More than half of US adults, 30% of evangelicals believe Jesus isn’t God: study

Christian Post ^ | 08/30/2020 | Leonardo Blair

[SeekAndFind]

More than half of American adults, including 30% of evangelicals, say Jesus isn’t God but most agree He was a great teacher, according to results from the 2020 State of Theology survey.

Even though the Bible and traditional teachings of the Christian Church hold that Jesus truly existed as both man and God, among the key findings of the biennial State of Theology survey from Ligonier Ministries conducted with LifeWay Research, is that 52% of American adults believe that Jesus was a great teacher and nothing more.

And nearly a third of evangelicals also support that view, a preliminary release on the findings of the study said Thursday. The complete report on the survey, conducted March 10 to 18 among 3,002 U.S. adults including 630 professing evangelicals, is expected to be released on Sept. 8.

"Statistics like these from the State of Theology survey can give us quite a shock, but they also shed light on the concerns that many American Christians and churches have expressed for decades. As the culture around us increasingly abandons its moral compass, professing evangelicals are sadly drifting away from God's absolute standard in Scripture,” Stephen Nichols, chief academic officer of Ligonier Ministries and president of Reformation Bible College, said in a statement.

“It's clear that the church does not have the luxury of idly standing by. This is a time for Christians to study Scripture diligently, engage confidently with people in our culture, and witness fearlessly to the identity and saving work of Jesus Christ in the Gospel."

For the study, evangelicals were defined as people who strongly agreed with the following four statements: the Bible is the highest authority for what I believe; it is very important for me personally to encourage non-Christians to trust Jesus Christ as their Savior; Jesus Christ's death on the cross is the only sacrifice that could remove the penalty of my sin; and only those who trust in Jesus Christ alone as their Savior receive God's free gift of eternal salvation.

Some 65% of evangelicals in the study were also found to agree with the statement, "Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God," which theology experts say suggest a dire need for Christians to be taught Christology — the doctrine of the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Findings of an earlier Barna study this year also showed that only 51% of Americans consider God to be "all-powerful, all-knowing, perfect and just creator of the universe who still rules the world today.” In 1991, 73% of Americans believed that to be true.

Some 44% respondents in this survey agreed that since Jesus was both man and God when He walked the earth, He committed sins like any other person. Only 41% held the biblical perspective that Jesus was both man and God and remained sinless.

“The spiritual noise in our culture over the last few decades has confused and misled hundreds of millions of people," Barna said at the time. "The message to churches, Christian leaders, and Christian educators is clear: we can no longer assume that people have a solid grasp of even the most basic biblical principles."

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[Cronos]

Most evangelical and pentecostal and even many baptist groups refuse to teach the Nicene Creed

[Cronos]

Then

1. Why did He accept worship - if He was not God but a servant of God, he would act like the angel who was horrified that humans would try that

[Cronos]

Then tell that to the Seventh Day Adventists who say Jesus is the archangel Michael. And tell that to the Oneness Pentecostals who deny the Trinity.

[Cronos]

it’s based on the same story as the “tomb of prophet Isa” in Kashmir - these are based on the life of Apolonius of Tyana, a Stoic “holy man” who lived in the second half of the 1st century and DID travel to Kashmir.

[Cronos]

The Isa in Islam is a different character from Jesus in the Old and New Testament - Isa says and does things that no one ever heard of Jesus saying or doing.

It’s like the book of Mormon

So when a Muslim says “the prophet Isa said and did this...” - you must know that he is referring to what the Quran says this Isa said and did - and this “Isa” <> Jesus

[Cronos]

the bible says will happen near the end is a “falling away” -- the "falling away" is refering to the state in the 60 AD to 70 AD

Christianity has, since the destruction of the 2nd temple been in decline (think of the Arab conquests of 3 of the 5 main churches in the 7th century or the Turkish conquests of the 7 churches in revelations in the 11th century or the near conquest of Western Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries)

But it survives and thrives

[Cronos]

Tudorfly "If one does not believe Jesus is not God, then one is not an evangelical Christian."

So you are saying that in your opinion, to be an evangelical Christian is to believe that Jesus is not God?!?!

[Mark17]

If Jesus were merely a good man as some claim and as many in this survey believe, then He had a sin nature and was not perfect. In that case, His death and resurrection would have no power to save anyone.

