Barna Polls, Hick and the "Christian" West
There are some who speak of a moral problem within evangelical Christianity. There are others who speak about the problems with believing that the Christian west is superior to other civilizations. So what do Ron Sider and John Hick have in common? They both rely on a combination of polls and intuition to reach their claims about Christians. Yet one's intuition is not always reliable, and there are no proper polls to measure such things.
It should be obvious that one cannot rely on the intuitions in order to gather percentages. One should rely on revelation, or on a properly done poll. Hick's intuition tells him that 98%-99% of people follow the religion of their parents. A logical look at history tells us that his figures are not correct. He is not the only person do this either. It may seem reasonable to suggest that most people believe in evolution, but this is not the case either. Polls taken show that only 10% of people believe in evolutionary theory completely. On these sorts of issues, there is no good reason to believe that intuition is reliable.
However, Sider and Hick are likely also thinking of various polls that have been taken to measure Christian practice. These polls do not actually do that. The only measure of evangelical Christianity is the Barna poll. An evangelical is defined as "born again; say their faith is very important in their life today; believe they have a personal responsibility to share their religious beliefs about Christ with non-Christians; believe that Satan exists; believe that the eternal salvation is possible only through grace, not works; believe that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and describe God as the all-knowing , all-powerful, perfect deity who created the universe and still rules it today". Barna defines the category "born-again" as someone who has made a "commitment to Jesus Christ" that is still important in their life today and believes that when they die they will "go to heaven because I have confessed my sins and have accepted Jesus Christ as my savior". The remainder of Christians come under the label "notional Christian". The label "born-again" is not a current label. Although some who are older do describe themselves as "born-again" it is a useless category. It is possible to be an evangelical and believe that everyone will be saved, Jesus was just a man, Christianity is just like other religions, and the Trinity is false. Such a person is clearly not a Christian at all. Barna has simply applied the evangelical label to the dominant characteristics of those who claim to be evangelical. Not only this, but Barna does not include such things as prayer, Bible reading and accountability to the list of evangelical characteristics. What Barna thinks is an evangelical is not an evangelical at all.
Barna cannot reliably measure Christian or evangelical Christian characteristics and there is no other current polling system that does measure them. Since intuition and polls are the only way that these numbers could be known, they are not known. Therefore, Hick and Sider cannot make comments about the behahior of "evangelical" Christians that have any strong connection to the behavior of those who follow the historical Christianity of the apostles.
It should be obvious that one cannot rely on the intuitions in order to gather percentages. One should rely on revelation, or on a properly done poll. Hick's intuition tells him that 98%-99% of people follow the religion of their parents. A logical look at history tells us that his figures are not correct. He is not the only person do this either. It may seem reasonable to suggest that most people believe in evolution, but this is not the case either. Polls taken show that only 10% of people believe in evolutionary theory completely. On these sorts of issues, there is no good reason to believe that intuition is reliable.
However, Sider and Hick are likely also thinking of various polls that have been taken to measure Christian practice. These polls do not actually do that. The only measure of evangelical Christianity is the Barna poll. An evangelical is defined as "born again; say their faith is very important in their life today; believe they have a personal responsibility to share their religious beliefs about Christ with non-Christians; believe that Satan exists; believe that the eternal salvation is possible only through grace, not works; believe that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and describe God as the all-knowing , all-powerful, perfect deity who created the universe and still rules it today". Barna defines the category "born-again" as someone who has made a "commitment to Jesus Christ" that is still important in their life today and believes that when they die they will "go to heaven because I have confessed my sins and have accepted Jesus Christ as my savior". The remainder of Christians come under the label "notional Christian". The label "born-again" is not a current label. Although some who are older do describe themselves as "born-again" it is a useless category. It is possible to be an evangelical and believe that everyone will be saved, Jesus was just a man, Christianity is just like other religions, and the Trinity is false. Such a person is clearly not a Christian at all. Barna has simply applied the evangelical label to the dominant characteristics of those who claim to be evangelical. Not only this, but Barna does not include such things as prayer, Bible reading and accountability to the list of evangelical characteristics. What Barna thinks is an evangelical is not an evangelical at all.
Barna cannot reliably measure Christian or evangelical Christian characteristics and there is no other current polling system that does measure them. Since intuition and polls are the only way that these numbers could be known, they are not known. Therefore, Hick and Sider cannot make comments about the behahior of "evangelical" Christians that have any strong connection to the behavior of those who follow the historical Christianity of the apostles.
posted by Matthew at 11:09 AM
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