22AR27-38

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AR 27:38 - Two major surveys of evangelical belief raise concerns

In this issue:

BELIEF - "it is easier to change one's thoughts than to introspect and question"

CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM - a scholarly analysis of what it is ... and isn't

EVANGELICALISM - parsing Ligonier's latest State of Theology survey

Apologia Report 27:38 (1,591)
November 2, 2022

BELIEF

Cultic thinking is a perplexing worldwide phenomenon with common local parallels. This recent culture special by Rebecca Rose Varghese on "Cognitive Dissonance" (The Hindu, Sep 14 '22) explains: "The cognitive dissonance theory was one of the most influential theories in social psychology first proposed by Leon Festinger in his book A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance <www.amzn.to/3h8zGF1> in 1957.

The genesis of the theory was Festinger's study of a cult started by a woman who claimed that "she received messages from extraterrestrial aliens that the world would end due to a flood on a specific date and that a flying saucer would arrive to rescue people who believed in the prophecy. Many people joined the cult, leaving their families, jobs, money and possessions. Festinger and his colleagues joined the cult to observe how believers would react if and when the prophecy failed. ...

"Cognitive dissonance theory explains how individuals or groups rationalise their support and belief toward different religions, cults or political parties, partially blinding themselves to reduce the contradictions between their thoughts and behaviour."

A sample experiment "shows that in an attempt to reduce dissonance, the attitude towards it changes, more likely in the direction of less incentive. Cognitive dissonance theory, in this regard, contradicts most behavioural theories that attribute positive changes to higher incentives."

Varghese concludes: "While there are various ways to resolve cognitive dissonance, in most cases, people tend to justify their behaviour by either adding consonant elements or negating contradictory or inconsistent thoughts. This is because it is easier to change one's thoughts than to introspect and question one's belief system." <www.bit.ly/3DAzcQQ>

Our source, The Hindu, is "the second most circulated English-language newspaper in India <www.bit.ly/3SBplP3> (more specific data not provided), after The Times of India" (at 5.5m) <www.bit.ly/3TBTlM2> per Wikipedia.

For a less technical exploration of the theory and its implications, also see "Cults and Cognition: Programming the True Believer" by Matthew J. Sharps in Psychology Today, Oct 2 '20 <www.bit.ly/3SYtFs0>

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CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM

In a recent quantitative Christian nationalism (QCN) study, Perry et al. stated, first, that "'over half of the United States population embraces Christian nationalism to some extent,' and shortly thereafter, that 'Christian nationalism is and will continue to be an existential threat to the democratic process.' It seems to follow, paradoxically, that American democracy can be secured only if the political will of more than half of the electorate is decisively thwarted."

Have you noticed how "Christian nationalism" has grown to become one of the favorite broadly used pejorative terms now in use by the mainstream media? Apparently, it isn't just conservatives who have picked up on this.

In "What Isn't Christian Nationalism? A Call for Conceptual and Empirical Splitting," Jesse Smith (PhD candidate, Pennsylvania State University) and Gary J. Adler, Jr. (associate professor of sociology, Pennsylvania State University) look into this. Their abstract includes: "Theoretically, the concept of Christian nationalism is overextended and conflates multiple conceptualizations of religion in public life. Empirically, the standard scale used to measure Christian nationalism contains survey items that are too ambiguous to adequately inform (or constrain) interpretations of findings. The authors draw from cultural sociology and political science to highlight key questions current Christian nationalism scholarship does not adequately address."

The introduction observes: "When a concept so quickly comes to influence research literature, not to mention public usage of sociology, we should scrutinize its adequacy for both.

"This article proceeds as follows. We first review the definitions of Christian nationalism ... explaining numerous shortcomings and conceptual confusions. Second, we examine the scale typically used to measure Christian nationalism.... We conclude with discussion of how future QCN research will benefit from greater incorporation of empirical and theoretical tools drawn from other sources in developing a more compelling and better supported account of Christian nationalism."

Nearing the conclusion of this technical content we read: "QCN lacks conceptual clarity or empirical demonstration regarding what Christian nationalism is, what forms it takes, and how it operates. Furthermore, QCN fails to consider how Christian nationalism relates to other ways that Americans connect religion, public life, and the state. Without greater attention to these fundamental issues, the explanatory framework offered by QCN literature remains incomplete, and the many and strong claims made about the central role of Christian nationalism in U.S. political conflict are insufficiently grounded." Socius, v8-2022, <www.bit.ly/3sf4aHI>

POSTSCRIPT, Nov 4 '22: Paul Carden adds that “This item should have given more attention to one or more actual definitions in current use.” To address this, from the article cited:
"What, fundamentally, is Christian nationalism? Its theoretical definitions are as varied as its proposed constitutive elements. It has been labeled, nonexhaustively, as a pervasive ideology, cultural framework, convergent social identity, constellation of beliefs, malleable set of symbols, myth, discourse, movement, political theology, and politicized religion. Some QCN studies lean more heavily on one definition or another, some draw from several, and others elaborate a meta-definition, as when Perry, Whitehead, et al. (2021) described it as 'a pervasive ideology constituted by identities, values, and historical narratives' (p. 427). This list contains a diverse array of cultural forms. Christian nationalism might be all of these, but because cultural forms entail different theoretical processes such that culture 'works' in different ways, it cannot be each of these for a given person at a given moment."

