Ventura Ca.. – The Barna Research Group poll of 2,033 adults showed, “Everyone has a worldview, but few have one that is biblical.” The survey, conducted from September to November, also showed that a large share of the nation’s moral and spiritual challenges is directed to the absence of this biblical worldview.
Describing “Worldview” as the belief system by which a person understands or makes decisions about the world, the Research Institute compared the ethical and moral views of those with and without the biblical worldview.
The poll found that those with a biblical worldview- a belief that absolutes as defined by the bible exists, relative to those without, were 100 times less likely to endorse abortion; 80 times less likely to morally accept the exposure to pornography; 31 times less likely to believe living together before marriage is morally acceptable; 15 times less likely to believe homosexual sex is acceptable; 18 times less likely to endorse drunkenness; 12 times less likely to accept profanity and 11 times less likely to say adultery is “okay.”
"The primary reason that people do not act like Jesus is because they do not think like Jesus," Barna said in a news release. "Behavior stems from what we think -- our attitudes, beliefs, values and opinions."
Among those polled, only 4 percent said they held a biblical worldview, which included a belief in that Christ was sinless, God is omnipotent and omniscient, salvation is by grace and not by works, Satan exists, Christians have a responsibility to witness, and the Bible is “accurate in all its teachings.” Additionally, only 9 percent of “born-again” Christians said they held the biblical worldview.
The research also found that those who attended college were more likely to hold a biblical worldview than those who did not. Married adults and republicans were also more likely to hold such a view.
The majority of those polled said they held a postmodernist worldview, stipulating a belief that rejects the notion of absolute truth.
The Barna Research Group, Ltd., an independent marketing research company located in Ventura California, has been dedicated to studying cultural trends in the values, beliefs and behavior of the population since 1984.
