Biblical worldview in America

What is a biblical worldview?  Barna defines it as believing that:

• absolute moral truth exists
• the Bible is totally 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 doing 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

Surveying Americans on their adherence to these basic, core, Christian doctrines and beliefs is a valuable tool in discovering where the real core of the American Church.  I think it trumps church attendance stats and religious affiliation stats because it actually probes a person's owned convictions and faith outlook. 

So what did Barna discover when using the biblical worldview standard in their most recent surveys?

• Currently, 9% of all American adults have a biblical worldview
• Among born again Christians, 19% express a biblical worldview [the most troubling survey result to this observer]
• The numbers show that 7% had such a worldview in 1995, compared to 10% in 2000, 11% in 2005, and 9% now.  So essentially, the numbers are relatively flat--not strongly declining or increasing.
• Young adults rarely possess a biblical worldview:  less than .5% of adults age 18 to 23 have a biblical worldview.  Obviously that doesn't mean they can't change their views later in life but as young adults, they are almost universally rejecting a biblical worldview.
• A minority of American adults (40%) are persuaded that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life while He was on earth.  This is only one element of a biblical worldview but says much about the foundation of the faith.

To me this is like a seismic reading on culture and life.  It tells us an aspect of how the next wave of culture will be shaped.  The fact that less than .5% of young adults hold a biblical worldview ought to be like a ice-bath wake up call.  The church is NOT reaching this generation or stated alternatively, this generation is NOT responding to the Gospel of Jesus.

Now I want to have a more hopeful outlook but hope is birthed in part out of realistically appraising the present.  Without accepting the reality of the present, hope is replaced with wishful thinking.  This generation is in ICU-critical-condition need of real, living, authentic followers of Jesus who have a reasoned faith, a life that agrees with that faith and loving compassion for people who don't share their faith. 

Simply put, this generation needs followers of Jesus who flow in faith, hope and love.

Comments

[Mo]

I'm glad for this post, because I think it's the single biggest problem we have today, even the church. (Which baffles me to no end!)

But I also have to point out that it is just not a matter of having a biblical worldview as far as religious matters. We must have a biblical worldview about everything:

- family relationships
- work
- leisure time
- entertainment/pop culture
- art/literature/music
- sports
- finances
- science
- politics/public policy

And probably other things I am forgetting. In other words, the Bible informs all of life, not just what we would commonly think of as the "spiritual" aspects of life.

It is easy to see how the Bible speaks to some of these things because it does so explicitly. (Ex: family, work.) In some of the other areas it gets a bit tricky because we have to go by principles, not always a specific passage or verse along the lines of, "Thou shalt/shalt not ___".

This requires some thought and some effort.

The fact that many people don't even realize that the Bible speaks to ALL of life is what gets me.

We should be able to stop wherever we are right now, whatever we happen to be doing and off the top of our head be able to answer the question, "What is God's perspective on this?"

Whenever we watch a movie, hear a song, read a book or read a newspaper article we should be able to answer the question, "What is the philosophical idea being presented here? Is it consistent with God's view of this subject matter?"

Start looking at life that way and you'll be blown away by how completely immersed we are in lies, 24/7. Like that singer did in the other post, we need to step right into those lies - whether big or small - and expose that darkness for what it is.

[ToJ_Rapha]

RE: less than .5% of adults age 18 to 23 have a biblical worldview...

I work in a K-8 public school. Evolution is assumed and taught, even to the point where teachers aren't really allowed to even mention that other possibilities (e.g. Intelligent Design, Creationism) even exist. Then these students grow up and don't believe in a God existing that is currently in control. Humm.