"Christians" Who are Biblically Ignorant, Yet Deeply Spiritual

LiveScience has a story today on belief in God among different types of scientists, and Barna has a new poll on the religious beliefs of Americans in general. From the Barna study:

For several years, The Barna Group has been tracking how many people possess a “biblical worldview.” The organization defines such a life perspective on the basis of several questions about religious beliefs. The definition requires someone to believe that absolute moral truth exists; that the source of moral truth is the Bible; that the Bible is accurate in all of the principles it teaches; that eternal spiritual salvation cannot be earned; that Jesus lived a sinless life on earth; that every person has a responsibility to share their religious beliefs with others; that Satan is a living force, not just a symbol of evil; and that God is the all-knowing, all-powerful maker of the universe who still rules that creation today.

Using that framework, Barna discovered that the percentage of adults holding a biblical worldview has remained minimal and unchanged over the past three years, despite the widespread public debate about moral issues and the efforts of thousands of churches to enhance people’s moral convictions. Currently, only 5% of adults have a biblical worldview. The percentage varies among faith groups. About half of all evangelicals have such a perspective. Overall, 8% of Protestants possess that view, compared to less than one-half of one percent of Catholics....

“Most of the bestsellers [books] have focused on meaning, purpose, security and the end times,” the researcher [George Barna] pointed out. “While there have been theological views expressed in those books, very few popular books have helped people to think clearly and comprehensively about their core theology. Consequently, most born again Christians hold a confusing and inherently contradictory set of religious beliefs that go unchecked by the leaders and teachers of their faith community.”...

The Barna survey also showed that most Americans (62%) consider themselves to be deeply spiritual....

Currently, nine out of ten adults (88%) feel “accepted by God.”...

The research confirmed that the younger a person is, the less likely they are to trust the Bible as their source of moral guidance or to believe that absolute moral truth exists....

People who describe themselves as “mostly conservative” on social and political matters were twelve times more likely to have a biblical worldview than were people who said they are “mostly liberal” on such matters.

An intriguing discovery was that African-American adults, who generally emerge as the ethnic segment most deeply committed to the Christian faith, were substantially less likely than either whites or Hispanics to have a biblical worldview. In total, just 1% of black adults met the criteria, compared to 6% among whites and 8% among Hispanics. (Less than one-tenth of one percent of Asians possesses a biblical worldview.)...

The survey outcomes compelled the survey’s director, George Barna, to remind Christian leaders to stay focused on the things that matter. “Our studies consistently show that churches base their sense of success on indicators such as attendance, congregant satisfaction, dollars raised and built-out square footage. None of those factors relates to the kind of radical shift in thinking and behavior that Jesus Christ died on the cross to facilitate. As long as we measure success on the basis of popularity and efficiency, we will continue to see a nation filled with people who can recite Bible stories but fail to live according to Bible principles.”