American Worldview Inventory 2026 – Report #2

A National Survey of the Worldview of American Adults

New Research Shows Even Committed Christians Struggle with Application, As Overwhelming Majority of U.S. Adults Lack Biblical Basics

March 24, 2026

By George Barna & The Barna Group

Cultural Research Center, Arizona University

Dear _______,

My latest research shows that even the nation’s most biblically grounded Christians struggle to fully apply scriptural principles in their lives—especially for more culturally contentious issues, such as marriage, family, and the sanctity of life.

The bottom line? We can’t ignore the power of the culture—even in the Church.

My new research looks closely at eight basic categories of beliefs and behaviors—to get an idea of the strengths and weaknesses in the worldview formation of American adults. Are the building blocks in place? And looking at these measures, where can we focus efforts to strengthen our worldview foundations?

Here are five key findings from the latest report from the American Worldview Inventory 2026 from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University:

• Biblical worldview alignment is strikingly low across all eight worldview categories among American adults, with scores ranging from a high of just 19% in Purpose and Calling to a low of 5% in Family and the Value of Life—meaning that in every category, the overwhelming majority of U.S. adults lack basic biblical alignment between their beliefs and behaviors and biblical principles.
• Family and the Value of Life stands alone as the weakest worldview category across every demographic group measured—every generation, every faith tradition, and every religious affiliation—signaling that cultural pressure on questions of marriage, abortion, and the sanctity of life has penetrated deeply and broadly across American society, including the church.
• Even the most committed believers—Integrated Disciples—show surprising vulnerability to cultural influence, scoring as low as 49% in Family and the Value of Life and just 68% in God, Creation, and History, revealing that no segment of the American church is fully insulated from worldview erosion. (Integrated Disciples are those who have a biblical worldview—our strongest representatives of God’s ways.)
• The gulf between Integrated Disciples and World Citizens is enormous—consistently around 80 percentage points across most categories—reflecting two groups operating from fundamentally different understandings of reality, morality, and faith. Those with little to no biblical alignment, or World Citizens, represent the vast majority of American adults (85%).
• Finally, biblical worldview among younger generations has cratered—with Millennials and Gen Z registering between just 1% and 4% biblical alignment in six of the eight categories, suggesting that meaningful biblical worldview formation has effectively disappeared among the two youngest adult generations.

While these are troubling findings, I strongly believe they provide a roadmap of how to raise the discipleship of potential of American adults.

In this newest report, I identify a number of research-based strategies to do just that.

The most strategic focus should be on adults I call “Emergent Followers”—those who have an above-average degree of biblical alignment but not a full biblical worldview. We might start by building and refining their worldview in specific areas the research shows is missing or misunderstood. These weaknesses are most evident in areas of Family and Value of Life, but also God, Creation, and History—and we should address those first.

Category by worldview category, the research identifies shortcomings and misunderstandings that can be addressed by disciplers and teachers of the Bible.

And this could get the American church back on the path to spiritual health.

The research report is full of data points that are designed to help those on the ministry frontlines—pastors, educators, ministry leaders, and parents—understand our nation’s worldview landscape and to engage where the findings lead.

Your support enables us to investigate these worldview basics, and to suggest strategic responses to opportunities, with rigor and clarity. As we release this new data from American Worldview Inventory 2026, we’re grateful for your partnership in our efforts to inform and equip families, ministries, and Christian leaders with research that strengthens biblical worldview.

Blessings,

Dr. George Barna
Director of Research, Cultural Research Center
Professor, Arizona Christian University

P.S. You can read the full American Worldview Inventory 2026 – “Report #2: New Research Shows Even Committed Christians Struggle with Application, As Overwhelming Majority of U.S. Adults Lack Biblical Basics,” as well as previous research on our website.