Resurrection of the dead
Only 36% of Americans believe in the resurrection of the dead -- a fundamental, core, basic Christian belief -- according to a recent survey.
Does this mean we can't be a Christian nation anymore?
I'm amazed that there are people who consider this information to be shocking. If theologians ever talked to people other than theologians they'd realize what's going down.
3 comments:
Wow, that seems high.
It sure begs the question. . . what is at the root of this statistic? What is the percentage of "church going" believers that hold to this?
As a "shepherd" of a church, I am constantly reminded of the biblical illiteracy of many "church going" Christians. And I guess I only have myself to blame.
Factors:
+ These are people who SAY they believe in physical resurrection.
+ American evangelicalism has a bit of a gnostic bent to it -- emphasizing spiritual over physical -- e.g. we emphasize the spiritual unity of the church over the physical organizational unity. Or take into account that we tell people that all that matters is that one have a spiritual encounter with Christ. We even de-emphasize role of baptism -- it is secondary to the spiritual experience.
+ We talk more about heaven than resurrection. And when we do talk about resurrection most people hear us as talking about heaven. If you tell people that heaven is not their final destination as Christians they think you're introducing a new idea.
+ N.T. Wright is helpful in dealing with this.
+ There may or may not be a correlation between actual "church attendance" and belief in the resurrection of the dead. Dave Olson has a couple of good articles on the actual nature of church attendance in America. http://bradboydston.blogspot.com/2006/02/empty-pews-dave-olson-has-written.html
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