Posted on 08/09/2020 11:39:45 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
A new survey shows that the majority of Americans no longer believe that Jesus is the path to salvation and instead believe that being a good person is sufficient.
As part of the ongoing release of the Arizona Christian University-based Cultural Research Center's American Worldview Inventory, the latest findings — exploring perceptions of sin and salvation — from George Barna, the group's director, show that nearly two-thirds of Americans believe that having some kind of faith is more important than the particular faith with which someone aligns.
Sixty-eight percent who embrace that notion identify as Christians, including 56% of self-described evangelicals and 62% of those who identify as Pentecostals. Sixty-seven percent of mainline Protestants and 77% of Catholics also embraced that idea, the findings show.
Slightly over half of Christian respondents said they believe someone can attain salvation by "being or doing good," a figure that includes, 46% of Pentecostals, 44% of mainline Protestants, 41% of evangelicals, and 70% of Catholics.
In addition to the viewpoint that eternal salvation can be earned, survey results show that 58% of Americans believe that no absolute moral truth exists and that the basis of truth are factors or sources other than God. Seventy-seven percent said that right and wrong is determined by factors other than the Bible. Fifty-nine percent said that the Bible is not God's authoritative and true Word and 69% said people are basically good.
“If you look at some of the dominant elements in the American mind and heart today, as illuminated by the Inventory, most people believe that the purpose of life is feeling good about yourself," Barna said in a statement sent to The Christian Post.
"Most people contend that all faiths are of equal value, that entry into God’s eternal presence is determined by one’s personal means of choice and that there are no absolutes to guide or grow us morally.
“That philosophy of life contradicts a fundamental basis of what may be the two most significant documents to the longevity and success of America – the Bible and the Constitution of the United States. Those documents agree that this nation will only be healthy and fruitful if it is populated by moral people. By abandoning our moral standards and traditions, and replacing them with inclusive and conditional preferences, we're losing the foundations that have enabled the ‘American experiment’ to succeed for more than two centuries. We can only hope that our critical moral institutions — particularly the family and the church — will wake up and help the nation to get back on track.”
The results are from a January 2020 survey among a nationally representative sample of 2,000 adults, with a maximum sampling error of approximately plus or minus 2 percentage points, based on the 95% confidence interval.
The comprehensive research has documented the profound shifts in worldview among Americans in recent decades. Whereas 30 years ago, people spent considerable time thinking and learning about God, much of the current culture has become increasingly self-focused, Barna previously noted.
The release of the AWVI research was going to coincide with the launch of the Cultural Research Center at ACU in Glendale, Arizona, in March but the center's formal event had to be delayed until the fall due to COVID-19.
See the results of the Barna Survey here:
unbelievable. there really are not strong Christian teachers that know the Word and teach the Word.
Be in this world but not of it.
None of us can promise that America will recover from its moral malaise though I pray it does.
But if we follow that simple rule, we may Enter an Eternal Kingdom one day.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
2 Timothy 4:3-4
Been going on to some degree for 2000 years and it just escalates with each passing year.
I find this real hard to believe. So they sample 2000 adults, from where? and state the 58% of Pentecostals don’t believe the Bible is the inerrant Word Of God and God is the Absolute Author of Truth and Jesus is not the Way, the Truth and THE Life? They believe Oprah’s crap version instead?
How do 2000 people define what 330 Million people believe? Something doesn’t smell right with this.
Lord, are these really the last days of the Last Days?
Change the Headline: “US Christians are Shrinking”.
You don’t get to be a Christian merely by saying you are.
Every protestant I’ve ever known and most Catholics believe literally in the Bible. Just my experience.
Antifa believes they are doing good. Just saying.
“In addition to the viewpoint that eternal salvation can be earned”
Is this not what Catholics teach? There’re a lot of Catholics.
On the Protestant side there are a lot of ignorant people.
No one’s perfect.
-
Philippians
2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
2:14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
2:16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
It appears we need missionaries for the usa....the part that concerns me the most is absolute truth. 60% believe it’s more than just the Bible. How’d the French revolution end up?
Christianity is a faith based in the actual history of mankind. Jesus as man and God are actual historic facts, if you are a Christian. Christianity is not a philosophy or guide to spiritual enlightenment, although those things are a natural human part of understanding Christianity.
If you do not believe the following you are not a Christian:
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Doctrines of demons.
Sampling, done correctly and scientifically, can get a pretty accurate picture of the view of a very large population, even with a sample size of only a couple thousand. THat’s what sampling does.
I’d venture to say that it might be even WORSE than the data indicates.
BS......”no one comes to the Father but by the Son”
“US Christians are shrinking.”
Speak for yourself.
One questionable teaching that has been gaining a lot of attraction is that believers don’t “go to heaven when they die,” but that they “sleep in the grave” until the Resurrection, when they will rule ON EARTH with Christ. The Hebrew Roots movement is a big proponent of this theology.
That might be a big reason why so many surveyed don’t think they’ll live on right after death.
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