According to a new survey, only 6% of professing Christians possess a biblical worldview, as many Americans embrace syncretism. The American Worldview Inventory 2024, conducted by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, found that “the typical American adult is not a worldview purist but is essentially a worldview plagiarist, combining beliefs and behaviors borrowed from an average of nine recognized worldviews into their personal worldview blend.”
The research considers this finding as consistent with the fact that “the dominant worldview in America is syncretism, chosen by 92% of American adults as their dominant philosophy of life.”
“Syncretism is the term used to describe a customized blend of philosophies of life that a person pieces together for their own satisfaction,” the report explained. “Syncretism is the result of people relying upon their emotions to appropriate elements of various recognized worldviews toward creating an idiosyncratic, personally pleasing understanding of and response to reality.”
In a 2021 report, the Cultural Research Center found that 88% of adults in the U.S. hold to syncretism. The report also listed the ten most common worldview beliefs that do not align with a biblical worldview.
As reported by The Christian Post, the belief that “it is possible for a married couple to be bonded to each other for eternity,” associated with Mormonism, is embraced by 46% of Americans.
Another 46% of Americans believe that “people are neither good nor bad when they are born, but become either good or bad through accumulated life choices,” a belief associated with the philosophies of moralistic therapeutic deism, secular humanism, and animism.
Meanwhile, 35% of Americans subscribe to the secular humanist, postmodernist, and satanist idea that “when determining what is right and wrong, you are most likely to rely upon… your reason and emotions.”
However, the biblical worldview states that “marriage ends upon one’s earthly death” and “every human being is born as a sinner, our sins result in our condemnation by God, but that rejection can be overcome through the grace extended by Jesus Christ upon our repentance and embracing Jesus Christ as our savior.” The biblical worldview also stresses that God is “the source of all truth” who “conveys truth to humans through the Bible.”
Other non-biblical worldviews that were highlighted among respondents in the report include the Jewish idea that “a messiah has been promised” and that “He will make His initial visit to earth to save His people” (28%), the postmodernist notion that “a higher power may exist, but nobody really knows for certain” (26%), the moralistic therapeutic deist and Mormon belief that “the best indicator of a successful life is being a good person” (24%), and the secular humanist belief that “the basis of truth is scientific, verifiable proof” (23%).
In contrast to those beliefs, the biblical worldview contends that “Jesus Christ is the Messiah and that upon His second coming He will save those who have repented for their sins and have called upon Him to be their Savior,” that “creation itself is evidence of His existence,” the definition of success is “consistent obedience to God and the life principles He provides in the Bible” and that “there is no truth apart from God, and that by His nature and words He has defined truth.”
According to the Cultural Research Center, a biblical worldview is defined as “a means of experiencing, interpreting, and responding to reality in light of biblical perspectives.” In the report, only 4% of Americans and 6% of Christians have a biblical worldview.
The survey, which featured a national representative sample of 2,000 adults, was conducted in January with a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.
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Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
