Study: American Christians are split on the existence, basis of absolute truth
Fifth installment of inaugural AWVI results reveals Americans, church increasingly reject absolute truth
Glendale, AZ — When Pontius Pilate, the Roman official who allowed Jesus Christ to be unjustly crucified, was interrogating Christ, he famously ended their exchange by asking, “What is truth?” According to newly released results from the American Worldview Inventory 2020, Americans are still wrestling with that question.
Findings from the survey, conducted by Dr. George Barna and the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, show that most Americans (58%) refuse to accept any kind of absolute boundaries regarding their morality. While that may not be all that surprising, the research revealed that the church isn't all that far behind. Stunningly, those attending evangelical churches are just as likely to reject absolute moral truth (46%) as to accept its existence (48%).
So where are Americans finding “truth”? The survey found that the most common notion is that God is the basis of truth—but it was a minority of adults, overall (42%). Another four out of ten believe that either inner certainty (16%), scientific proof (15%), tradition (5%), or public consensus (4%) leads to knowing truth. The remaining two out of every ten adults said that either there is no such thing as truth (5%) or that they don't know (13%).
Other key findings from the latest release from the American Worldview Inventory 2020:
Within the Christian community, there are substantial fissure lines. Merely half of those who call themselves Christian (54%) identify God as the basis of truth. Within a segment of that group – those whose theological beliefs position them as “born again” Christians – seven out of ten (69%) contend that God is the basis of truth. While a similar proportion adopts that same belief among those who attend either evangelical (72%) or Pentecostal (70%) churches, the percentage drops precipitously among those who attend either a mainline Protestant (37%) or Catholic (43%) church.
Members of the LGTBQ community (73%), political liberals (67%), Hispanics (65%), blacks (63%), Democrats (63%) and people under 50 (62%) reject absolute moral standards in the greatest numbers, while those most likely to embrace absolute moral standard include political conservatives (49%), Republicans (49%).
Those most likely to see God as the basis of truth are SAGECons, defined as Spiritually Active Governance Engaged Conservative Christians, with nearly nine out of ten (87%) pointing to God as the source of absolute truth and 67% recognizing the existence of absolute moral standards.
Barna, who directed the study, noted that the research suggests Americans are radically redefining how life works.
“Americans have historically held the biblical view that God created our world and the life within it, and He provided specific guidelines that would provide for our well-being when we stay within those boundaries. Those principles were delivered to humanity through the Bible. Knowledge of good and evil, meaning and purpose, and everything else that matters was accessible by studying the Bible,” Barna explained.
“But things are changing,” the veteran researcher continued. “Only half of Americans now even believe in an all-knowing, all-powerful, loving and forgiving God. Less than half believe the Bible is even completely true and relevant.”
“It’s one thing to lack theological clarity regarding biblical perspectives on immigration policy or the end times ... it’s a much more serious condition when even those Americans who categorize themselves as Christian are increasingly rejecting God as the source of truth.”
To download the full report,
click the button below:
AWVI 2020
George Barna is a professor at Arizona Christian University
and the Director of Research at the Cultural Research Center
at ACU. He also founded the Barna Group, a research
company that for years set the standard for understanding
trends in American culture. Dr. Barna has written more than
50 books, including numerous award-winners and New York
Times bestsellers. He is also a Fellow at the Townsend
Institute, has taught at the undergraduate and graduate
level, and has pastored two churches.
Author of over 50 books addressing cultural trends,
leadership, spiritual development, and church
dynamics, including multiple New York Times
bestsellers and several award-winning titles.
Has sold more books based on survey research
related to matters of faith than any author in
American history.
Has written more than 200 articles that have been
published in professional journals or mass market
publications
Named by multiple media outlets as one of the
nation’s most influential Christian leaders.
Graduated summa cum laude from Boston College,
earned two Master’s degrees from Rutgers University
and has a doctorate from Dallas Baptist University.
EXPERTISE
RECENTLY PUBLISHED
LOS ANGELES
Dr. Barna is often called “the most quoted
person in the Christian Church today.”
