Bible Shmible! Even Christians Don't Take It Seriously

Poll: One in Six Make Moral Choices Based on the Bible

from Religion News Service

One in six adults make moral decisions based on the content of the Bible, according to a new study conducted by the Barna Group, while about half of adults make their moral choices "on the basis of specific principles or standards they believe in."

Barna, a Christian research group, conducted the survey of 1,002 adults of all faiths in order to determine the proportion of the population that abides by a "biblical worldview."

Though the majority of people in America describe themselves as Christians, George Barna, head of the California-based research group, said the data reflect a lack of a biblical worldview, which he describes as a "life perspective on the basis of several questions about religious belief."

According to the study, "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."

"Most born-again Christians hold a confusing and inherently contradictory set of religious beliefs that go unchecked by the leaders of their faith community," Barna said. Barna also said the survey indicates that Christian leaders should remain focused on spiritual matters rather than more superficial signs of religious effectiveness.

"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," Barna said. "None of those factors relates to the kind of radical shift in thinking and behavior that Jesus Christ died on the cross to facilitate."