An elderly man, blind and partially deaf, approached Dr. David Mason after church one Sunday and told him he didn't say enough about hell.

Dr. Mason isn't sure how the man - who he knew from his time at a church in St. Louis - even made the walk to church every week. But he saw in him a sort of sage wisdom.

"He said, 'People have to know,'" Dr. Mason, now the senior pastor of Green Valley Church in St. Joseph, remembers.

This advice is something Dr. Mason took to heart and that seems to be especially significant now, as the number of people in the United States who believe that there is a hell is in decline, according to research from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. A Pew survey found that while 74 percent of Americans believe there is a heaven, only 59 percent believe there is a hell - down from 71 percent who reported believing in hell in a 2001 Gallup survey, according to Religion News Service.

Belief in hell is least common among Hindus (35 percent), Buddhists (26 percent), people unaffiliated with a religion (30 percent) and Jews (22 percent). But even in Christian traditions, belief in hell is less prevalent than belief in heaven, the Pew survey found.

So what is driving this discrepancy? Dr. Mason suggests that one of the contributors is the fact some people believe only what they're comfortable believing.

"Heaven is where they want to go; hell is where they don't," he says. "They get their spiritual truth from their own intuition, and objective truth is off the table."

Even among people who go to church, some may see the Bible and its teachings on heaven and hell not as absolute truth but simply as something to be considered, he adds. And some pastors may contribute to this way of thinking by shying away from talking about hell simply because people don't like hearing about it, notes Dr. Larry Lindsey, pastor of Eastside Baptist Church in St. Joseph.

"People, of course, don't like to be reminded that they are sinners and are on the road to hell unless they receive Jesus Christ as their Savior," he says. "Many times, they will seek out churches that don't mention hell. This is done at their own detriment; Jesus can only save those who recognize that they are lost and on the road to hell."

A decline in people's sense of being lost and of needing to be saved could also be a contributor to the declining belief in hell, according to John Green, a senior fellow with the Pew Forum.

"It does seem to be associated with a decline in viewing God as a judge," he told the Boston Globe, "and as someone who punishes people, but a continuing emphasis on a view of God as someone who is merciful and generous and forgiving."

This emphasis on grace and on not focusing much on hell is something that's common to his denomination, says the Rev. Roger Lenander, pastor of First Lutheran Church. He adds that when he does speak about hell, "It's always defined by a relationship with God. The reality of hell is living outside of that relationship."

Someone who did speak quite a bit about hell was Jesus, Dr. Mason points out, noting that the Gospels record him speaking more about hell than about heaven.

"The Bible says people perish for lack of understanding," he adds. "I preach passages on hell every so often throughout the year. I also preach on heaven. They're twin subjects; I don't know how you can preach on one without the other."

Lifestyles reporter Erin Wisdom can be reached at ewisdom@npgco.com.