America’s Pulpits Under Indictment: Let the Adjustments Begin!
Posted by M. C. on April 28, 2023
And, sadly, we have come to see that real Americans and real Christians are a much smaller portion of the whole than we had realized.
I’m not discouraged, however, because half of the battle is being able to accurately identify one’s friends and one’s enemies. The veil has now been lifted on that subject, which allows people to make the appropriate adjustments.
To say that America’s pulpits are failing is an extreme understatement. They are not just failing; they are failing miserably!
For decades, I’ve been saying that America’s principal problems are spiritual, not political. The results from George Barna’s latest research prove it once again.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, fewer born-again Christians now say that Jesus lived a sinless life during his time on Earth, and church attendance has dropped by some 15 million people weekly, a new study from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University shows.
The findings came from The American Worldview Inventory 2023, an annual tracking study of the worldview of U.S. adults involving 2,000 people from across the country and conducted under the supervision of George Barna, director of research at the Cultural Research Center.
While born-again Christians make up about one-third of all U.S. adults and are considered “the backbone of local church activity because of their higher level of commitment to the Christian faith,” the study shows that between 2020 and 2023, the share of those who say they believe Jesus did not commit sins during his lifetime on Earth fell from 58% to 44%.
This shift in belief among born-again Christians was among six that showed a significant decline in the past three years that Barna characterized as “indefensible.”
Fewer than half of born-again Christians also now believe they have a unique, God-given calling or purpose. The share of those who held that belief fell from 88% to a staggering 46% during the pandemic.
A downward trend was also observed among those who say the Bible is unambiguous in its teaching about abortion. That belief fell from 58% to 44%. Those who say human life is sacred fell from 60% to 48%, and the number of born-again Christians who say God is the basis of all truth fell from 69% to 63% over the period.
The share of born-again believers who say they are deeply committed to practicing their religious faith fell from 85% to 50%, while the share of those who say they read or study the Bible at least once a week fell from 60% to 55%.
When it comes to the general population of U.S. adults, Barna said the share of the population that claims to hold a biblical worldview fell from 6% to 4% in the last three years, while less than half now claim to be “deeply committed to practicing” their religious faith. That measure fell from 60% to 48%.
The veteran researcher said the findings on the drastic shift in Christian belief over such a short period of time are “highly unusual” because “religious beliefs and behaviors have typically been a hallmark of consistency.”
“Most religious beliefs change over the course of generations, not a few years,” Barna said. “However, we know that major life crises have the capacity to introduce substantial change quickly in the foundations of people’s faith.”
And the impact of COVID-19 has been significant.
The statistics contained in this research are staggering. In truth, we could accurately say that they are unprecedented in U.S. history—perhaps in all of Western Civilization.
Be seeing you
MCViewPoint 
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