However, more than half of Americans have read little or none of the Bible. And many say the Christian scriptures are filled with moral lessons for today. Americans have a positive view of the Bible. "The building hasn't come down yet, but the next strong wind might just do the job.( By Bob Smietana, LifeWay Research). Christian movement may appear strong, particularly to someone overseas, the foundation is crumbling largely because of a lack of engagement and submission to the Bible. "e have somehow been hypnotized into believing that it is not very important that we carve out dedicated time to read and learn the Bible," he added.īerding fears that although the U.S. Other reasons contributing to the decline in biblical literacy, he listed, include: self-reliance (not believing that there should be any authorities outside of themselves) distractions such as social networking, texting and entertainment unwarranted overconfidence (the sense that we know a lot about the Bible because we grew up going to church) and being "too busy."
"Some of this is because they have breathed in postmodern assumptions that distrust metanarratives." "I do not believe that most Americans realize that their very light (or lack of) engagement with the Bible is serious," Berding, whose concerns are laid out in Bible Revival: Recommitting Ourselves to One Book, pointed out. "Neglecting to read the most precious of all books, God's revelation to us in the Bible, is sin."Ĭhristians are to read the Bible and to read it so frequently that they learn it well enough to be able to think about it throughout the day, he emphasized. "James, the half-brother of Jesus and the first century leader of the church in Jerusalem, put it this way: 'Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin,' (James 4:17)," the California professor explained. So when Christians are disengaged from or just lightly engaged with the Word of God, they are sinning, Berding stated bluntly. The Bible is basic to the Christian life, Berding underscores, and it is through this book that the Gospel message – "the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the solution for broken and needy sinners" – is revealed. Over a quarter (26 percent) of Americans never read the Bible. The 2014 Bible survey found that although most people own a Bible, just a little over a third (37 percent) of Americans read the holy book once a week or more. "They may consider the Bible to be important in a general sort of way, but this is a far cry from believing that God has communicated His will through this book and therefore it is binding upon your actions." "any Americans don't consider the Bible to be authoritative, that is, they don't consider the Bible to place a claim on their lives," he lamented. What's contributing to the decline in biblical literacy is the way Americans view the Bible, Berding believes. Another student thought the Old Testament figure Joshua was the son of "a nun," unaware that "Nun" was actually the name of the father and not a member of a Catholic community of women.
In his own experience, one student, Berding recalled, did not know that Saul in the New Testament was different from King Saul in the Old Testament. The statistics are similar to the previous 2013 report which also showed that only half knew that John the Baptist was not one of the 12 apostles. Yet less than half (43 percent) were able to name the first five books of the Bible. adults (81 percent) said they consider themselves highly, moderately or somewhat knowledgeable about the Bible. These days many of us don't even know basic facts about the Bible."Īccording to the 2014 "The State of the Bible" report by Barna Group and American Bible Society, a majority of U.S. "We don't do that anymore, and in a very real sense we're starving ourselves to death." "Christians used to be known as 'people of one book.' They memorized it, meditated on it, talked about it and taught it to others," he wrote. And he's not being overly alarmist, he maintained. In an article, titled "The Crisis of Biblical Illiteracy and What We Can Do About It," for Biola University's magazine, Berding described the problem as a famine.
0 kommentar(er)
