Ligonier Ministries has released its annual State of Theology report for 2022. Every year, its findings remind us that evangelical Christians throughout the United States have been poorly catechized in the core tenets of the Christian faith. This year’s report concludes:
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.
The research shows that while evangelicals take a strong stand on the issues of abortion and premarital sex, they’re compromised on the doctrines of sin, Scripture, God, and salvation. 91% of evangelicals agree that abortion is a sin, but 43% agree with the statement “Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God.” 94% of evangelicals believe that sex outside of traditional marriage is sin, but more than half agree that God accepts the worship of all religions, including Judaism and Islam.
Regarding the extent to which secular sexual ethics have made inroads in the church: 23% of evangelicals believe the Bible’s condemnation of homosexuality doesn’t apply today, and 32% strongly agree that gender identity is a matter of choice. Here, we do well to remember Paul’s admonition to the Romans, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2).
Perhaps the most troubling statistics relate to what Christians believe about God. 70% of evangelicals polled strongly agreed with the statement, “Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God,” in essence affirming the ancient heresy known as Arianism. 51% agree that the Holy Spirit is an impersonal force, and 43% strongly agree with the statement that “God learns and adapts to different circumstances” calling into question God’s omniscience and immutability.
All of this confirms what sociologist Christian Smith discovered years ago regarding American Christianity: most churches are making moralistic therapeutic deists, not disciples. The religion of many Christians in the U.S. is moralistic—God wants me to be a good person; therapeutic—God wants me to be happy; and deistic—God is out there watching me from above, but mostly disconnected from my everyday life. It isn’t confessional—that is, rooted in the core tenets of the faith handed down throughout the ages.
How should we respond to statistics like these? First, lament is in order. To the extent that large numbers of professing evangelicals can’t articulate the ABC’s of Christianity, there’s a major problem. Second, this is a good reminder for us to be committed to catechesis. You need to know what the church believes, and if you’re a parent, you need to teach your children what that is. While it seems most evangelicals have a basic understanding of the law (X is a sin, and should be avoided), many Christians have a hard time articulating who God is and what the gospel is about. In order to be faithful to the great commission, we’ll need to be just as solid on theology as we are on ethical issues. If the clear message the world hears from the church is, “Premarital sex is bad,” and we stop short of preaching the gospel—either because our understanding of God is heretical, or because we’re unclear on what the gospel is—our message will only serve to critique the culture. The world doesn’t need more critics; it needs a Savior.
