According to a new survey, only 10 percent of Americans possess a biblical worldview, despite 46 percent claiming to call themselves Christians.
The research comes from the American Culture and Faith Institute.
It found that while 7 out of 10 Americans referred to themselves as Christians — when it came to answering Biblical or Christian questions, a majority of them lacked the knowledge.
George Barna, the director of the survey, said the study collected information about the attitudes held by American Christians with regard to general topics such as pornography, stealing, lying, cheating, consequences of unresolved sin, and the nature of God.
The results indicated a significant discrepancy between the number of Americans calling themselves Christians and the number of Christians who actually held a biblical worldview.
The final figure, according to Barna, was “alarming.”
He believes in order to change culture, it is necessary to help people make the choices that lead to that transformation, which can only happen if the individual’s beliefs are first identified.
Barna believes the research helps differentiate between people who actually adhere to their beliefs and the ones who only make claims about it. The researcher cited the biblical example of Jesus’s teaching concerning discernment based on observing the fruit of a person’s living.
The survey assessed around 6,000 people.