In 2022, Ligonier and LifeWay Research partnered together to conduct a survey called the State of Theology. This survey took account of what Americans believe about God, salvation, ethics, and the Bible. In discussing the purpose of this research, they note that it is done to “take the theological temperature of the United States to help Christians better understand today’s culture and to equip the church with better insights for discipleship.” This is undoubtedly a worthwhile endeavor. The Christian identity is often projected onto the American people in the media and by their own declaration, however, we must test the veracity of that testimony to see if it can be credibly maintained.
When I first encountered this survey, I was surprised by the figures that came out of it. For me, the evangelical label was one of great pride. We were the Bible-believing Christians. We were the ones who would stand on the truth of God’s word with unflinching fervor and dedicate ourselves to preserving it. When you look at this survey this evangelical fervor for Scripture is evident. Of those who reflected evangelical beliefs in the survey (not just those who called themselves evangelicals), a whopping 95 % maintained that the Bible is fully accurate in all that it teaches. Furthermore, 94% stated that the Bible has the authority to tell us what we must do which is then complemented by a resounding 100% affirmation that the Bible not only has authority, but it is the highest authority for belief. There is no doubt that the doctrine of “sola scriptura” has come forth to evangelical congregations with great force and reception.
One would think that this level of affirmation would lead to generating a right belief in a multitude of key doctrines. If these things are true affirmations, Christians ought to be wedded to maintaining those orthodox beliefs that have been held by Christians for so many centuries before us. But I’m haunted by some of the results that came out of the survey. There are several where I certainly disagree strongly but I don’t think it comes down to maintaining orthodoxy such as the 54% that believe that individual or family worship can serve as a valid replacement for congregational worship. However, I’m disturbed by the fact that there are several results in the survey by a large portion of evangelicals that are tantamount to heresy.
One of those results is that 43% of evangelicals (again these are those who reflected evangelical beliefs) believe that Jesus was a great teacher, but He was not God. Another chilling result that compounds this figure is the belief of 73% of evangelicals that Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God.
What is this evangelicalism that maintains the authority of Scripture yet deviates so far from the historical witness of the body of Christ? What is this evangelicalism that finds unity of mind in political beliefs yet fails to consistently find unity in theological belief? In what way has evangelicalism been co-opted, distorted, and manipulated, and into whose image?
I am going to walk through a series in which I will explore some of those deviant results, both heretical and heterodox, in light of Scripture and the historic creeds of the church. My goal in this is to demonstrate the veracity of the historical orthodox belief on these questions and through this demonstrate the efficacy of the ecumenical creeds to guard against this incorrect deviance from the orthodox understanding. I truly believe that these results we are seeing are not a reflection of a declarative stance but one of ignorance. If I were to present these questions more fully or draw attention to the error of such statements, I am optimistic that many evangelicals would be willing to walk back their answers. Nevertheless, the evangelical church has lost something in the expression of its identity and my hope is through this series to call it into correction with the witness of Scripture and the witness of the creeds. In my best efforts, it will be a practice of “sola scriptura” rightly conceived and aptly applied with Scripture as the highest and final authority and the creeds as a supplemental authority as to what we ought to believe in the body of Christ.
The articles, listed below, will be linked as they are developed.
1. Does God accept the worship of all religions?
2. Is Jesus a created being?
3. Is Jesus just a great teacher?
4. Is the Holy Spirit just a force?
5. Do small sins escape judgment?
6. Is my Christian belief just a matter of personal opinion?
7. What do evangelicals get right on this survey?
I’d invite you to subscribe to follow along with this series and to dive deeper into Christian beliefs. As always, I invite feedback, reflection, and objections. You can send those to mark@practicingtheology.org.
I pray that this series is meaningful to you and if it is I would humbly ask that you share it with others.
God’s peace to you.