Statistically Speaking…
Most adults feel accepted by God, but lack Biblical worldview.

August 9, 2005

(Ventura, CA) – How people react to moral issues is a common challenge these days. The Supreme Court nomination of John Roberts, funding for stem cell research, the war in Iraq and against terrorism, sexual abuse by clergy, the Terri Schiavo case, gay marriage, and many other recent issues have brought people’s moral convictions into play. Yet, in spite of the fact that most Americans consider themselves to be Christian, very few adults base their moral decisions on the Bible, and surprisingly few believe that absolute moral truth exists. These are among the findings from a new national survey conducted by The Barna Group among a representative sample of 1002 adults.

The survey also revealed that most Americans say they are “deeply spiritual,” feel “accepted by God,” and believe they have a clear personal understanding of the meaning and purpose of their life.

Moral Choices

About half of all adults (54%) claim that they make their moral choices on the basis of specific principles or standards they believe in. Other common means of making moral choices include doing what feels right or comfortable (24%), doing whatever makes the most people happy or causes the least conflict (9%), and pursuing whatever produces the most positive outcomes for the person (7%).

Among those who claim to make moral decisions based on specific principles, a wide variety of sources were listed as the wellspring of that moral guidance. Three out of every ten people named the Bible as the sources of those principles. Overall, then, just one out of every six adults (16%) claim they make their moral choices based on the content of the Bible.

(Entire article available at

http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdateNarrow&BarnaUpdateID=194.)