America Now 25% Atheists or Agnostics

Barna research has recently released some new troubling, yet not surprising, information.

Barna Group has released its 2015 study on the state of atheism in America, and has revealed that one in four unchurched adults in the country now identify as atheists or agnostics. The study also found that rejection of the Bible and lack of trust in the church are two main reasons why people are turning away from faith.

The study was focused on those who have not attended church within the past six months, and found that the majority of such people identify as non-practicing Christians. One in four, or 25 percent, however, were classed as skeptics, which Barna defines as people who "either do not believe God exists (atheists) or are not sure God exists, but are open to the possibility (agnostics)."

Of that number, nearly one-third said that they have never attended a Christian church service in their lives.

Barna found that the three main reasons people decide not to believe in God stem from rejection of the Bible; lack of trust in the local church; and the "cultural reinforcement of a secular worldview."

"Skeptics dismiss the idea that the Bible is Holy or supernatural in any way. Two-thirds contend that it is simply a book of well-known stories and advice, written by humans and containing the same degree of authority and wisdom as any other self-help book," the report said.

It added that the other one-third believe that the Bible is either a historical document that contains "the unique but not God-inspired accounts of events that happened in the past," or do not really know what to make of the Bible.

The group explained that today's skeptics, much like their counterparts two decades ago, are defined by their denial and doubts about God's existence. Their demographics have been changing considerably, however.

As other studies have also found, younger people are more likely to be skeptics than older people. Barna says that today, 34 percent of all skeptics are younger than 30.

The statistics also showed that half of all skeptics have a college degree, and that many more women today are joining their ranks — only 16 percent of skeptics in 1993 were women, but by 2013 that number grew to 43 percent.

Kinnaman added in his statement: "Figuring out how to effectively engage skeptics is difficult. One of the unexpected results we uncovered is the limited influence of personal relationships on skeptics. They are considerably less relational and less engaged in social activities than the average American. Christians for whom 'ministry is about relationships' may be disappointed when they find that many skeptics are not as enamored of relational bonds as are those who are already a part of church life."

"But in giving his followers the Great Commission, Jesus didn't mention anything about doing what is easy. New levels of courage and clarity will be required to connect beyond the Christianized majority."

Barna reached out to 23,000 churched and unchurched adults for the study, and found that for each survey of 1,000 people, the estimated maximum sampling error was plus or minus 3.1 percent at the 95 percent confidence level.

Here;  http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/2015/March30/304.html

No doubt the Catholic church and it's problems involving thousands of pedophiles and homosexual perverts has much to do with Americans no longer trusting the church.  Think about it....would you send your 11 yr old boy on a camping trip with Father Thomas?  If you answered no, then by Barna's definition you no longer trust "the church".

Of course the other reasons would include the millions of college kids we send off to colleges across the country to study under atheist professors.  When they get done with college MILLIONS are of the belief that what they learned in Sunday School (if they even went) can now be relegated to the same place Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny live.

And finally, the blame can be laid squarely at the feet of millions of parents....most of whom have little or no working knowledge of the Bible and were totally incapable of passing on the confidence that the Bible can be trusted as an answer for ANYTHING we need while traveling in this flesh body wandering around on this Satan-filled earth.

But take heart Christians!!  Even if the Bible and the Gospel message are dying in America they are growing with leaps and bounds in places all across Africa, the Middle East (Iran specifically) and China!

"Even the gates of hell" can't tear down the story of Jesus Christ and the salvation that He alone came to give us!!

But yet, I must admit that it is hard to watch America fall into the lost abyss....where we will soon join the ranks of atheist-Europe and join them in their Post-Christian wallow.