US Vice President JD Vance has sparked debate among Christians after rating his confidence in reaching heaven as "a 7 or an 8" out of ten, up from "a 5 or 6" a year ago. He made the comments during an interview about his faith with 22-year-old evangelical influencer Bryce Crawford, in which he also discussed his 2019 conversion to Catholicism and speculated about whether the world could be in the "end times." The remarks matter because they exposed a long-standing theological divide between Catholic and Protestant teaching on salvation, drawing criticism from some Christians who believe faith should not be measured on a sliding scale.

Some commentators, including pro-life activist Steven Ertelt, argued that a true believer's confidence in salvation should be a full ten, while others accused Vance of misunderstanding scripture. Others defended him, noting his answer reflects official Catholic doctrine: the 16th-century Council of Trent rejected the idea that believers can be certain of salvation, and the Catechism treats presumption of guaranteed salvation as a sin against hope, unlike some Protestant traditions that teach "assurance of salvation." Elsewhere in the interview, tied to his new memoir "Communion," Vance said he would not be shocked if the world were in the "end times" but preferred to focus on his family and current work rather than dwell on the idea.