Biblical illiteracy has long been a concern for many in the church, but obviously not for most. (Just watch a couple of hours of "Christian TV" and you will agree!)
What has been done to address this problem? Precious little in most local churches!
A recent story in WorldNetDaily gives little comfort to those of us who have lamented the tragedy of biblical ignorance that appears all around. The story's headline is shocking:
1 in 3 'Christians' says 'Jesus sinned.'
WND cites a January 12 report from The Barna Group that found that half of American adults "pick and choose" their beliefs from the Bible, from organized denominations, from secular philosophy, and from non-Christian religions. Among those under 25 years of age, 82% (a little over 4 out of 5) prefer this "cafeteria" approach to faith.
Such an "al a carte" method of building a belief system would not exist if members of local churches had been taught in convincing fashion that God Himself has spoken to man in the Bible--His inspired, inerrant, understandable, and authoritative Word! (Former students of mine will recognize that last sentence as the crux of my "Seven Presuppositions" lecture.)
But we who have been given the stewardship of Truth have not been disciplined about teaching the Truth; so what do we get? Barna reports:
"Among individuals who describe themselves as Christian . . . close to half believe that Satan does not exist, one-third contend that Jesus sinned while He was on earth, two-fifths say they do not have a responsibility to share the Christian faith with others, and one-quarter dismiss the idea that the Bible is accurate in all of the principles it teaches."
In a prior blog entry I gave some ideas and free resources for making sure that the people under our watch don't fall into the above percentages. Some astute readers commented on this blog with additional ideas. Now here's one more:
Offer your flock enrollment in
Your very own Bible Institute!
My friend Dr. Barry Davis has developed this "Instant Bible Institute" with Old Testament and New Testament Certificate programs that can be used in the traditional classroom, online, or as independent study modules in the privacy of one's own home.
However you choose to use it, THE INSTANT BIBLE INSTITUTE can be a giant step in addressing the bane of Biblical ignorance that plagues our world today.
Do you have other ideas? Put them in the "Comments" section and let us know.
Tags:
barna, bible institute, biblical illiteracy, worldnetdaily
Posted at: 05:58 PM | Add Comment
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