believing the "christmas miracle"
MSNBC - The Christmas Miracle
this is a fascinating article on the statistics of those who believe in Jesus and the events surrounding His birth, death and resurrection.
according to the survey out of princeton university and reported in newsweek, 79 percent of americans believe that, as the Bible says, Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, without a human father. 76 percent say they believe that the entire story of Christmas, the virgin birth, the angelic proclamation to the shepherds, the star of bethlehem and the wise men from the east is historically accurate. 93 percent of americans say they believe Jesus Christ actually lived and 82 percent believe Jesus Christ was God or the Son of God.
perhaps it is something of an indictment to how believers live out their faith in the world that just 11 percent of those surveyed say american society as a whole very closely reflects true Christian values and the spirit of Jesus; 53 percent say it somewhat reflects those values.
personally, i don't think the survey goes far enough. i wonder if the real picture of american society would be painted if some other questions were asked as well. the fact is, we live in a very pluralistic society in which people build their religion cafeteria style, picking and choosing things they believe in order to form their own "custom faith." i would like to know how many of these same people also believe in the tenets of buddhism or hinduism. how many believe there are absolute standards for the world given by God? how many of those who believe in Jesus believe that He is the only way to salvation? how many believe that all religions are equal and that they all lead to God? i think we may be surprised at the results of these kinds of answers.
we live in an age where contradiction and irony is embraced. call me cynical, but i know that it is possible for americans to believe all of these traditional facts about the Christian faith while at the same time holding to beliefs in faith traditions whose teachings are diametrically opposed to what the Bible teaches. sounds crazy, but it's true.
too pessimistic? maybe, but i doubt it.
this is a fascinating article on the statistics of those who believe in Jesus and the events surrounding His birth, death and resurrection.
according to the survey out of princeton university and reported in newsweek, 79 percent of americans believe that, as the Bible says, Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, without a human father. 76 percent say they believe that the entire story of Christmas, the virgin birth, the angelic proclamation to the shepherds, the star of bethlehem and the wise men from the east is historically accurate. 93 percent of americans say they believe Jesus Christ actually lived and 82 percent believe Jesus Christ was God or the Son of God.
perhaps it is something of an indictment to how believers live out their faith in the world that just 11 percent of those surveyed say american society as a whole very closely reflects true Christian values and the spirit of Jesus; 53 percent say it somewhat reflects those values.
personally, i don't think the survey goes far enough. i wonder if the real picture of american society would be painted if some other questions were asked as well. the fact is, we live in a very pluralistic society in which people build their religion cafeteria style, picking and choosing things they believe in order to form their own "custom faith." i would like to know how many of these same people also believe in the tenets of buddhism or hinduism. how many believe there are absolute standards for the world given by God? how many of those who believe in Jesus believe that He is the only way to salvation? how many believe that all religions are equal and that they all lead to God? i think we may be surprised at the results of these kinds of answers.
we live in an age where contradiction and irony is embraced. call me cynical, but i know that it is possible for americans to believe all of these traditional facts about the Christian faith while at the same time holding to beliefs in faith traditions whose teachings are diametrically opposed to what the Bible teaches. sounds crazy, but it's true.
too pessimistic? maybe, but i doubt it.
Labels: David C. Price
posted by DAVID C. PRICE at 12/08/2004 08:30:00 AM
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1 Comments:
yeah, polls of this type tend to be skewed. Who wrote and conducted the poll is usually more interesting than the results. the psychology of the person being polled is important too. people will often answer the poll according to the direction the questions lead them. and no poll really has any meaning if we don't know the statistics of who was asked, when it was conducted, the geographical region it was conducted in. the time of day it was conducted, that it's hard to glean anything useful from it. Most American Christians are shocked to find out that Christianity isn't the most popular religion in the world. but then again no likes to have their fantasies crushed.
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