Evangelicals Unite on View of Salvation

Leaders of evangelical Protestantism, who rarely speak with one voice, have issued a joint statement of doctrine reaffirming the evangelical belief that Jesus Christ “is the only way of salvation.”

“The Bible offers no hope that sincere worshipers of other religions will be saved without personal faith in Jesus Christ,” said the statement, which seeks to define what unites the movement and what distinguishes it from other forms of Christianity.

Other Christians have promoted a more liberal and universal concept of salvation, teaching that believers in other faiths can be saved.

The text states that the Bible is infallible but says little about how to interpret Scripture. Evangelicals are divided, for example, over how literally to take the story of creation.

Evangelicalism--a conservative wing of Protestantism representing, by some estimates, one-fourth of Americans--is a network of denominations, congregations and independent ministries. Evangelicals generally share the same outlook, but the movement rarely takes joint action.

Many of the best-known evangelicals, including religious broadcasters Jerry Falwell, D. James Kennedy, Pat Robertson and Charles Stanley, endorsed the statement.