President Trump and the Hope of Heaven

Authors: John Stonestreet and Dr. Timothy Padgett

Earlier this week, while explaining his efforts to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, President Trump said:  

I want to try to get to heaven, if possible. I’m hearing that I’m not doing well. I really hit the bottom of the totem pole. But if I can get to heaven, this will be one of the reasons. 

Though many were quick to jump on the President for his bad theology, his view is very common, even among many Christians. According to the 2020 American Worldview Inventory from Arizona Christian University, half of Americans believe that “if a person is generally good, or does enough good things during their life, they will ‘earn’ a place in Heaven.” Even worse, nearly as many evangelicals believe this, as do mainline Protestants. According to another 2021 study from Pew Research, nearly 40% of Americans say that believing in God is not necessary to get to heaven, and a majority of American Christians say that many religions lead to heaven, including “non-Christian” religions.  

These findings are fully consistent with other beliefs that many American Christians hold about humanity and sin. According to the annual “State of Theology” survey conducted by Ligonier Ministries and LifeWay Research, 65% of evangelicals agreed that everyone is “born innocent in the eyes of God,” a position that denies the doctrine of original sin and the reason people need salvation in the first place. 56% of evangelicals agreed with the statement, “God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam,” a position that denies Jesus’ own claim to be the exclusive savior of the world. 43% of evangelicals agreed that “Jesus was a great teacher ... but not God,” a number up 13% from two years ago, and a position that undermines His ability to be the Savior that we need. 66% of evangelicals agreed that “everyone sins a little, but most people are good by nature,” while 69% disagreed, contrary to the book of Romans, that “even the smallest sin deserves eternal damnation.” 

Within the Hapsburg Monarchy, a family that ruled over a relatively small area in Europe from the thirteenth to early twentieth centuries, was a funeral tradition. As described in an article for Crisis magazine by Austin Ruse: 

The body is taken in procession and pauses at the Capuchin crypt near the Hofburg in Vienna. The master of ceremonies knocks three times on the door. 

“Who desires entry?” comes a monk’s voice from inside. And then is given the name and multiple titles of the Habsburg who has died. The list is always long. But the monk replies, “We do not know him.”  

The master of ceremonies knocks three times more. “Who desires entry?” The lengthy and impressive achievements of the Habsburg are then read out. Still, the monk replies, “We do not know him.” 

Again, three knocks. “Who desires entry?” Finally, the real answer of who awaits entry: “A mortal and sinful man.” The voice allows, “Then let him come in.”  

In 1973, Chuck Colson came to know the true Gospel and the only hope of heaven. According to the words of the Heidelberg Catechism, our “only comfort in life and in death” is that we “belong, body and soul ... to (the) faithful Savior Jesus Christ.” It was during a visit with his friend Tom Phillips that Colson came to understand this essential truth. In his own words, 

[H]e read to me from Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, particularly a chapter about the great sin that is pride. A proud man is always walking through life looking down on other people and other things, said Lewis. As a result, he cannot see something above himself immeasurably superior—God.  

That night, as Tom was telling me about Jesus, I listened attentively but didn’t let on about my need. When he offered to pray, I thanked him but said no. I would see him sometimes after I had read C.S. Lewis’s book. But when I got in the car that night, I couldn’t drive it out of the driveway. Ex-Marine captain, White House tough guy, I was crying too hard, calling out to God. I didn’t know what to say: I just knew I needed Jesus, and He came into my life.  

In response to the President’s statement about heaven, the Babylon Bee posted: “God Agrees To Let Trump Into Heaven If He Repents Of His Sin And Trusts In Jesus Christ Alone For Salvation.” Unlike most of their headlines, that one is not satire. That is simply the Good News.