"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 imagine.
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.
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.
A Barna poll indicated that at least 12 percent of adults believe that Joan of Arc was Noah's wife. Another survey of graduating high school seniors revealed that over 50 percent thought that Sodom and Gomorrah were husband and wife. A considerable number of respondents to one poll indicated that the Sermon on the Mount was preached by Billy Graham. We are in big trouble."
We may chuckle at a few of these statistics, but in reality this is very sad. Many people who call themselves Christians never pick up their Bible to read it. Can I argue that you really can't be a "true" Christian and not care about God's Word?
I even blame many of our modern day churches for this problem as so many of them never ask us to open our Bible during a worship service. We're growing an evangelical group of Biblical illiterates. One of the marks of true saving faith in a Christian is his or her love for the Word of God. Not only hearing it, but being a doer of it as well. James 1: 22 God's Word has stood the test of time and scrutiny and every King that has tried to do away with it has failed. God has preserved it throughout history for a reason. It's His attempt to communicate to a fallen world.
If we are truly saved by God's grace, let us encourage one another to read what God has revealed to us about himself. This is the only way we can know that we are worshiping the true and living God, and not just one made up in our heads.
1 comment:
good post, one of our sunday school lessons (HS girls) recently was about this. I read a list of phrases and had the girls tell me if it was in the bible or man made...the result was dismal. granted they are 16 year old girls but the point i made was that we had to know what the bible says if we are going to say we believe in it. Of course i was teaching to myself as well!!
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