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Crisis in America's Churches:

Bible Knowledge at All-Time Low

  by Michael J. Vlach, Ph.D.

 

A crisis of basic biblical and theological knowledge exists in America's churches, and church leaders must do all they can to address this growing problem, so say experts monitoring the beliefs of people in Christian churches across the United States.

"The Christian body in America is immersed in a crisis of biblical illiteracy," warns researcher George Barna. "How else can you describe matters when most churchgoing adults reject the accuracy of the Bible, reject the existence of Satan, claim that Jesus sinned, see no need to evangelize, believe that good works are one of the keys to persuading God to forgive their sins, and describe their commitment to Christianity as moderate or even less firm?"[1]

 

Other disturbing findings that document an overall lack of knowledge among churchgoing Christians include the following:

·  The most widely known Bible verse among adult and teen believers is "God helps those who help themselves"-which is not actually in the Bible and actually conflicts with the basic message of Scripture.
·  Less than one out of every ten believers possess a biblical worldview as the basis for his or her decision-making or behavior.
·  When given thirteen basic teachings from the Bible, only 1% of adult believers firmly embraced all thirteen as being biblical perspectives.[2]

Gary Burge, professor of New Testament at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, asserts that biblical illiteracy is at a crisis level not just in our culture in general but in America's churches.

"If it is true that biblical illiteracy is commonplace in secular culture at large, there is ample evidence that points to similar trends in our churches," he says.[3]

Burge points to research at Wheaton College in which the biblical and theological literacy of incoming freshmen have been monitored. These students, who represent almost every Protestant denomination in the United States from every state in the country, have returned some "surprising results":

·  One-third could not put the following in order: Abraham, the Old Testament prophets, the death of Christ, and Pentecost.
·  Half could not sequence the following: Moses in Egypt, Isaac's birth, Saul's death, and Judah's exile.
·  One-third could not identify Matthew as an apostle from a list of New Testament names.
·  When asked to locate the biblical book supplying a given story, one-third could not find Paul's travels in Acts, half did not know that the Christmas story was in Matthew, half did not know that the Passover story was in Exodus.[4]

Like Burge, George Lindbeck, the famous Yale theologian, has commented on the decreasing knowledge of Scripture from a professor's perspective.

"When I first arrived at Yale, even those who came from nonreligious backgrounds knew the Bible better than most of those now who come from churchgoing families," he says.[5]

This is also the view of theologian and author David Wells.

"I have watched with growing disbelief as the evangelical church has cheerfully plunged into astounding theological illiteracy," declares Wells in his book No Place for Truth.[6]

Biblical illiteracy is not just a problem for American churches. A scientific survey called PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) tested the knowledge of people in thirty-two industrialized countries. The results of the study show an "insidious biblical illiteracy" even in Christian circles, says Volker Gaeckle, dean of studies at Albrecht Bengel Center in Tuebingen. "Churches should heed the PISA warning that text comprehension is a major problem." [7]

Theological Illiteracy in Christian Denominations 

Barna has gone to the heart of the matter by researching the beliefs of churchgoing denominational members in America. The results are shocking-a profound lack of belief in essential Christian doctrines.

In his study of the beliefs of mainline Protestants (including Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians), Barna documented a rejection of key Christian doctrines. Only 35% of mainline Protestant church members believe Christ was sinless; 34% believe the Bible is totally accurate; 27% agree that works don't earn heaven; and 20% believe Satan is real.[8]

Denominations which are more evangelical report higher levels of commitment to key theological truths than their mainline counterparts, but large percentages of people in these more theologically conservative churches still deny essential Christian doctrines.

Of Baptists (any type) in America, only 34% believe Satan is real. Only 43% believe that works don't earn heaven. Although most Baptists affirm that Christ was sinless and that the Bible is totally accurate, the majority is not strong. Only 55% affirm that Christ was sinless, and 66% hold that the Bible is totally accurate.[9]

Of nondenominational Christian churches, Barna reports that 48% believe Satan is real; 60% say works don't earn heaven; 63% affirm the sinlessness of Christ; and 70% believe the Bible is totally accurate.[10]

According to Barna, the denomination with the highest commitment to essential Christian doctrines is the Assembly of God denomination. In the AOG, 77% believe the Bible is accurate; 70% believe Christ was sinless. Yet only two-thirds (64%) affirm that works don't earn heaven. Only 56% believe Satan is real. So even in the most theologically committed denomination, large percentages of people still deny essential Christian doctrines.[11]

Barna is particularly concerned with the number of people in Christian churches who deny one of the most essential of all Christian doctrines-the sinlessness of Christ.

