While Scripture clearly conveys that it is the Word of God, a stunning number of Americans who profess to be Bible-believing Christians actually believe that it is indeed God's Word, written and passed on from generation to generation.
A recent Gallup poll involving more than 1,000 Evangelicals and Born-Again Christians discovered some concerning details with regards to how believers see, and consequently, treat the Word of God.
In general, about 20% of all American adults, Christian or not, believe the Bible is the literal Word of God-a historic low according to the polling company. In comparison, only a staggering 40% of Evangelical and Born-Again Christians believe that the Bible is the actual Word of God.
Further, only 51%--or about half-of these self-identified Christians believe the Bible is the "inspired word of God." The Christian Post says the "inspired word of God" means God inspired men to write the collection of books and epistles now known as the Bible.
Believing yet Unbelieving
The study also found that in general, while most self-identified Evangelicals and Born-Again Christians believe that God created the universe and that He is all-powerful and all-knowing, more than half of them do not believe the Bible's teachings and principles.
Worse, the unbelief among these self-identified believers includes rejecting the existence, and thereby person and power, of the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity.
Just Something Else
This recent poll marks a very concerning drop in the number of people who see the Word of God as such. Its findings are worse than the results of a similar poll conducted five years ago in 2017, and seven years ago in 2015.
In 2017, Gallup discovered that among Americans, 24% believed the Bible was and is the literal Word of God. A record 29%, on the other hand, think the Bible is but a collection of "fables, legends, history and moral precepts recorded by man."
In 2015, Pew discovered that 59% of self-identified Evangelicals believed that the Bible is the "literally true" Word of God, "word for word." Less than 30 percent (29%) say they believe the Bible is the Word of God, "but not literally true word of God."
The latest findings show how Americans' views of the Bible drastically changed over the years. Decades ago, in the 80's, more people saw the Bible as either the literal Word of God (40% in 1984), and the Word of God but "not all to be taken literally" (46%).
"This marks the first time significantly more Americans have viewed the Bible as not divinely inspired than as the literal word of God," Gallup said.
Interestingly, Gallup found in the recent poll, conducted in May this year, Protestants were the most likely to believe that the Bible is God's Word and should be taken literally (30%) This is twice the number of Catholics who believe the Bible is God's Word (15%). More Catholics believe the Bible should not be taken literally.
Work Towards Biblical Foundations
Regardless, churches should take note of these findings and work towards helping believers trust in God's Word and found themselves on the solid foundation of what God says in His Word.
Recent research discovered that a very concerning low number of Christians have a Biblical worldview, even in church. Further, Lifeway Research recently found that those who are not founded in Christ and have less confidence in their salvation in Him are less likely to do what He said in Matthew 28:18-20.
