Most Americans Pick and Choose Religious Beliefs

http://christianpost.com/Society/Polls_reports/2009/01/most-americans-pick-and-choose-religious-beliefs-12/index.html

[The Christian Post] 15 Jan 2009--The majority of American adults pick and choose their religious beliefs to create, in essence, a “customized” religion rather than adopting the set of beliefs taught by a particular church, a new study found.

By a three to one margin (71 percent to 26 percent), Americans say they are more likely to personally develop their own set of religious beliefs than accept a comprehensive set of beliefs taught by a church or denomination, a Barna study, released Monday, shows.

Among those who describe themselves as Christians, for instance, nearly half believe that Satan does not exist, one-third say that Jesus sinned when He was on earth, two-fifths say they do not have a responsibility to share the Gospel with others, and one-quarter dismiss the idea that the Bible is accurate in all of its teachings – beliefs that are contrary to most church teachings.

George Barna, founder of The Barna Group, commented on the findings saying that a growing number of people are serving as their own “theologian-in-residence,” resulting in Americans embracing an “unpredictable and contradictory body of beliefs.”