Fifth installment of inaugural AWVI results reveals Americans, church increasingly reject absolute truth
Glendale, AZ — When Pontius Pilate, the Roman official who allowed Jesus Christ to be unjustly crucified, was interrogating Christ, he famously ended their exchange by asking, “What is truth?” According to newly released results from the American Worldview Inventory 2020, Americans are still wrestling with that question.
Findings from the survey, conducted by Dr. George Barna and the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, show that most Americans (58%) refuse to accept any kind of absolute boundaries regarding their morality. While that may not be all that surprising, the research revealed that the church isn't all that far behind. Stunningly, those attending evangelical churches are just as likely to reject absolute moral truth (46%) as to accept its existence (48%).
So where are Americans finding “truth”? The survey found that the most common notion is that God is the basis of truth—but it was a minority of adults, overall (42%). Another four out of ten believe that either inner certainty (16%), scientific proof (15%), tradition (5%), or public consensus (4%) leads to knowing truth. The remaining two out of every ten adults said that either there is no such thing as truth (5%) or that they don't know (13%).
Other key findings from the latest release from the American Worldview Inventory 2020:
Within the Christian community, there are substantial fissure lines. Merely half of those who call themselves Christian (54%) identify God as the basis of truth. Within a segment of that group – those whose theological beliefs position them as “born again” Christians – seven out of ten (69%) contend that God is the basis of truth. While a similar proportion adopts that same belief among those who attend either evangelical (72%) or Pentecostal (70%) churches, the percentage drops precipitously among those who attend either a mainline Protestant (37%) or Catholic (43%) church.
Members of the LGTBQ community (73%), political liberals (67%), Hispanics (65%), blacks (63%), Democrats (63%) and people under 50 (62%) reject absolute moral standards in the greatest numbers, while those most likely to embrace absolute moral standard include political conservatives (49%), Republicans (49%).
Those most likely to see God as the basis of truth are SAGECons, defined as Spiritually Active Governance Engaged Conservative Christians, with nearly nine out of ten (87%) pointing to God as the source of absolute truth and 67% recognizing the existence of absolute moral standards.
Barna, who directed the study, noted that the research suggests Americans are radically redefining how life works.
“Americans have historically held the biblical view that God created our world and the life within it, and He provided specific guidelines that would provide for our well-being when we stay within those boundaries. Those principles were delivered to humanity through the Bible. Knowledge of good and evil, meaning and purpose, and everything else that matters was accessible by studying the Bible,” Barna explained.
“But things are changing,” the veteran researcher continued. “Only half of Americans now even believe in an all-knowing, all-powerful, loving and forgiving God. Less than half believe the Bible is even completely true and relevant.”
“It’s one thing to lack theological clarity regarding biblical perspectives on immigration policy or the end times ... it’s a much more serious condition when even those Americans who categorize themselves as Christian are increasingly rejecting God as the source of truth.”
To download the full report,
click the button below:
AWVI 2020
George Barna is a professor at Arizona Christian University
and the Director of Research at the Cultural Research Center
at ACU. He also founded the Barna Group, a research
company that for years set the standard for understanding
trends in American culture. Dr. Barna has written more than
50 books, including numerous award-winners and New York
Times bestsellers. He is also a Fellow at the Townsend
Institute, has taught at the undergraduate and graduate
level, and has pastored two churches.
Author of over 50 books addressing cultural trends,
leadership, spiritual development, and church
dynamics, including multiple New York Times
bestsellers and several award-winning titles.
Has sold more books based on survey research
related to matters of faith than any author in
American history.
Has written more than 200 articles that have been
published in professional journals or mass market
publications
Named by multiple media outlets as one of the
nation’s most influential Christian leaders.
Graduated summa cum laude from Boston College,
earned two Master’s degrees from Rutgers University
and has a doctorate from Dallas Baptist University.
EXPERTISE
RECENTLY PUBLISHED
LOS ANGELES
Dr. Barna is often called “the most quoted
person in the Christian Church today.”