Barna queried 25,000 teens in 26 countries to get their views on Jesus and the Bible.
The research firm found “it’s rare that teens think poorly of Jesus. Most have a positive perception of Him, with 49% of teens describing Jesus as ‘loving’, 46% believe He offers hope, and 43% say He cares about people.”
Only 8% said He is detached from today’s real issues, 7% believe He is judgmental, 6% think He is irrelevant, and 4% say He is hypocritical.
The data found the global impression of Jesus is that he is trustworthy, generous, wise, peaceful.
When Barna asked the teens if they believed the Bible teaches about living a meaningful life, 38% agreed strongly. 36% said the Bible helps them understand their purpose in life, and 34% said it helps them to live wisely in today’s society.
Barna uses the term Bible-engaged teens to refer to those who have a “high” view of the Bible — believing it is “the word of God, the inspired word of God with no errors or the inspired word of God but with some errors” — and read the Bible several times a week.
The teens surveyed, ages 13 to 17, were from the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, four countries in Latin America, eight European countries, six countries in Asia and four African nations.