Articles with surprising polling data numbers published by the Barna Group keep popping up. Deciding to do some checking for myself, I easily found the much-quoted survey that was most recently published in 2009.
Here is the definition that the Barna Group gave for a “biblical worldview”:
For the purposes of the survey, a “biblical worldview” was defined as believing that absolute moral truth exists; the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches; Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic; a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or do good works; Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today. In the research, anyone who held all of those beliefs was said to have a biblical worldview.
I’m no Bible scholar, but the above descriptions are things that most of the least knowledgeable Bible readers would admit are found in the scriptures.
The question becomes: “Who believes the words of the Bible?”
Two things surprised me: the numbers and how long it’s been this way.
The numbers haven’t changed much in the last 15 years.
One-third of all adults (34%) believe that moral truth is absolute and unaffected by the circumstances. Less than half of those who call themselves “born again” adults (46%) believe in absolute moral truth.
So, two-thirds do not believe in absolute moral truth.
Might this be a reason for many of our problems?
The Barna Group came up with the following conclusion:
Overall, the current research revealed that only 9% of all American adults have a biblical worldview.
If this number is even close, it is a disappointment for those who hold God’s Word in high esteem.
Chris Reimers
Dr. Francis Schaeffer explained the problem almost 30 years ago:
Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE0ox_bDIv4&feature=channel
Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=853j7khx0Yo&feature=channel
An excellent article on the Barna poll by a like-minded wordpress blogger:
http://kairosinfinite.wordpress.com/2010/08/13/the-great-deception
It’s Time to Abandon Earth – Stephen Hawking’s idea:
Wings of the Wind 
Greetings!
I like your picture and would like to use it in a facebook note to my friends. Do you mind if I do that? (Or could you tell me the source of the picture?)
Anyways… I appreciate you taking an interest in Biblical Worldview!
We have lots of work to do on this topic.
God Bless.
Hi ThirstyJon,
I honestly don’t remember where I got the picture. At one point, I was taking pics from Bing Images and thought it was O.K. A reader pointed out that I needed to get permission before posting any pictures. Since that time, as far as I am aware, I have always given credit to the author and had permission to use any picture. Sorry I can’t help you with this one. I didn’t keep track of where I got pictures I used until the past few months.
God’s blessings…