Do Americans still believe in God as described in the Bible? – Pew Research Center Answers

The Pew Research Center released a study yesterday that attempted to answer the question, “when Americans say they believe in God, what do they mean?” A team of researchers and analysts collaborated to see if Americans still believe in the God of the Bible. They generalized their findings to state, “Nine-in-ten Americans believe in a higher power, but only a slim majority believe in God as described in the Bible.”

The data included in the report was taken in phases over time among 4,729 participants who were recruited via phone surveys. Gender, age, race, education, and region were all taken into consideration to ensure that the survey was fairly weighted.

Questions asked aimed at finding the participants beliefs regarding the nature of God and Gods involvement in the world. From this researchers analyzed their findings of young people, the highly educated, Democrats and others relationships with God. Their results were intriguing and confirmed what many of us might have already known.

When the participants were asked if they believed in God, with no specifications on who God is, 80 percent answered yes. Of that 80 percent, 56 percent said they believe in God as described in the Bible and about a third, 23 percent, said they believe in a spiritual force or other higher power.

19 percent of those surveyed answered that they do not believe in God, nine percent of which said they do believe in a spiritual higher power, and ten percent sadly do not believe in any spiritual higher power.
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A Gallup poll released in 2016 has similar findings, but also shows that since 1944 there has been a steady decrease in the belief of God.

After these initial questions, researchers delved into the participant’s beliefs regarding the nature of God and His involvement in the world.

They found that 48 percent of adults believe God determines what happens to them. Of that, 27 percent said God determines what happens to them all the time. With 18 percent in the middle responding that God defines their life some of the time, a sad 23 percent believe God is in control hardly ever (9%) and never (13%).

The communication process with God was then questioned, Americans responded: they talk to God, and God talks to them (28%), they speak to God, but God doesn’t speak to them (47%), they don’t speak to God and God doesn’t speak to them (15%), or they don’t believe in God (10%).

The debate was opened on this issue recently due to Omarosa’s comments that Vice President Mike Pence says he communicates with God and hears back from Him. The women of the View discussed the issue, and Joy Behar expressed her concern that Pence was crazy because he heard voices. The host has since issued an apology for offending the many Christians who like Pence believe God speaks to them.

Interestingly, out of those surveyed, it was Americans aged 50+ that were more likely to believe that God loves all people despite their faults. The age group 50-64 agreed with that statement 88 percent of the time. Only 67 percent of the younger generation (18-29) agreed that God loves all people, making a 21 percent difference between the two groups.

The younger age group (18-29) was slightly more likely to believe that God has punished them (44%) when compared to the older (65+) generation (33%).

In general, those under the age of 50 surveyed expressed that they view God as less powerful and less involved in earthly affairs compared to the older groups.

The survey showed that young adults are far less likely than their older counterparts to say they believe in God as described in the Bible. Whereas roughly two-thirds of adults ages 50 and older say they believe in the biblical God, just 49% of those in their 30s and 40s and only 43% of adults under 30 say the same.

A 2016 report by the Pew Research Center entitled “Why America’s ‘nones’ left religion behind” showed that Millennials are more than twice as likely to be ‘nones’ as Baby Boomers. ‘Nones’ are those who identify themselves, religiously, as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular.”

Why are Americans losing faith in God? One answer to that question could be what’s going on at academic institutions across the nation who are pushing science as the ultimate authority and creating atheist college graduates. The Pew survey displayed this hotly debated phenomenon that college graduates are less likely to believe in an active, involved deity.

A striking ten percent difference is shown between college graduates (84%) and those who have high school diplomas or less (94%) who believe in God. In addition to this, there is a 21 percent divide between college graduates who believe in the God of the Bible (45%) and those who have high school diplomas or less (66%).

Universities in the United States are increasingly run by liberal professors who attempt to persuade their students to abandon religious beliefs. Take for instance the Student who was booted from university’s religious studies course for contending there are only two genders. Further, Pew found that Democrats are far less likely to believe in God as described in the Bible.

The Pew Research Center found that nonwhite Democrats are more like Republicans than white Democrats in their beliefs. “Most nonwhite Democrats, who are predominantly black or Hispanic, say they believe in God as described in the Bible, and seven-in-ten or more say they believe God is all-loving, all-knowing or all-powerful, with two-thirds ascribing all of these attributes to God. In these ways, nonwhite Democrats have more in common with Republicans than they do with white Democrats.”

Only one-third of white Democrats say they believe in the God of the Bible.

Strangely only eight out of ten Christians believe in God as described in the Bible. What could the church be teaching these individuals that would cause them to answer that as a believer in Jesus Christ, they don’t believe in the God of the Bible?

The findings from this study can be used to better inform the church regarding the Biblical foundation of God so Christians won’t fall prey to propaganda and the media lies that attack their beliefs. So often we see jest surrounding the character of God, like when Oprah appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert for the segment, “Oprah Winfrey gets some career advice from a slightly less famous figure: the Lord.”

Confusion has surrounded who God is to Americans, lately even down to the gender of God. Christians are being led to believe that it’s okay to see God as a female, leading them to goddess worship. Take for example the movie the Shack that presents the Trinity as two females and a male. Worshiping the ‘divine feminine’ is even on the rise in the Catholic church who has overstepped its bounds time and time again to worship mother Mary instead of Jesus Christ.

A church in San Francisco is holding a ‘Beyonce Mass’ where they sang the goddess-worshipping feminists songs before their sermon. At the same church, they perform prayer poses in yoga in front of a statue of Mary.

The New Age invasion of the church teaches that all of this is okay, the universal god is all accepting, but this isn’t based on scripture. The study done by the Pew Research Center confirms that Christians are straying from the once strong Biblical belief in God to a more generalized higher power.

As solid Biblical beliefs continue to get twisted and transformed into ‘positive’ light-bearing messages, and the media and academic institutions attack Christian beliefs, the war on the Bible continues. Matthew 24:35 reminds us that the word of God will never perish, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” Therefore we know that no matter what force comes against the character of God, He is and always will be the same eternal, forgiving, and loving God and His people will know Him.