What do you believe?

Belief can be a tricky thing. As humans, we are very good at rationalizing away something we know to be wrong and believe it anyway. One of the hallmarks of a faulty belief system is that it fails tests of internal consistency. This means you hold two beliefs that when put side by side can't both be right. A survey was done by Ligonier Ministries and Lifeway Research this year concerning the beliefs of evangelicals. Most of the statements deal directly with weighty theological issues. The obvious concern when looking at the data is that self-identified evangelicals don't believe foundational tenets of the Christian faith. But, when thinking about the statements and responses a little more deeply, there appear cracks in the internal consistency of people's beliefs. I think this would be a great way to test yourself. So, rather than give you a summary, I am going to reproduce the statements in this post and then link to the website with the breakdown of responses. Write down your own answers and see where you fall. You may answer: agree strongly, agree somewhat, disagree somewhat, disagree strongly, or not sure.

1. God is a perfect being and cannot make a mistake.

2. God knows everything that occurs in the world but does not determine all that happens.

3. God continues to answer specific prayers.

4. God is the author of Scripture.

5. There is one true God in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

6. God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

7. God created male and female.

8. Biblical accounts of the physical (bodily) resurrection of Jesus are completely accurate. This event actually occurred.

9. Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God.

10. Jesus is truly God and has a divine nature, and Jesus is truly man and has a human nature.

11. The Holy Spirit is a force but is not a personal being.

12. The Holy Spirit gives a spiritual new birth or new life before a person has faith.

13. The Holy Spirit is a divine being but is not equal with God the Father and Jesus.

14. Modern science discredits the claims of Christianity.

15. Everyone sins a little, but most people are good by nature.

16. People have the ability to turn to God on their own initiative.

17. Even the smallest sin deserves eternal damnation.

18. By the good deeds that I do, I partly contribute to earning my place in heaven.

19. The Bible, like all sacred writings, contains helpful accounts of ancient myths but is not literally true.

20. The Bible was written for each person to interpret as he or she chooses.

21. The Bible alone is the written word of God.

22. The Bible is 100% accurate in all that it teaches.

23. A person obtains peace with God by first taking the initiative to seek God and then God responds with grace.

24. An individual must contribute his or her own effort for personal salvation.

25. Salvation always begins with God changing a person so they will turn to Him in faith.

26. Heaven is a place where all people will ultimately be reunited with their loved ones.

27. Hell is an eternal place of judgment where God sends all people who do not personally trust in Jesus Christ.

28. God would be fair to show His wrath against sin.

29. There will be a time when Jesus Christ returns to judge all the people who have lived.

30. Worshiping alone or with one’s family is a valid replacement for regularly attending church.

31. Churches that do not preach from the Bible should not be considered a Christian church.

32. My local church has the authority to withhold the Lord’s Supper from me and exclude me from the fellowship of the church.

33. The church should be silent on issues of politics.

34. There is little value in studying or reciting historical Christian creeds and confessions.

35. God is unconcerned with my day-to-day decisions.

36. God has authority over all people because He created human beings.

37. The Bible has the authority to tell us what we must do.

38. Humans exist to bring God glory and to enjoy Him.

39. Sex outside of traditional marriage is a sin.

40. Abortion is a sin.

41. Gender identity is a matter of choice.

42. God will always reward true faith with material blessings.

43. The Bible’s condemnation of homosexual behavior doesn’t apply today.

44. The Bible is the highest authority for what I believe.

45. It is very important for me personally to encourage non-Christians to trust Jesus Christ as their Savior.

46. Jesus Christ’s death on the cross is the only sacrifice that could remove the penalty of my sin.

47. Only those who trust in Jesus Christ alone as their Savior receive God’s free gift of eternal salvation.




Here is the link: http://thestateoftheology.com/. You can use the data explorer at the top right to view each question and you can see data from the 2014 survey to see how the answers changed on the questions that were asked in both years.