State of Theology - Illinois Family Institute

The Apostle Peter in his first letter gave a very sober warning to Christians:

For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God;
and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?
1 Peter 4:17

Concerned Christians who are troubled by the revolutions that we are seeing in law and in our culture are right to investigate the source of why our nation is so rapidly changing. Evidence points to the failure of Christians maintaining a faithful witness to God’s truth and giving into the wicked pressures of our culture. Even more seriously, many professed Christians are extremely confused about the key doctrines of the Christian faith.

Ligonier Ministries and LifeWay Research recently conducted a survey of the State of Theology in our nation. They have done this survey every 2 years starting in 2014. They surveyed 3011 people. You might not think this is a large enough sample, but the consistency of the results does support the basic integrity of this survey. The results are terrifying!

The survey revealed that evangelicals are just about as confused on key doctrinal matters as mainline churches. The definition of what an evangelical is has been debated. But in terms of this survey, evangelicals were identified as those who claim the Bible is the highest authority, that non-Christians must be encouraged to trust Jesus Christ as their Savior, that the death of Jesus Christ on the cross is the only way of salvation, and that only those who trust in Jesus Christ as Savior receive God’s gift of salvation.

Based on these characteristics, evangelicals should have a very high and good understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ. And yet, the survey revealed the opposite.

61 percent of evangelicals agree with the claim that Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God. This is the ancient heresy of Arianism.

Thankfully only 43 percent agree with the claim that Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God.

55 percent of surveyed evangelicals believe the Holy Spirit is a force but not a personal being.

And 66 percent of evangelicals think we are born innocent in the eyes of God.

Now on some of the questions, the results were better, much better, thankfully.

94 percent of evangelicals think sex outside of traditional marriage is a sin and 91 percent think that abortion is a sin. These are encouraging results; however, other questions continue to indicate confusion on important matters.

37 percent of evangelicals believe that gender identity is a matter of choice. And 28 percent believe that the Bible’s condemnation of homosexual behavior doesn’t apply today.

On these two key issues our world is going crazy, and over ¼ of evangelicals have little problem with the direction.

The 2022 State of Theology survey reveals that Americans increasingly reject the divine origin and complete accuracy of the Bible. With no enduring plumb line of absolute truth to conform to, U.S. adults are also increasingly holding to unbiblical worldviews related to human sexuality. In the evangelical sphere, doctrines including the deity and exclusivity of Jesus Christ, as well as the inspiration and authority of the Bible, are increasingly being rejected. While positive trends are present, including evangelicals’ views on abortion and sex outside of marriage, an inconsistent biblical ethic is also evident, with more evangelicals embracing a secular worldview in the areas of homosexuality and gender identity.

Here are three points for further reflection and engagement.

First, please check out this survey yourself. The data are beautifully presented. There is much more to learn.

Second, please encourage your pastor to study this survey. As a pastor myself, I am very convicted about the need to specifically address these key issues.

Third, as fathers and mothers we also have a duty to teach our children these things. When you study and reflect on this survey, you appreciate afresh why God commanded Israel that fathers and mothers teach their children carefully the truths that God revealed.

“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.
You shall teach them diligently to your children,
and shall talk of them when you sit in your house,
when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
You shall bind them as a sign on your hand,
and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:-9