August 21, 2000
EDITORIAL:
Biblical illiteracy needs attention
___True or false: The Bible teaches "God helps those who help themselves."
___If you think this is a no-brainer, think again. A recent survey by the Barna Research Group revealed that three-fourths of Americans erroneously believe this statement is true. Worse, more than two-thirds of born-again adults agreed.
___Too bad the poll didn't segment respondents by denomination. Then we would know a little more about Baptists. But the Barna survey does set a high standard for "born again"--people who say they "have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today and then indicate they believe that when they die they will go to heaven because they had confessed their sins and had accepted Jesus Christ as Savior."
___So, the responses of strong numbers of born-again Americans should alarm Christians who are concerned about the spiritual welfare and biblical literacy of our churches, much less our nation.
___In addition to those who missed the "God helps those who help themselves" answer, disturbing proportions of born-again adults said they believe the Holy Spirit does not exist (53 percent), Satan does not exist (47 percent), a good person can earn his/her way into heaven (31 percent), Jesus Christ died but never had a physical resurrection (30 percent) and Jesus committed sins (24 percent).
___Even though a majority of adults held either strong or mild opinions consistent with most of the biblical positions tested, only a tiny minority--three out of 1,002 adult respondents (0.3 percent)--strongly agreed with the biblically consistent positions on all 14 items listed in the survey.
___Unfortunately, this appalling ignorance is compounded by unfounded confidence. "Almost nine out of 10 adults believe they know all of the basic teachings of Christianity very well," reported George Barna, president of the research firm. "Correcting people's mistaken assumptions about Bible content is made nearly impossible by their self-assurance about their beliefs."
___The responses indicated contemporary culture seems to be influencing the church much more than the church influences culture. Barna points to this as the advance of "post-modern thinking."
___For example, the idea that God helps those who help themselves points to the notion that "we are the center of all things ... and that God is merely our assistant," Barna notes. Couple this with widespread beliefs that people can earn salvation and that all religions are theologically equal, plus rejection of the reality of Satan and the Holy Spirit, and you write a formula for spiritual disaster.
___So, we've got a lot of work to do--just to get our churches in order, long before we presume to correct spiritual misperceptions in society.
___We must begin with Bible study. Every church should put a priority on placing its most solid, biblically grounded and articulate members in teaching positions. And based on the evidence that adults begin to assume they know it all, we especially must work on teaching--no, drilling--the essential biblical truths into the hearts and minds of our children and youth. We also need basic, relevant, thoughtful biblical teaching of adults. We must hold up the essential teachings of the Bible, never assuming we can chase arcane rabbits because our members already know the basics.
___We also must hold up and affirm solid doctrinal preaching. Apparently, many born-again adults need a biblical primer. This doesn't mean they need simple-minded sermons, but they need simple, direct, fervent preaching on the basics of the faith.
___Based on the Barna survey, these are topics that desperately need attention:
___The accuracy of biblical teachings.
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___ Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com
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