According to a recent poll published by the Family Research Council, only 6% of Americans are holding on to and believing a biblical worldview.
Explaining their methodology, the FRC said that the data, provided by George Barna's Metaformation, Inc., was gathered by phone calls made to a random sample of homes, with the sample divided between calls to landlines and mobile phones. The survey questionnaire included 37 questions, and the average time to complete the survey was 17 minutes. The information was gathered in May 2021 using a nationally representative survey of 1,000 participants.
Faithwire noted that while 51% of the 1,000 respondents polled stated they believe in a biblical worldview, the current research found that just roughly 6% genuinely do. To gather the data, the researchers asked a series of supplementary questions from those who profess to have a biblical worldview.
They found that there are significant contradictions between what people think and what the Bible teaches among the 51 % of individuals who profess to have a biblical worldview. Six of the 12 worldview questions had a minority of those who claimed to have a biblical worldview really having a biblical viewpoint, and another indicator had 49 % of those who claimed to have a biblical worldview having an unbiblical point of view.
The American Worldview Inventory, which was prepared by the Barna-led Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University and was released earlier this year, was significantly used in the latest poll. The most common worldview is a biblical one, which accounts for 6% of the population.
While a high majority of young adults claim to have a biblical worldview, statistics from the American Worldview Inventory demonstrate a disparity between "self-perception and reality."
Among Millennials, 44% claim a biblical worldview; results from the American Worldview Inventory, however, reveal that just 4% have one. Among the 53% of Gen Xers, only 6% have a biblical worldview. As for the 54% of Baby Boomers, there are only 8%, while those over 75 years old, which accounts for 62%, only 8% truly have a biblical worldview.
"Our studies show that Americans are neither deep nor sophisticated thinkers. Most people seem more interested in living a life of comfort and convenience than one of logical consistency and wisdom. Our children will continue to suffer the consequences of following in the unfortunate footsteps of their parents and elders. People who are willing to fight for a more reasonable way of thinking and acting can make a difference, but it will be slow progress," Barna observed.
Interestingly, when asked if God cares about what they think and do in every aspect of their lives, 78% responded to "God cares a lot," while just 6 % said "God does not care."
According to a comparable poll from 2017, just 10% of Americans had a genuinely "biblical worldview," and 46% of those polled claimed to live a Christian lifestyle.
"Every Christian can and should obtain a biblical worldview which is only achieved when a person believes that the Bible is true, authoritative, and then taught how it is applicable to every area of life, which enables them to live out those beliefs," FRC President Tony Perkins hopes.
