The Spiritual Collapse in America: “The depth of the depravity is shocking,” explains the American Worldview Inventory No. 4 from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, writes Bob Unruh, a WND journalist with nearly three decades with the Associated Press.
“The deterioration of this once-great nation begs the fundamental question: How did we get here? What happened to so quickly introduce new philosophies of life and ways of living that radically depart from the historical Judeo-Christian moorings and consensus of America?” it notes. (Feature photo: Abandoned Church. USA Today)
The Spiritual Collapse in America: And, according to veteran researcher George Barna, “The indisputable cultural decline is a direct result of the spiritual collapse of Christianity in the nation.” He’s chief of research at the CRC, and his conclusions align with the oft-cited sermon illustration that when darkness is overtaking a society, the darkness is not to blame; it’s only acting in its nature. The problem is with the absence of light.
The center’s report said research now shows that “much of this steep cultural decline flows from the dramatic transformation in the evangelical community of the United States in the past 30 years. In reality, evangelicals are far fewer in number than typically reported, often are far less biblical in their thinking than one might think, and tend to vote in far fewer numbers than expected.”
In fact, evangelicals choose lifestyles that are largely similar to that of their neighbors, who are not.
RELATED ARTICLES:
- The Atheist Meaninglessness of Life: Where Nihilism prevails, Solidarity disintegrates
- Atheists now say that Christian Ethics are the logic solution – Ayaan Hirsi Ali
- How Cancelling God is the Worst Western Mistake Ever as Empathy is Founded upon Religious Thought
- Political Atheist Messianism: The Political Atheist Messiah is here
- How Marxist Liberalism destroys the West: Comments on Alexandr Dugin
- The Marxist mistake of denying the spiritual realm renders the West in spiritual poverty
The Spiritual Collapse in America:
“Surprisingly, most evangelicals do not possess a biblical worldview—only about one-third do. In fact, the data strongly suggests that evangelicals are more likely to be shaped by the culture around them than they are to influence or ‘evangelize’ it,” the report confirms.
Defined by the National Association of Evangelicals, such people are those “who recognize their sinful life, rely upon Jesus Christ for their redemption, and receive practical life guidance and wisdom from the Bible in their quest to live under the lordship of Jesus.”
While media reports claim that anywhere from 25% to 40% of American adults are evangelicals, the CRC report said those figures are suspect, because they are based on self-reporting.
The report said the American Worldview Inventory 2024 suggests only 10% of adults qualify as evangelicals, using survey data consistent with the NAE description of evangelicals.
Members of that group actually are making lifestyle choices that are “significantly different than those of the non-evangelical population,” as only 3% identify as LGBTQ, they are less likely to be recovering addicts, they are much less likely to have been part of an abortion, and more likely to be located in southern states.
Nine of 10 believe “God is the all-knowing, all-powerful, just, and perfect Creator of the universe who still rules the world today; God is the basis of all truth, and those truths are conveyed to us through the Bible; the purpose of life is to fully know, love, and serve God with all your heart and soul, mind and strength; the universe was created by God; Jesus Christ is an important guide for their life; that Satan exists—he is real and influential; all humans are born into sin and can only escape the consequences of sin through Jesus Christ,” the report said.
The Spiritual Collapse in America: But the report explained some differences:
A large share of the theologically-defined evangelical segment rejects a number of perspectives popular within other worldviews. One example is the view held by Secular Humanists, Wiccans, and Satanists, among others, that “as long as you do no harm to others, you can do whatever you want.” While half of non-evangelicals have adopted such thinking, it is common to just one out of five evangelicals. In like manner, three-fourths of evangelicals dismiss the popular idea that animals, plants, water, and the wind all have a unique spirit.
That notion is embraced by almost six out of 10 adults who attend an evangelical church. Seven out of 10 adults who are not theologically-defined evangelicals—a group that is a full 90% of the nation’s adult population—adopts this view. Beliefs about absolute moral truth are pivotal for any society. While evangelicals are far from monolithic on this point—and the disagreement on this matter within the evangelical camp is a matter of grave concern—about seven out of 10 evangelicals reject the idea that truth is subjective and individual.
However, almost half of the adults attending evangelical churches (44%) believe that there is no absolute moral truth that is pertinent to everyone in all situations. It is even more dire among the non-evangelical public: Just one out of every four people (24%) in that vast population reject the idea that moral truth is always subjective and conditional.
The report noted the troubling contradiction involves the part of the Christian community that embraces core biblical teachings but still fails to have a Christ-like philosophy.
“Part of the explanation lies in the fact that a biblical worldview demands a coherent spiritual perspective that results in a lifestyle robustly aligned with those beliefs. It is one thing to say you believe the Bible is God’s word, and that it is true and relevant, but something else altogether to possess a comprehensive understanding of what the Bible says and consistently put those beliefs into practice.” Read the full article here.