"Literally millions of Americans who declare themselves to be Christians contend that Jesus was just like the rest of us when it comes to temptation-fallen, guilty, impure, and Himself in need of a savior."[12]

 

Whatever Happened to Theology? 

Why is belief in important Christian truths and doctrines at such a crisis level?

First, as Burge has explained, there is a general failing of the church to transmit our religious culture to the next generation. This includes an overemphasis on personal experience to the exclusion of serious Christian education.

"In short, the spiritual life has become less a matter of learning than it is a matter of experiencing," he says. "This has resulted in Christian ministries that put less premium on education than they do on personal development and therapeutic wholeness."[13]

This emphasis on personal development has affected what is coming from our pulpits, according to Burge.

"Thus sermons become more therapeutic and less instructional; and the validity of what we do on Sunday morning is grounded in what we feel, not in what we think."[14]

Second, many Christian churches have abandoned serious Bible exposition and theological teaching. Burge points out that historical exegesis is becoming a "lost art" in the pulpit.

"Rather than explaining the historical setting of a passage, texts become springboards for devotional reflection," he notes. "Biblical passages are taken out of context as the preacher searches for those stories that evoke the responses or attitudes desired." As a result, "The heart of a 'good' sermon is fast becoming the 'emotional work' that can be done in 20 minutes preaching time."[15]

Burge also found that church leaders often find it difficult to find time for serious discussion of theology and the Bible. When asking several youth leaders about whether they addressed solid theological categories or Bible stories, the typical response according to Burge was, "It is hard to find time. But I can say that these kids are truly learning to love God."[16]

Burge sees this attitude as part of the problem.

"That is it in a nutshell," he says. "Christian faith is not being built on the firm foundation of hard-won thoughts, ideas, history, or theology. Spirituality is being built on private emotional attachments."[17]

A third reason for biblical and theological illiteracy today is the tremendous influence unbiblical philosophies and worldviews are having on churchgoers. Liberalism promotes that the Bible is a human construct and not a divine document. In doing so, it continues to assail the traditional Christian views of the inerrancy of the Bible, deity of Christ, reality of Satan, substitutionary atonement, and other key doctrines of the Christian faith. Existentialism and its emphasis on human experience has people looking to themselves, not God or Scripture, for truth. Postmodernism has convinced many that there are no universal truths. According to Barna, "A minority of adult and teen believers contends that absolute moral truth exists."[18] Only 32% of born-again Christians still believe in the existence of absolute moral truth.

Many Christians accept elements of these unbiblical worldviews without even knowing it. Because of this, Barna and Mark Hatch have noted that "we cannot really call the faith of American Christians a Bible-based faith. It is a synthetic, syncretic faith."[19] According to Barna and Hatch, Christians today have accepted and combined so many ideas from other worldviews and religions that they have created their own faith system.

"The average born-again, baptized, churchgoing person has embraced elements of Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, Mormonism, Scientology, Unitarianism and Christian Science-without any idea they have just created their own faith."[20]

What Is the Solution? 

"In many ways, we are living in an age of theological anarchy," says Barna. "The church is rotting from the inside out, crippled by abiblical theology."[21] But what can church leaders do about this crisis?

Experts who have addressed the crisis have suggested five solutions.

First, church leaders need to be aware of the crisis. "Let's acknowledge that we are in a state of spiritual anarchy," says Barna.[22] Only by being alert to the problem can church leaders seriously address the problem. Sadly, Barna has reported a less than positive response by church leaders with whom he has shared his information.

