According to a Pew poll, 65% of Americans believe that the gates of heaven will open for those who do not accept Christ as their savior. This includes 52% of Christians in general and 1 in 3 evangelicals.
Billy Graham agrees with the majority of Americans. An excerpt of an interview from 1997 (audio here):
“I think that everybody that loves or knows Christ, whether they are conscious of it or not, they are members of the body of Christ . . . He is calling people out of the world for his name, whether they come from the Muslim world, or the Buddhist world or the non-believing world, they are members of the Body of Christ because they have been called by God. They may not know the name of Jesus but they know in their hearts that they need something they do not have, and they turn to the only light they have, and I think that they are saved and they are going to be with us in heaven.”
Schuller: “What, what I hear your saying, that it’s possible for Jesus Christ to come into human hearts and soul and life, even if they have been born in darkness and have never had exposure to the Bible. Is that a correct interpretation of what you are saying?”
Graham: “Yes, it is.”
Schuller: “I’m so thrilled to hear you say this: ‘There’s a wideness in God’s mercy.’”
Graham: “There is. There definitely is.” (Iain Murray, Evangelicalism Divided, 73-4).
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