By Staff
In the 2018 State of Theology Study sponsored by Ligonier Ministries, Lifeway Research polled 3,000 Americans and asked them a number of questions about God, Christian ethics and religion in general.
• 6 of 10 Americans say religious belief is a matter of personal opinion.
• 58% of Americans say worshiping alone or with one’s family is a valid replacement for regularly attending a church.
• 69% of Americans disagree that even the smallest sin deserves eternal damnation.
For most Americans, matters of religion and faith are meant to be individualistic.
Many believe faith is subjective and shouldn’t be considered “truth.”
• 32% of those with evangelical beliefs say their religious beliefs are not objectively true.
• 51% of those with evangelical beliefs also believe God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.
• 78% of those with evangelical beliefs also believe Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God.
Many Americans who hold evangelical beliefs about the Bible, salvation, and Jesus Christ, also hold beliefs that are not keeping with Scripture.
• 44% of Americans believe the Bible’s condemnation of homosexual behavior doesn’t apply today.
• 51% of American millennials agree.
• 52% of Americans believe abortion is a sin.
• 57% of American millennials agree.
• 51% of Americans believe sex outside of marriage is a sin.
The sexual revolution has pushed Christian sexual ethics out of the mainstream. How will Christian parents and church leaders respond?
• 62% of millennials believe only those who trust in Jesus Christ alone as their Savior receive God’s free gift of eternal salvation (up from 53% in 2016).
• 64% of millennials believe there will be a time when Jesus Christ returns to judge all the people who have lived (up from 55% in 2016).
• 52% of millennials believe the Bible, like all writings, contains helpful accounts of ancient myths, but is not literally true (up from 46% in 2016).
• 36% of millennials believe God is unconcerned with their day-to-day decisions (up from 30% in 2016).
Millennials’ view on faith and its implications are changing.
Download the 2018 research. View the 2020 State of Theology findings.
