While America’s evangelical Christians are rightly concerned about the secular worldview’s rejection of biblical Christianity, we ought to give some urgent attention to a problem much closer to home–biblical illiteracy in the church. This scandalous problem is our own, and it’s up to us to fix it.Researchers George Gallup and Jim Castelli put the problem squarely: “Americans revere the Bible–but, by and large, they don’t read it. And because they don’t read it, they have become a nation of biblical illiterates.” How bad is it? Researchers tell us that it’s worse than most could imagin.Fewer than half of all adults can name the four gospels. Many Christians cannot identify more than two or three of the disciples. According to data from the Barna Research Group, 60 percent of Americans can’t name even five of the Ten Commandments. “No wonder people break the Ten Commandments all the time. They don’t know what they are,” said George Barna, president of the firm. The bottom line? “Increasingly, America is biblically illiterate.” [see Barna Group’s web site]Multiple surveys reveal the problem in stark terms. According to 82 percent of Americans, “God helps those who help themselves,” is a Bible verse. Those identified as born-again Christians did better–by one percent. A majority of adults think the Bible teaches that the most important purpose in life is taking care of one’s family.
(editors note–) No need to wonder why the nations morals and leadership are in decline, this article gives you the glaring answer. The slow rot in the moral fabric of our nation is taking its tool, and the blame can be spread around. Even when going to church, an hour service is spent 30 min in music, 25 min reciting some verses and maybe a taste of learning, 5 min in announcements/giving. I am not arguing that method is bad, im saying the results don’t prove it to make the congregation better ministers. In the end that is what all born again Christians are. We are all ministers, in our work, in our neighborhood, in schools, in private and public spaces. That is hard to do with the current sermons being taught today, it is up to us to take time out of our day to study the word on our own, to go to small group sessions and spend family time at home on bible study.
Please read the rest of this story here The Scandal of Biblical Illiteracy: It’s Our Problem