrect answers” is not valid in this case. There is a correct answer to the questions above. You best know that!