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Christians Lack Bible Knowledge: Sound the Alarm

  • Paul Dean Dr. Paul J. Dean's Weblog
  • Published Apr 26, 2006

 

The decline in Bible knowledge is alarming, not only in terms of worldview thinking and the fact that most people approach nothing near having a Christian worldview, but also in terms of general knowledge of familiar biblical events and the sad reality that the decline in question is among Christians. Further, the decline is worldwide.

According to The Christian Post, "Less than a quarter of Christians in the United Kingdom possess enough knowledge of the Bible to be able to place key events in the order they appear, according to the results of a new survey by the Bible Society released [recently]. The Christian evangelical organization carried out a survey of regular churchgoers, which revealed that 76 percent of people were unable to put a series of ten popular Bible stories in the order that they appear in the Bible. Events used in the survey included Noah's Ark, Solomon's building of the Temple, and Jesus feeding the five thousand, among other similar incidents."

"The survey was carried out by asking the questions in a quick-fire quiz style, and was designed to assess the common assumption that Christians possess an in-depth knowledge of the Bible."

Sadly, the common assumption that Christians possess an in-depth knowledge of the Bible is wrong. Of course, one has to wonder who held this assumption. In what sense was it common? With the sharp up-turn in secularism and postmodern thinking, one would have assumed that the Bible was an all but forgotten book.

On reflection, it may be a bit surprising that the majority of Christians have very little knowledge of the Bible. Yet, in the face of cultural trends, one would have to assume that the majority of Christians are nominal (in-name only) or that they really have forsaken their calling. Perhaps it's both.

Sanctification is connected to the word. Jesus prayed to the Father, "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth (Jn. 17:17)." Moreover, we are to "...Follow sanctification, without which no man shall see the Lord (Heb. 12:14)." In light of those verses and the connection one should make between them, knowledge of God's Word is pretty important. Sound the alarm.

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