{"id":32157,"date":"2022-09-10T15:58:39","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/americans-grow-less-certain-about-gods-existence\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:58:39","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:58:39","slug":"americans-grow-less-certain-about-gods-existence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/americans-grow-less-certain-about-gods-existence\/","title":{"rendered":"Americans Grow Less Certain About God\u2019s Existence"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Samir Belhamra photo – Pexels<\/div>\n

By Aaron Earls<\/em><\/p>\n

More than half of Americans still say they believe in God without any doubts, but they are a shrinking majority.<\/p>\n

In the past 15 years, the percentage who say they know God exists and have no doubts dropped from 65% to 53%, according to the latest research from the General Social Survey.<\/p>\n

Couple this lack of confidence with the growth of the religious unaffiliated and one may think Americans are increasingly rejecting God completely.<\/p>\n

In 1991, 6% of Americans claimed \u201cno religion.\u201d Today, almost a quarter of Americans (23%) say they don\u2019t belong to any religion.<\/p>\n

But Americans aren\u2019t embracing atheism as much as they are rejecting certainty about God.<\/p>\n

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Today, 5% of Americans say they don\u2019t believe in God at all\u2014slightly up from 3% in 1993.<\/p>\n

Some statements saw similar small increases. Those who believe in God, but have doubts climbed from 15% to 18% over the last 15 years.<\/p>\n

The percentage of Americans who say they \u201cdon\u2019t believe in a personal God, but some higher power\u201d grew from 8% to 13%.<\/p>\n

In this age of doubt, Trevin Wax, director of Bibles and Reference at Lifeway, believes many Christians are tempted to embrace uncertainty about their doctrines and beliefs as well, but this approach is \u201cfundamentally misguided.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wax says, \u201cThere\u2019s nothing attractive about inviting people to become part of a community that doesn\u2019t know what it believes, or that is fundamentally uncomfortable with its own teachings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead the author of This Is Our Time<\/em> argues, \u201cWhy not have the grace and confidence to winsomely explain Christianity\u2019s vision and doctrine in ways that invite people into a community, instead of looking for ways to make Christianity more palatable to people with completely different assumptions and presuppositions outside the community?\u201d<\/p>\n

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See also  The Group Most Likely to Still Be Missing From Your Church<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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For Wax, Christians \u201cwill not refresh and reinvigorate our ailing culture if we lack the confidence in the truth, beauty, and goodness of our faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Aaron Earls<\/h2>\n

@WardrobeDoor<\/p>\n

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Aaron is a writer for LifewayResearch.com.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n