"When I first conveyed this message [about theological syncretism among church members], most church leaders smiled and shook their heads, rejecting the possibility that such silliness would occur on their watch."[23]

Second, pastors and church leaders need to evaluate what their people know and believe. Whether through personal interaction with the flock or through more formal means of evaluation such as doctrinal questionnaires, church leaders need to find out what their people know and believe. A questionnaire about the basics of Bible and theology given to the people would reveal important information. Churches need to ask questions such as, "Do you believe Jesus lived a sinless life?" or "Do you believe Satan is a real person?" It can no longer be assumed that the people in the pews "know the basics." Many do not.

The results of such questionnaires and personal contacts will reveal to church leaders where weaknesses in their congregations exist. These findings may also help identify people who reject or do not comprehend enough essential Christian doctrine in order to be a Christian. Fruitful evangelism, then, may result from such evaluations.

Burge, who himself has created a simple 25-question test, believes such a method will give "unparalleled insight" to church leaders and will be helpful to the people. "It is like taking a treadmill test and then talking about your fitness plan," he says.[24]

Third, church leaders must use powerful ways to instruct their people in the truth. "It may well be, too, that to usher in an era of theological sanity we will have to adopt new approaches to educating people about God's Word and new tools to facilitate growth," says Barna. This includes a well-planned systematic approach to biblical truth.

"Rather than giving people disjointed morsels of spiritual truth each week, we must have a systematic method of enabling people to buy into a biblical worldview that transforms their life."[25]

This systematic approach to teaching truth must start with the pulpit. In his book, Where Is Theology Going?, Millard Erickson notes that decreasing literacy among people has probably influenced many preachers in the direction of including less biblical content in their messages.[26] The opposite must become the case. The lack of biblical literacy today makes systematic Bible teaching from the pulpit even more necessary. Perhaps more pastors should emulate the Swiss Reformer Ulrich Zwingli who forsook the common preaching methods of his day to systematically teach the Bible verse-by-verse, chapter-by-chapter, and book-by-book, paying attention to the historical and grammatical contexts of the passages he was expounding.

The time has also come for pastors and church leaders to address essential Christian doctrines from the pulpit. If Barna is correct that millions of people in Christian churches, even conservative evangelical churches, do not believe Jesus was sinless, then the time has also come for church leaders to address the doctrine of the person of Christ and other doctrines from the pulpits.

Church members should also be introduced to basic courses in Old Testament Survey, New Testament Survey, Basic Christian Doctrines, and How to Study the Bible. These courses are required at most seminaries and viewed as vital to the ministry of those who attend seminaries. Yet, this basic understanding of Bible, theology, and hermeneutics is often not transmitted to the people in the pews. There is a large gap between the important truths taught in seminaries and what is being taught in our churches. The time has come for these basic truths to be conveyed to all of God's people.

Teaching solid doctrine, though, must not stop at the classroom level. Dr. Brant Pelphrey in his article, "Learning the Language of God: Overcoming Theological Literacy," suggests that teachers must get involved in the lives of the learners.

"Americans will have a better chance of becoming theologically literate when we replace the paradigm of theological study as intellectual exercise, with that of the worshipping community in which students and mentors work together," he says.[27]

Fourth, church leaders, including pastors, must alert their members to the unbiblical worldviews and philosophies that have crept into the church. False teachings have subtly infiltrated our churches, and church leaders must combat these destructive errors and heresies. This will require not only a clear presentation of Christianity but also a specific description of how Christianity differs from the liberal, existential, and postmodern views that are being promoted today.

Finally, we must encourage diligent and gifted teachers in the church. As Burge states, "We need to identify young men and women in the church who have gifts of teaching and intellect and encourage them to pursue their gifts." As we esteem the gift of teaching and those who teach well, we will "help bring about the rebirth of biblical literacy and informed faith in North America."[28]

 

Long-Term Effort 

Experts do not expect the trend toward biblical illiteracy in churches to change. This does not alter, though, the responsibility of church leaders to do all they can to reverse this dangerous trend. The church is called to be the "pillar and support of the truth" (1 Tim. 3:15). And those who are its leaders must follow the apostle Paul in proclaiming "the whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27).

Turning things around will take "a massive, concerted long-term effort," says Barna. But we must try. "We must pray for God's guidance and power to bring about the reformation that He undoubtedly desires for America."[29]

   

from:

http://www.theologicalstudies.org/page/page/1573625.htm

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