The number of Americans espousing no religious beliefs at all has been increasing rapidly over the years. A new survey shows that trend continuing, claiming a mere 6% hold to a truly “biblical worldview.”
On Wednesday, the Family Research Council announced a new partnership with evangelical pollster George Barna, who will serve as a senior fellow for its burgeoning Center for Biblical Worldview.
The FRC also released new data collected by Barna’s Metaformation, Inc.
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While 51% of the 1,000 American adults surveyed said they hold to a biblical worldview, the new study determined only about 6% actually embrace such a belief system. The researchers came to that conclusion after asking a series of secondary questions of those who claim to espouse a biblical worldview.
For example, of the 51%, less than half (47%) believe when they die they will go to heaven “only because they have confessed their sins and have accepted Jesus Christ as their savior.” Additionally, 49% “accept reincarnation as a possibility after they die.”
The new survey relied heavily on information compiled earlier this year by the American Worldview Inventory, which was produced by the Barna-led Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University.
A biblical worldview as the most prevalent at 6%.
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“However,” Barna said at the time, “with 94% of Americans essentially rejecting the biblical worldview as their preferred way to think and live, placing first in a race in which few people cross the finish line is hardly a victory.”
He went on to explain that simply “knowing a few Bible verses, attending church services, and praying won’t get the job done.”
“Our studies show that Americans are neither deep nor sophisticated thinkers,” Barna argued. “Most people seem more interested in living a life of comfort and convenience than one of logical consistency and wisdom. Our children will continue to suffer the consequences of following in the unfortunate footsteps of their parents and elders. People who are willing to fight for a more reasonable way of thinking and acting can make a difference, but it will be slow progress.”
FRC President Tony Perkins said this week he hopes the new Center for Biblical Worldview can help give believers “a firm foundation so that they can engage the culture by being rooted in God’s Word.”
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“Every Christian can and should obtain a biblical worldview,” he said, “which is only achieved when a person believes that the Bible is true, authoritative, and then taught how it is applicable to every area of life, which enables them to live out those beliefs.”
A similar survey from 2017 found then that only 10% of Americans hold to a distinctly “biblical worldview.” At the time, 46% said they lived a Christian lifestyle.