New statistics released from the Cultural Research Center (CRC) through Arizona Christian University show that the amount of Christians operating from a Biblical worldview has dropped 33 percent since the 2020 pandemic. The CRC defines a worldview as “the intellectual, emotional and spiritual filter used to experience, interpret and respond to reality—i.e., the basis upon which an individual makes all decisions.” The study looked particularly at a biblical worldview, or biblical theism, where an individual filters experiences, interpretations, and responses through the principles and commands of the Bible. Prior to 2020, around 6 percent of American adults had a biblical worldview. Post 2020, that number had dropped to 4 percent. The study divided the rest of Americans into two other groups, with 14 percent falling into the “Emergent Follower,” which included individuals who had “a substantial number of beliefs and behaviors consistent with biblical principles.” That number had fallen from 25 percent prior to 2020. The “World Citizen” category, people who hold some Biblical principles but mostly do not act in line with those principles, was the biggest, having grown from 69 percent to 82 percent.

Dr. George Barna, formerly of the Barna Group and now CRC Director, said the data showed “…the biblical worldview is shuffling toward the edge of the cliff. As things stand today, biblical theism is much closer to extinction in America than it is to influencing the soul of the nation.” He warned that younger individuals, in particular, were the most isolated from a Biblical worldview, with only one percent aged 18-29 holding a biblical worldview. He stated the way to turn the trend around was parental involvement. “The impact of arts and entertainment, government, and public schools is clearly apparent in the shift away from biblical perspectives to a more experiential and emotional form of decision-making. It will require parents, in particular, and cultural leaders who care about this matter to energetically and creatively persuade children and their influencers to embrace biblical principles as the foundation for personal decision-making,” he said. 

Ligonier Ministries’s State of Theology report for 2022 further demonstrated the schism between self-identified Christians and their understanding of biblical principles. The survey found that 48 percent of American evangelicals believe that “God learns and adapts to different circumstances,” which is contrary to the Bible’s description of God as omnipresent and unchanging. The number was also very similar to the 51 percent of US adults who believed the same thing. The study also found that 65 percent of US evangelicals and 71 percent of US adults believe that “everyone is born innocent in the eyes of God,” a belief that goes contrary to everyone being “children of wrath” according to Ephesians 2:3. There was also increasing pluralism amongst evangelicals, with 56 percent agreeing that “God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam,” up from 48 percent in 2016. The study concluded with the fact that American Christians were rejecting the divine origin and accuracy of the Bible more and more. As a solution, the study stated that the results “convey the ongoing need for the church to be engaged in apologetics, helping unbelievers by providing a well-reasoned defense of the Christian faith, and helping believers by strengthening their clarity and conviction regarding why they believe what they do.”