(CP) Only 6% of Christians have a biblical worldview as many Americans embrace syncretism, in accordance with a latest survey.
The Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University released a latest batch of research from the American Worldview Inventory 2024.
The predominant takeaway from the report is that “the standard American adult isn’t a worldview purist but is basically a worldview plagiarist, combining beliefs and behaviors borrowed from a median of nine recognized worldviews into their personal worldview mix.” The research considers this finding as consistent with the proven fact that “the dominant worldview in America is syncretism, chosen by 92% of American adults as their dominant philosophy of life.”
“Syncretism is the term used to explain a customized mix of philosophies of life that an individual pieces together for their very own satisfaction,” the report explained. “Syncretism is the results of people relying upon their emotions to appropriate elements of assorted recognized worldviews toward creating an idiosyncratic, personally pleasing understanding of and response to reality.”
Adherence to syncretism has increased since 2021, when the Cultural Research Center found that 88% of American adults subscribed to the worldview.
The report also listed the ten most typical worldview beliefs that conflict with a biblical worldview. The belief that “it is feasible for a married couple to be bonded to one another for eternity,” related to Mormonism, is embraced by 46% of Americans.
Forty-six percent of Americans subscribe to the idea that “individuals are neither good nor bad once they are born, but turn into either good or bad through gathered life decisions,” affiliated with the philosophies of moralistic therapeutic deism, secular humanism and animism. More than one-third (35%) of respondents agree with the secular humanist, postmodernist and satanist concept that “when determining what is correct and incorrect, you’re most probably to depend on … your reason and emotions.”
By contrast, in accordance with the biblical worldview, “marriage ends upon one’s earthly death” and “every human being is born as a sinner, our sins end in our condemnation by God, but that rejection may be overcome through the grace prolonged by Jesus Christ upon our repentance and embracing Jesus Christ as our savior.” The biblical worldview also identifies God as “the source of all truth” who “conveys truth to humans through the Bible.”
The strong belief that “humans haven’t any right to dominate animals, plants, or nature; we’re alleged to live in harmony and interdependence with them,” related to the philosophies pantheism and animism, is embraced by 31% of Americans. Another 31% of respondents agree that “all animals, plants, the wind, and water have a singular spirit, similar to human beings do.” This belief isn’t reflective of a biblical worldview but reasonably the ideologies of pantheism, Mormonism, Wicca and animism.
The biblical worldview teaches “that mankind is God’s highest creation and He gave humans dominion over the whole lot else He created” and that “unlike animals, plants and the remainder of creation, only individuals are made within the likeness of God and have an everlasting soul.”
Other beliefs that run contrary to a biblical worldview embraced by substantial portions of those surveyed include the Jewish concept that “a messiah has been promised” and that “He will make His initial visit to earth to save lots of His people” (28%), the postmodernist notion that “the next power may exist, but no person really knows for certain”(26%), the moralistic therapeutic deist and Mormon belief that “the very best indicator of a successful life is being person” (24%) and the secular humanist belief that “the premise of truth is scientific, verifiable proof” (23%).
These beliefs contradict the respective assertions of the biblical worldview that “Jesus Christ is the Messiah and that upon His second coming He will save those that have repented for his or her sins and have called upon Him to be their Savior,” that “creation itself is evidence of His existence,” the definition of success is “consistent obedience to God and the life principles He provides within the Bible” and that “there isn’t any truth other than God, and that by His nature and words He has defined truth.”
The postmodernist and secular humanist belief that “the universe got here into existence in ways humans are unlikely to ever understand or discover” is the tenth mostly held belief amongst respondents that conflicts with a biblical worldview, with 21% of those surveyed adhering to it. The biblical worldview declares that the creation of the universe by God is specified by the Bible.
The widespread rejection of beliefs related to a biblical worldview comes as just 4% of Americans and 6% of Christians adhere to a biblical worldview. The Cultural Research Center defines a biblical worldview as “a method of experiencing, interpreting, and responding to reality in light of biblical perspectives.”
The Cultural Research Center measures biblical worldview based on responses to questions on the Bible, truth and morals, faith practices, family and the worth of life, God, creation and history, human character and nature, lifestyle, behavior and relationships, purpose and calling in addition to sin, salvation and God relationship.
The findings on this report are based on responses recorded from 2,000 adults in January. The survey had a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.
