American Worldview Inventory 2020-21 — The Annual Report On The State Of Worldview In The United States
Monday, June 21st, 2021
by Ken Pullen, A Crooked Path
I have no affiliation whatsoever with the following book, people, or college. If you are a regular visitor to ACP you then know I post any and all of the most recent information gleaned from the George Barna Group working at the Cultural Research Center, at Arizona Christian College.
They are a Christian, Bible-based research center doing the most accurate and necessary research taking place today with regard to the worldview of EVERY individual in America, on this earth.
I ordered this book. I’m reading this book. And as a result I am highly motivated to put this posting together urging you to also order this book and then read it when it arrives.
And to also let other folks you know, know about this book.
Yes, it is packed with that kind, that much vital and important information —for true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ who profess to follow and live according to the word of God. And also for every non-believer believing in something else, many other things other than that and those things which are true and emanate from the only source of truth — God’s word. The Bible.
I sincerely pray you will be moved to order this book and read this book.
Here is an excerpt from the first chapter;
“…Research on these matters conducted by the author throughout the past 30 years suggests that nobody in the United States has a pure worldview, regardless of which worldview they have adopted. People tend to cut-and-paste elements from a variety of alternatives to develop a customized worldview. Among the most common worldviews drawn from are Postmodernism, Marxism, Modern Mysticism or New Age, Nihilism, Secular Humanism, Christian Theism (what we will refer to as the biblical worldview), Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, and Existentialism.
The biblical worldview is the one that we will most heavily focus on in this book. It is the only one that is based on absolute truth principles provided by the God of Israel, and is identified and explained in the Bible. This is a philosophy of life that enables a person to experience, interpret, and respond to life based on biblical principles. While other worldviews typically lead to behaviors where the end justifies the means, or encourage an individual to do whatever makes them emotionally comfortable, secure, or satisfied, the biblical worldview is all about placing God at the center of life and doing what pleases and honors Him, which ultimately is what enables us to thrive.
On God’s Wavelength?
Most American adults — seven out of 10 — consider themselves to be Christian. As you’ll discover in these pages, though, being “Christian” means different things to different people.
Based on the research results, one thing that being Christian does not seem to mean is thinking and living like Jesus. Put differently, only 6 percent of U.S. adults possess a biblical worldview. Those are the people whose dominant process for making their life decisions is to identify the biblical principles and commands that relate to the choices they face, and then to consistently act in ways that conform to those principles and commands.
Thinking and behaving in that manner is the very thing that Jesus Christ worked at developing among His disciples. In fact, the determination to think and live like Jesus is what makes a person a “disciple of Christ.”
Consistently thinking and living like Jesus was so important to Him that He came to earth to spend three years mentoring a group of people in how to live such a life. And it was so important to Jesus that His final exhortation to His followers — a proclamation we often call the “Great Commission” — is to go and make disciples of the entire world. Fostering a biblical worldview among people — which Jesus referred to in that address, stating that disciples are to “obey all the commands I have given you” — is central to that task…”
Here are the words from the back cover;
America is in a spiritual and moral freefall…
A dangerously low number of Americans possess a Biblical worldview — which means that fewer Americans than ever understand or live according to our nation’s foundational Biblical values and principles. First we must understand the depth of the problem, then we can create a strategy for returning to our Biblical foundations.
~Len Munsil, B.S., J.D.
President, Arizona Christian University
Many of us have sensed this new cultural reality for some time. But now the American Worldview Inventory 2021-21 — the most sophisticated survey of worldview ever conducted in the United States — gives us the data we need to understand and address our nation’s worldview crisis.
Here are a few of key findings from this groundbreaking worldview study:
- Only 6% of American adults have a Biblical worldview — half as many as 25 years ago.
- The vast majority of Americans reject the idea of objective moral truth.
- Most Americans — even those who consider themselves “Christian” — are rejecting and redefining God and traditional faith.
- Much of the division we are witnessing in our nation is the result of a fierce battle of worldviews going on around us.
The insightful analysis from veteran researcher George Barna helps us navigate these cultural trends, as he calls us to “a full-throttle effort” to restore the Biblical worldview in our nation.
GEORGE BARNA is the director of Research and co-founder of the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University. Barna is also an ACU professor, focusing on worldview assessment and development, and cultural transformation. He was the founder and leader of the Barna Group, a research company that has set the standard for understanding trends in American culture. He serves as Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Biblical Worldview at the Family Research Council, has taught at the undergraduate and graduate level, and has pastored two churches. Barna has written more than 50 books, including numerous award-winners and New York Times bestsellers.
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