Americans are trying to make sense of biblical teachings in light of their daily experiences, researcher George Barna said in a recent report that found a number of inconsistencies in people’s beliefs.
The Barna Group surveyed nearly 2,000 self-described Christians and found that one-quarter of them identify with descriptions of God that are not consistent with biblical teaching — for instance, everyone is god, god refers to the realization of human potential, etc.
Nearly 40 percent of the Christians surveyed strongly agreed and 20 percent agreed somewhat that the Holy Spirit is “a symbol of God’s power or presence but is not a living entity,” Barna said. Forty percent strongly agreed that Satan “is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.” More than 20 percent of those surveyed strongly agreed that Jesus Christ sinned when He lived on earth, Barna found, and another 17 percent agreed somewhat.
Even so, a slight majority of Christians, 55 percent, strongly agree that the Bible is accurate in all of the principles it teaches, and 18 percent agree somewhat.
“Most Americans, even those who say they are Christian, have doubts about the intrusion of the supernatural into the natural world,” Barna said in a news release. “Hollywood has made evil accessible and tame, making Satan and demons less worrisome than the Bible suggests they really are. It’s hard for achievement-driven, self-reliant, independent people to believe that their lives can be impacted by unseen forces.”
“At the same time, through sheer force of repetition, many Americans intellectually accept some ideas — such as the fact that you either side with God or Satan, there’s no in-between — that do not get translated into practice,” he said.
Most Christians in America, Barna said, tend to be generally open to maintaining relationships with people of other faiths. “But that open-mindedness is sometimes due to their limited knowledge about the principles of their own faith.”
For more information on the study, visit www.barna.org. (BP)
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