The results of a new survey appear shocking to some faithful as only a small percentage of Christian parents actually hold a biblical worldview.
A new survey conducted by Arizona Christian University's Cultural Research Center has found that there is a "dilemma" amongst American parents, as a very small percentage of Christian parents hold a biblical worldview. In fact, only 2% of the 67% of parents of preteens said they hold a biblical worldview.
The research and its accompanying report titled "American Worldview Inventory 2022" was conducted by Dr. George Barna and the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, which found that many Christian parents have missed out on their responsibility to teach their children about Jesus Christ.
"A parent's primary responsibility is to prepare a child for the life God intends for that child," Dr. Barna said in a statement, as per Faithwire. "A crucial element in that nurturing is helping the child develop a biblical worldview - the filter that causes a person to make their choices in harmony with biblical teachings and principles."
Dr. Barna added, "Sadly, the research confirms that very few parents even have the worldview development of their children on their radar."
According to the research, there is no one reason for this change in Christian parents. But Dr. Barna said this development and lack of a biblical worldview among parents is not surprising to see among Millennial parents, who he believes has the lowest likelihood in any adult generation to hold a biblical worldview.
Dr. Barna and his research team also found that more and more people are rejecting the culture of the Bible as God's definitive Word. Researchers found that only 45% of parents of preteens read the Bible at least once a week, which is about the same percentage of parents who said it can be trusted as "God's accurate words for humanity."
Researchers also found that only 52% of Christian parents of preteens said they were deeply committed to practicing biblical faith. Unfortunately, many fail to recognize the connection between claiming they are Christian and living out Christian values and a biblical worldview.
"It seems that most preteen parents are unaware - or certainly unfazed - by the contradiction between calling themselves 'Christian' but living in ways that repudiate the teachings of Jesus and the principles in the Bible," Dr. Barna remarked.
Other findings in the research include the fact that none of the six alternative worldviews tested, namely Secular Humanism, Moralistic Therapeutic
Deism, Nihilism, Marxism/Critical Theory, Postmodernism, and Eastern Mysticism/New Age, were embraced by even 1% of parents. This means that more than nine out of 10 parents of preteens or 94% have a worldview known as Syncretism.
Syncretism is the combination of several worldviews in which there is not one dominant life philosophy. The result is a worldview that is diverse yet often self-contradictory, researchers said.
The study authors also found that at least six out of 10 parents have very limited advocacy of the ideologies of Nihilism, Marxism, Postmodernism, and Secular Humanism, and would rather have ideas leaning towards Eastern Mysticism/New Age thinking, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, and Biblical Theism.
