Point taken: What Christians believe

A new survey finds that American Christians' beliefs are as diverse as the country they live in.

For our show on faith in America, we asked listeners these questions in the On Point VoxPop app:

What are the core tenets of Christianity for American Christians today?

And how important is it to go to church?

Here’s a sampling of what we heard:

Peter Green in Diego Garcia 

Peter told us the he goes to church for community and a shared faith experience:

Gathering together with like-minded believers. To sing together, to worship together, to pray together. And then the core tenets come down to, really, three questions: Who is God? Who is man? And who is this one, Jesus Christ, who we believe is God incarnate who came, lived a perfect life, died a death on a cross and then rose again on the third day? 

Judith B. in Tumwater, WA 

Judith told us that she is a regular churchgoer because her church is a community of people that’s diverse and caring.

God is a god of love and inclusiveness. God created every single person on this planet and loves them for who they are. Both the moral tenets in the Ten Commandments of the Hebrew Old Testament are true as well as the teachings of Jesus Christ, who I believe was the Jewish Messiah. And that it is possible to live in a state of joy … forgiveness of oneself, forgiveness of others, love of all people, regardless of what they look like, regardless of if they’re the same or different. 

Beth Grant DeRoos in Calaveras County, CA

Beth says, as a Christian, she has been repelled by mean-spirited rhetoric.

Like most of our Christian friends, we stopped attending church around 2018. It just became too political. I’m not surprised that there’s been a huge drop in church attendance in those who belong to a denomination. What sane Christian wants to be lumped in with non-stop, mean-spirited Christianity that has been in the news the last four years?

Judy Young in Gettysburg, PA

For Judy, a core tenet of Christianity is standing up against hate and bigotry.

I go to church to connect with God's love and forgiveness and with those who try to share these with everyone. … To me, the divinity of Jesus was shown when God came to teach us love and then died on the cross, rather than give up on humanity. Now all are tempted to use belief systems like this one and every other belief system to shore up our own pride and to condemn others.

But bigotry and pride are really walking away from God, if I understand the Bible rightly, rather than with God. Christianity today must stand up against bigotry of all kinds and must stand for compassion for people and for protection for our planet and her animals, plants as well as people.

Paul Wheeless in Hilo, HI

Paul’s faith is connected with his closest loved ones.

What motivates me to go to church is my family. I personally like to feel that there's something more than me. Going to heaven is one of my goals after I die. I believe in that. But I think more it is kind of like a father and a mother and a family. And God or Heavenly Father is a father. He teaches us to be as good as we can be.

Sally Jo Snyder in Pittsburgh, PA

Sally says her faith is about being welcome and included.

My motivation for attending church and being involved in church is the community that I find there. A community that is broad and wide and inclusive. A community that challenges what I think. A community that helps me to think and look at issues from another perspective.

The core tenet of Christianity for me is hospitality. And central to me is understanding Christianity through a justice lens. That we work together to make the world to look as God would have it to look. A place of justice. A place of mercy. A place of compassion. A place of truth.