One of the greatest book titles of the twentieth century declares rather simply: Ideas Have Consequences. Theological ideas also have consequences. Good theological ideas have good consequences. Bad ones have bad consequences.
It should come as no surprise, then, when we find that The State of Theology survey also reveals bad consequences in American culture and in American Christianity. The survey could have asked any number of questions on ethics. We asked one specific question regarding sex outside of marriage. Is sex outside of marriage a sin?
Before we get to the survey results, consider a few other questions we asked. We asked if the Bible has the authority to tell me what to do. This gets at one of the key issues of the modern age. Are we in the twenty-first century going to submit to a book that stretches back from the centuries BC and the first century AD? Will we submit to an ancient book? Less than half, 49%, say yes. That leaves slightly over half of Americans unwilling to submit. Two out of ten Americans rather strongly deny the Bible’s authority.
If we ask a more general question we get a better response. We asked if God has authority over people because he created human beings. We found that 61% agree.
So why the drop down when it comes to the Bible? It’s one thing to say God has authority. It’s another thing to get specific about what God has to say and what is specifically authoritative. The idea of something that tells me what to do in the particulars becomes too strong of a proposition. Read more
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