Posted on 03/10/2009 1:55:01 PM PDT by Squidpup
Less than one percent of the youngest adult generation in America has a biblical worldview, found a new study examining the changes in worldview among Christians and the overall U.S. population.
The Mosaic generation, those between the ages of 18 and 23, “rarely” have a biblical worldview as defined by The Barna Group. The research data found that less than one-half of one percent of Mosaics have a biblical worldview.
A biblical worldview, as defined by the Barna study, is believing that absolute moral truth exists; the Bible is completely accurate in all of the principles it teaches; Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic; a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or do good works; Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today.
Only if someone held all the above beliefs did the research consider the person as having a biblical worldview.
George Barna, who directed the research, commented on the “troubling” generational pattern that suggests “parents are not focused on guiding their children to have a biblical worldview.”
“One of the challenges for parents, though, is that you cannot give what you do not have, and most parents do not possess such a perspective on life,” he noted.
The research shows that only nine percent of all American adults have a biblical worldview, which although significantly higher than that of the Mosaic generation is still a small proportion of the total population.
Among “born again Christians,” the study found that they are twice as likely as the average adult to have a biblical worldview. However, that still amounted to no more than about one out of five (19 percent) born again Christians, a small minority, the study pointed out.
A born again Christian is defined by Barna as those who said they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is important in their life today and that they are sure they will go to Heaven after they die only because they confessed their sins and accepted Christ as their savior.
Some of the problems American adults and born again Christians have with the biblical worldview definition include believing that moral truth is absolute and unaffected by the circumstances.
Only one third of all adults (34 percent) hold this worldview, and while more born again adults believe in absolute moral truth, still less than the majority possess this outlook (46 percent).
Another belief that American adults struggle with is the view that Satan is a real force. Only slightly more than a quarter of adults (27 percent) believe Satan is real, and less than half of born again adults (40 percent) have this worldview.
Also, 28 percent of all adults and 47 percent of born again Christians believe it is impossible for someone to earn their way to Heaven through good behavior.
The general American public and the born again population differ greatly when it comes to the belief that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life while He was on earth. Forty percent of adults hold this belief, while 62 percent of born again Christians are convinced that Jesus was sinless.
George Barna commented, “There are a several troubling patterns to take notice. First, although most Americans consider themselves to be Christian and say they know the content of the Bible, less than one out of ten Americans demonstrate such knowledge through their action." continue>
This is pretty weak survey technique for all the reasons outlined above by sharp Freepers. I would also suggest that test-savvy people know to mark as “false” all questions with “always”, “never” and “absolute.”
Unless you live in the middle of nowhere, there’s got to be a bible believing church somewhere close by.
Forsake not the assemblying of yourselves...
I wonder what Barna thinks of the recent Catholic conference on evolution?
Probably knocks the Catholic Church out of his narrow box.
A principle like "a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or do good works" is not merely one interpretation of certainly Bible passages; it's a fundamental tenet of Christianity.
I find the principles of Jesus and the principles of Joshua quite 'different', to put it mildly.
I didn’t see anything there that would conflict with an acceptance of evolution. I believe in evolution, and can answer yes to each of those questions.
This doesn’t require fundamentalism—just orthodox Christian beliefs—which is why it’s disturbing that so few people can accept it.
I notice that you’re not a Christian. On the surface OT and NT principles appear quite different, but I don’t think many Christians who have studied the issue (perhaps excluding some dispensationalists—I’m not really sure what they believe) would accept that distinction.
The fields are ripe for harvest.
The heresy that the God of the Old Testament is not the God of the New Testament is called Marcionism, and is the primary reason the Church went to the trouble of establishing the canon of both Testaments.
Outsiders are of course free to disagree, but orthodox Christianity holds that the core principles of the two Testaments are identical, differentiated only by the difference in circumstance of time.
so you would mark False for the question of whether “absolute moral truth exists” ?
I can believe this, just look around you. Even conservatives rarely crack open a Bible. They’re too busy politiking on their computers. Oh well... ;)
While certainly I agree that one cannot earn one's way into heaven, faith alone is not enough. At the Last Judgment, what will Jesus ask us and judge us on? Not on whether we believed, but whether we acted (fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, visited the sick and those in prison).
That said, faith is totally necessary. One cannot even know Jesus to start the good works without faith.
It's not a matter of faith versus works; it's both working together. I'm sure you are familiar with the Book of James.
I’ve seen a lot of phony polls, and this strikes me as one.
But I’ll give it this much credence. Quite often, even if you’ve been a Christian your entire life, even if you grow up well steeped in scripture, people will find that during their first few years of adulthood they have to relearn and rediscover it. Its a part of being a young adult. For a period people will often find themselves questioning what they’ve been taught and what they believe and how do you live what you believe.
Then at a certain point, it gels, and this time its not the child’s faith, its the faith of an adult.
This poll is aimed at the age group that is going through that rediscovery. Its a natural part of the maturing process as you transition from believing something because its what you were taught, to believing something because you’ve come to know it for yourself.
Agreed, but that doesn’t conflict with any of the principles listed. Works are important, but you obviously can’t earn your way into heaven through works.
I’m a Calvinist, but I think Catholics could also agree with all of these points. I think you’d start to find disagreement in some “emergent” churches (and is part of the reason I have a problem with these churches), and more serious disagreement in the old mainline denominations.
My first post was due to what I perceived as an agenda on the part of the poll takers.
Perhaps C.S. Lewis (Mere Christianity) would be best positioned to devise an objective poll as to how many actually hold Christian beliefs.
I wonder how the actual questions were worded in the actual poll. I suspect what we see here is a rephrase.
From the article:
Among “born again Christians,” the study found that they are twice as likely as the average adult to have a biblical worldview. However, that still amounted to no more than about one out of five (19 percent) born again Christians, a small minority, the study pointed out.
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Um... 19% is much more than twice <.5% . New math at work.
This is what happens when Biblical literacy is practically non-existent.
i don’t really have a denomination anymore. I spent years in an assembly of God church, went to a lutheran college, tried united brethren, methodist, first community, catholic, COGIC, and a couple others. denomination doesn’t really matter to me, as long as the teachings are sound.
i still believe, read my bible, and i know i will eventually find a church.
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