Americans revere the Bible, but by and large they don’t read it and have never memorized and meditated on one verse until Americans have become a nation of biblical illiterates.
- The Bible Is The Best-Selling Book in America: 25,000,000 copies sold annually. 4 billion dollars spent each year on Bibles.
- The Bible Is The Best-Selling Unread Book in America:
- Fewer than half of all adults can name the four gospels.
- Many professing Christians cannot identify more than two or three of the disciples.
- 60 percent of Americans cannot name even five of the Ten Commandments.
- 82 percent of Americans believe “God helps those who help themselves” is a Bible verse.
- 12 percent of adults believe that Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife.
- A 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 Billy Graham preached the Sermon on the Mount.
- Six out of ten Americans reject the existence of Satan.
- Four out of ten Americans believe that when Jesus Christ was on earth He committed sins.
- Five out of ten believe that anyone who is generally good or does enough good things for others during their life will earn a place in Heaven.
- Four out of ten believe that the Bible, the Koran and the Book of Mormon are all different expressions of the same spiritual truths.
- Seven out of ten born again Christians said they do not believe in moral absolutes.
- Only one out of ten Christians base their moral decision-making on the principles taught in the Bible.
- 54 percent believe truth can be discovered only through logic, human reasoning and personal experience.
These statistics indicate a gradual change of temperature over time. In general, Biblical illiteracy is a growing trend and church discipleship is ineffective.
John Stott wrote, “The Christian landscape is strewn with the wreckage of derelict half-built towers. The ruins of those who began to build and were unable to finish. For thousands of people still ignore Christ’s warning and undertake to follow Him without first pausing to reflect on the cost of doing so. The result is the great scandal of Christendom today, so called nominal Christianity. In countries to which Christian civilization has spread, large numbers of people have covered themselves with a decent but thin veneer of Christianity. They have allowed themselves to become somewhat involved, enough to be respectable but not enough to be uncomfortable. Their religion is a great soft cushion. It protects them from the hard unpleasantness of life while changing its place and shape to suit their convenience. No wonder the cynics speak of hypocrites in the church and dismiss religion as escapism.”[1]
- The Result: Syncretism-
“As Barna reports, “Christians have increasingly been adopting spiritual views that come from Islam, Wicca, secular humanism, the eastern religions and other sources. Because we remain a largely Bible-illiterate society, few are alarmed or even aware of the slide toward syncretism – a belief system that blindly combines beliefs from many different faith perspectives.”[2]
Why Is Biblical Illiteracy So High in America?
- Americans are not reading the Bible.
- Evangelical churches are not emphasizing the reading of the Bible.
- Only about 5% teach the memorization and meditation of the Word.
- Most preaching is topical, not Scripture based.
What Is The Answer to Biblical Illiteracy?
To simply do what the Word says to do with the Word of the Lord:
- Read – 1 Timothy 4:13.
- Study – 2 Timothy 2:15
- Crave – 1 Peter 2:2
- Love – Psalm 119:97
- Prioritize – Job 23:12
- Search – Acts 17:11
- Hide – Psalm 119:11
- Meditate – Joshua 1:8
- Abide – John 8:31
- Hear – Romans 10:17
- Obey – James 1:22
All the 11 actions above equal: THE INTERNALIZATION OF THE WORD
Why Is The Bible Unique And Absolutely Indispensable Unlike Any Other Book?
Because it is the only “God Breathed” book in existence (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
What does the Bible “Breath-Out?” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
[1] http://apostolicmessenger.wordpress.com/2007/11/13biblical-illiteracy/ pp 1-2.
[2] Ibid. p. 3