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EVANGELICAL THEOLOGY

Writing for Christianity Today (Sep 9 '22), Stefani McDade reviews this year's State of Theology survey <stateoftheology.com>, released on September 5 by Ligonier Ministries and Lifeway Research.

"The report references Ligonier founder R. C. Sproul's teaching that everyone's a theologian. 'However, Dr. Sproul would be quick to add that not everyone is a good theologian,' it read. ...

"Overall, adults in the US are moving away from orthodox understandings of God and his Word year after year. More than half of the country (53%) now believes Scripture 'is not literally true,' up from 41 percent when the biannual survey began in 2014.

"Researchers called the rejection of the divine authorship of the Bible the 'clearest and most consistent trend' over the eight years of data." (Houston. We have a problem.)

Nevertheless, "Well over 90 percent agree that God is perfect, God exists in three persons, Jesus' bodily resurrection is real, and people are made righteous not through works but through faith in him."

Yet, "around a quarter of evangelicals (26%) said the Bible is not literally true, up from 15 percent in 2020. They also became more likely to consider religious belief 'a matter of personal opinion' and 'not about objective truth'; 38 percent said so in 2022, compared to 23 percent in 2020. ...

"More than half - 56 percent - of evangelical respondents affirmed that 'God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism and Islam,' up from 42 percent in 2020. ...

"A surprising 73 percent agreed with the statement that 'Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God.' ...

"Given the above beliefs on Jesus as a created being, it's not too surprising that 43 percent affirmed that 'Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God,' which is another form of Arian heresy" along with that immediately above.

"60 percent of the evangelical survey respondents had some confusion about its third member, believing that 'The Holy Spirit is a force but is not a personal being.' ...

"57 percent also agreed to the statement that 'Everyone sins a little, but most people are good by nature.'"

Conversely, "Among evangelicals, 94 percent believe 'sex outside of traditional marriage is a sin' and 91 percent believe abortion is a sin, both the highest levels since the survey began." <www.bit.ly/3z0Vhpb>

We're proud evangelicals. We like things black and white. Makes it easier. We like it the easy way more than having to think through all those gray areas. In this we're a lot like so many politicians. It's easier to let the next generations pay for our preferences.

This sad news reminds us of Eric Metaxas' new book, Letter to the American Church <www.bit.ly/3UTLafe>

Yup. There's more to this. Mike McGarry's Youth Ministry blog (Sep 21 '22) includes a different perspective on the State of Theology survey. Unsurprisingly, he finds: "The state of theology in youth ministry is not good.

"What else should we expect when we hear statements like: 'Teenagers don't need to hear about the Trinity, they need conversations about sexuality.' 'Theology divides. We should focus on the gospel instead.' 'You seem like you want to be a theology professor and are practicing on our kids until you get the job you really want.' ...

"One of the most common statements I've heard from youth workers when it comes to theology is something like this: 'Mike, we're youth workers, not theologians. Let's put our theology aside and simply preach the gospel to these teenagers.'"

What's wrong? In a word, it's balance. McGarry adds: "Frankly, youth workers have been obsessed with teaching apologetics for over a decade while neglecting to teach theology. ...

"Rather than promoting more and better apologetics, I sincerely believe that youth workers need to commit themselves to reading theology personally." (You'll be glad you read the entire piece before you jumped to conclusions.) <www.bit.ly/3MScve0>

New and related: "The Open Generation," billed as "A first-of-its-kind international research study <bit.ly/3sRaxBF> to help church leaders understand teenagers around the world," brought to you by the Barna Group (Oct 26 ‘02). Impressively, Barna surveyed 24,870 teens across 26 countries about "three crucial elements of the Christian faith: Jesus, the Bible and justice."

Nick Hartman of the Youth Pastor Theologian site offers a reflection on the Barna report, noting that "Teenagers Call Themselves Christians but Don’t Know the Gospel," "Teenagers Own a Bible But Aren’t Opening It," and - unsurprisingly - "Teenagers are More Engaged When Someone Has Taught Them to Study the Bible." <www.bit.ly/3UfmQTG>

Back to the Ligonier survey, Christianity Today offers its own analysis. In "The Rise of the Evangelical Heretic," CT editor-in-chief Russell Moore's subtitle sums it up clearly: "Christian orthodoxy has taken a backseat to cultural and political tribalism." More to the point, Moore finds: "Today's American evangelical Christianity seems to be more focused on hunting heretics internally than perhaps in any other generation." He feels that "to many of them, Christian orthodoxy seems boring and irrelevant compared to claiming religious status for already-existing political, cultural, or ethnonational tribes."

Well then. We may be in deeper trouble than most of us think. What's the solution? Moore turns out to support something we discussed in AR 27:34 <www.bit.ly/3EtFSRW> "we have a generation of 'Bible quoters, not Bible readers.'"

Jesus "knew his Book and knew what mattered," says Moore. "If we don't follow his lead, we might have our 'values' right-side up and our theology upside down." <www.bit.ly/3fs4rnR>

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