As a researcher for many years, Dr. George Barna has had his fingers on the pulse of Americans regarding their views of church, religion, faith and spirituality through annual surveys conducted by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University.
The results of his annual 2020 American Worldview Inventory show that if Christianity isn’t in deep trouble, its advocates certainly have a lot of work to do in educating people and changing minds.
According to the survey, only 51 percent of American adults today have a traditional view of God as opposed to 73 percent in 1991, a 22 percent drop from 30 years ago, Christian Headlines reported.
What’s a traditional view of God?
Well, this year’s survey shows that more people now believe Jesus sinned while on earth (44%) as those who adhere to the Biblical view that he did not (41%).
Since Barna asked questions of people regardless of whether or not they were believers, I suspect many of the responses are from people who just don’t think Jesus was Christian enough.
More than half of respondents think the Holy Spirit is not a living entity, but rather a symbol of God’s power, presence and purity.
Additionally, the survey revealed that more people believe in Satan (56%) than believe in God (51%) as an influential spiritual being. Additionally, 49% are unsure if God exists at all.
In the cultural war, Satan is certainly advancing to pick up new ground. There are a number of factors contributing to that decline, including the fact God was ordered out of schools and government as well as the cultural deterioration of mass media which mocks Christians at every turn.
Barna wrote in a statement regarding the survey’s finding, “Tens of millions of Americans consider themselves to be Christian, but do not believe that God is really in control or cares what happens to them.”
In fact, only 34% of people even believe that God is involved in their lives.
You can find the full survey results at Arizona Christian University.
