Barna survey: Beliefs of Christians revealed
In April 2009, The Barna Group (a Christian group which conducts research on many faith related topics, mainly current Christian beliefs in America) released the results of a survey of nearly 2,000 “self-described Christians.” Personally, I found the results disheartening to say the least:
Four out of ten Christians (40%) strongly agreed that Satan “is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.” An additional two out of ten Christians (19%) said they “agree somewhat” with that perspective. … More than one-fifth (22%) strongly agreed that Jesus Christ sinned when He lived on earth, with an additional 17% agreeing somewhat. … Overall, 38% strongly agreed and 20% agreed somewhat that the Holy Spirit is “a symbol of God’s power or presence but is not a living entity.” (Barna Group)
This means that over half of self-described Christians surveyed believe Satan is not an actual being, over half believe the Holy Spirit is a “symbol”, and nearly 40% believe Jesus sinned.
In some cases, it seems to me, such views are the result of either ignorance of what the Bible says or not believing what the Bible says.
For example, regarding the idea that Jesus sinned, we have several explicit statements that He did not: “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” (1 Peter 2:22; see also for example 1 John 3:5, Hebrews 4:15, John 8:46) and implicitly throughout the New Testament. Those who believe Jesus sinned are either unaware of this or they choose to ignore it because they don’t really trust that what the Bible says is true.
Do you agree that these statistics are worrisome? What do you think should be done to better educate Christians about God’s Word?
Related: Portraits of the Christ: An online interactive study on what God teaches us about Himself and our relationship to Him through Jesus’ life on Earth.
Tags: barna group, Christians, Culture, darren hewer, doctrine, heresy, Jesus, Men, orthodoxy, religion, spiritual growth, survey, Women, World
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Sandra, I say to you Jesus is just waiting to love you. He did die for all mankind even if we think He is not deity.
Jesus was there before you were born and before anything was created.
Why do’nt you just call on Him. YOu will find HIm to be faithful. Nations one day will all bow down to Him and worship HIm as Lord
I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, pure and holy. That He was born of a virgin. That He died for my sins on the cross and raised again to life by the Power of The Holy Spirit. And I know that He knows my name and He will raise me to heaven to live with Him for eternity.
No, this does not bother me. I do not believe that Jesus was anything more then a human being with faults. It does not mean I do not beleive in a higher power but I do not believe in Jesus being a special son.
This is sad. Someone’s pastor is not doing his job. My pastor totally believes that Satan is alive and so do I. The old snake has his hand in too much of this world and too many are following him without really knowing that they are, look to your bible, it never lies.
This bothered me somewhat when I first read it, but then I though of how like little children we come by faith and receive Christ as Lord. This tells me these are young Christians who are not studying God’s word. This also explains to me why so many Christianscan vote on a platform that supports abortion, and other things that are an abomination to God.
The world as a whole is in a sad state right now. Everyone could use more Jesus in their lives.
I believe a lot of churches have become such a “business” that they allow their “customers” to believe that sin is okay, that it’s alright that we are “too busy” to study the word of God. Church needs to stand up and tell Christians what’s right and what’s wrong and hold its members to a higher standard.
Jesus disse que nos finais dos tempos muitos apostariam da fé e que se fariam sinais que enganariam até os escolhidos! É o cristianismo “light” que se vive hoje em dia. Deus tenha misericórdia de nós!
Wow… this is alarming. But I’m not surprised at these results… For along time, I’ve been sensing that the Holy Spirit is grieved over these things. “My people are sleeping,” He recently told me, “and they are decieved of the devil.” Those of us who are awake and aware must turn ourselves to praying for the sake of the Church… she is in a terrible state. God help us all.
this is sad . However we who say we are Christians need to meditate and read God’s Word daily. Many Churches seem to have more emphasis on the entertainment rather than teaching the Word of God Many people do not even take a Bible to Church
This worries me a great deal. What are we learning in our churchs. Are we really listening to the word of God which he states in the bible.