When Jesus said, before Abraham was, I am. There are two possibilities here. Either he was telling the truth, or he was lying. If he was lying, then there is no way anyone could call him a prophet, a good teacher, or a good man, and he should be completely ignored. On the other hand, if he was telling the truth, (and I believe he was) then we have no choice, but to fall at his feet and worship him, but he never left us with the option of considering him, as merely a teacher, a prophet or a good man. No way.
That the Pharisees understood exactly what he was claiming, is clear, by virtue of the fact, that they took up stones to throw at him. They knew EXACTLY what he was claiming.

[Tudorfly]

My apologies for messing that up. If one does not believe Jesus is God, then one is not an evangelical. Gonna chalk that one up to human error, my human error.

[Mark17]

is that a clear summation of your beliefs?

No, that is not any kind of summation of my beliefs at all. I don’t know why you pinged me to that post, since I am not a catholic, and never will be, and I am not really that interested in YOUR beliefs. 🤗👎

[Concentrate]

AFAIK, He said he was the son of man, not God. Doesn’t it say that in the Bible? It doesn’t mean that he was not an important avatar.Please correct me if I’m wrong.

[Mark17]

I always liked CS Lewis, especially the Screwtape letters. 👍

[Tudorfly]

It’s called the trinity: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (some translations call it the Holy Ghost). They are one in the same. Do I understand this, intellectually? No. I accept it on and with faith. God is who He says He is. And He came to us in flesh, as His one and only Son, Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ introduced us to the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father.

[Mark17]

Our pastor believes that even in Heaven we will be growing and learning. I sort of hoped that all the secrets of the universe would be revealed upon entrance. But really - what would the fun in that be?

I tend to lean in that direction too. I think as we enter Heaven, we will know a lot more than we know now. I tend to think, however, that as the trillions and trillions of eons of eternity roll on and on, we will continue to learn and grow in the Lord, and by then, we will still have only barely scratched the surface of the depths and riches of God. 👍

[Mark17]

They are one in the same. Do I understand this, intellectually? No. I accept it on and with faith.

You are correct sir. Just my opinion, but I don’t think it’s possible for us to completely understand the trinity. We accept it on faith. An example. I don’t understand the inner workings of a GE9X jet engine, but I flown many a mile on the Boeing Triple Seven. 👍

[central_va]

I am not saying Jesus is not devine. It isn’t an either or situation.

[central_va]

It seems to me you can interpret the father and I are one as meaning a lot of things. Again who was Jesus praying to in the garden? Himself?

[Elsie]

...I’ve never looked in depth at the book of Mormon.

Don't feel too badly; as most Mormons haven't; either.

BTW; they get very little doctrine from the BoM - it mostly comes from their OTHER scriptures.

[Vermont Lt]

So, many people who “believe” in something have no idea what they believe.

That isn’t much of a surprise is it?

[Elsie]

3. The Mormons - who claim to be Christians

(Depending on which decade it is.)

---

Questions put to Joseph Smith:

"'Do you believe the Bible?' [Smith:]'If we do, we are the only people under heaven that does, for there are none of the religious sects of the day that do'. When asked 'Will everybody be damned, but Mormons'? [Smith replied] 'Yes, and a great portion of them, unless they repent, and work righteousness."

Found in section 3 --> http://www.boap.org/LDS/Joseph-Smith/Teachings/T3.html  (search for 119)

 

 

"for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible" (from Pearl of Great Price 1:12).

Found here --->  LINK

 

"What is it that inspires professors of Christianity generally with a hope of salvation? It is that smooth, sophisticated influence of the devil, by which he deceives the whole world"

Found in section 5 --> http://www.boap.org/LDS/Joseph-Smith/Teachings/T3.html  (search for 270)

 

 

---

 

Brigham Young stated this repeatedly:

"When the light came to me I saw that all the so-called Christian world was grovelling in darkness" (Journal of Discourses Section 5 page 73);

"The Christian world, so-called, are heathens as to the knowledge of the salvation of God" (Journal of Discourses  Section  8 page 171);

"With a regard to true theology, a more ignorant people never lived than the present so-called Christian world" (Journal of Discourses Section  8 page 199);

"Should you ask why we differ from other Christians, as they are called, it is simply because they are not Christians as the New Testament defines Christianity" (Journal of Discourses Section 10  page 230).

"And who is there that acknowledges [God's] hand? ...You may wander east, west, north, and south, and you cannot find it in any church or government on the earth, except the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (Journal of Discourses Section  6 page 24);