A California researcher is defending conclusions he made in a study on divorce that concludes Christians are more likely to go through a divorce than non-Christians, with Baptists having the highest rate among denominational Christians.
George Barna of Barna Research Group, Ltd., in Ventura, Calif., said he used statistics from nearly 4,000 adults in a nationwide survey. The results of that survey indicate while 11 percent of the population is divorced, 25 percent of all adults have experienced at least one divorce in their lifetime.
That contrasts with the 27 percent who consider themselves born-again Christians, compared to the 24 percent among adults who have not been born again.
Barna said 29 percent of all Baptist adults have been divorced. He said the only Christian group surpassing that level are those associated with nondenominational Protestant churches (34 percent).
But Barna is standing by his findings, despite criticism from the Christian community.
“The recent release concerning our research on divorce — and the fact that born-again Christians are more likely to experience divorce than non-Christians — has raised a lot of eyebrows, as well as confusion and even anger,” Barna said in a statement issued to the media.
Dismisses speculation
He dismissed assertions the statistics can be dismissed on the basis Christians who experience divorce did so before accepting Christ. “Our research shows that nine out of 10 Christians who have been divorced went through the divorce process after they had accepted Christ,” he said.
Barna also said multifaith marriages should not be cited as a factor in the failure of unions where at least one spouse is Christian.
“Dismissing the statistics on the basis of being unequally yoked or in mixed marriages or multifaith marriages doesn’t make much sense to me,” he said. “In the vast majority of cases these believers were unequally yoked when they got married; the disparity did not suddenly occur after they were married.
“We are told that God hates divorce, whether we are married to a believer or not,” Barna said.
The researcher said, “If anything, the statistics simply show one reason why God instructs us not to marry someone who is not committed to Christ.”
The findings may be “both expected and surprising,” but Barna said the national statistics have remained the same for the past half-decade.
“Even more disturbing, perhaps, is that when those individuals (Christians) experience a divorce, many of them feel their community of faith provides rejection rather than support and healing,” he said.
Barna said the research also raises questions regarding the effectiveness of how churches minister to families.
“The ultimate responsibility for a marriage belongs to the husband and wife, but the high incidence of divorce within the Christian community challenges the idea that churches provide truly practical and life-changing support for marriages,” he said.
Among the other findings in Barna’s research:
Catholics and Lutherans have the lowest percentage of divorced individuals (21 percent).
Individuals who attend mainline Protestant churches experience divorce on par with the national average (25 percent).
Among non-Christians, Jews are most likely to divorce (30 percent).
Atheists and agnostics are below the norm (21 percent).
Known for strong families, Mormons are no different from the national average (24 percent).
15 percent of Protestant senior pastors have been divorced. (EP, TAB)
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