Most Evangelicals Believe Some Heresy (And How to Fix It)

Ligonier Ministries recently conducted their third state-of-theology survey in cooperation with LifeWay. 3,000 Evangelicals (defined by LifeWay) were interviewed, and the results are unsettling. Most Evangelicals believe one heresy or another, and it needs to be addressed urgently.

Survey Results

The full results of the survey can be found here, but I’ll list some of the highlights.

• More than two-thirds (69%) of Americans disagree that the smallest sin deserves eternal damnation—and 58 percent strongly disagree – a denial of clear biblical teaching (e.g., Rom 6:23)
• A majority of US adults (58%) said that worshiping alone or with one’s family is a valid replacement for regularly attending church – a denial of clear biblical teaching (e.g., Heb 10:24-25)
• A majority of US adults (59%) say that the Holy Spirit is a force, not a personal being – a heresy that destroys the doctrine of the Trinity.
• 32% of Evangelicals believe “religious belief is a matter of personal opinion [and] not about objective truth” – a denial of the objective nature of Jesus’ salvific work.
• Most people are basically good (52%) – a denial of clear biblical teaching (e.g., Rom 3:9-20)
• God accepts the worship of all religions (51%) – the heresy of universalism.
• Jesus was the first and greatest being created by God the Father (78%) – the heresy of Arianism, condemned at the councils of Nicea (AD 325) and Constantinople (AD 381) and clearly refuted by John 1.

How to Fix It

The irony of these results is that there is more theological literature being pumped out through publishers than ever before, and there is more theological education readily available and accessible than ever before. How could it be, then, that American Evangelicals believe so much heresy and so many claims that are clearly unbiblical? The problem doesn’t lie with publishers or theological institutions, it lies with both the churches and with individuals.

1. Individuals in the churches need to be convinced that learning basic doctrine is a good and necessary endeavor. In my experience, most congregants balk at “theology” as something ethereal, heady, and useless. Well, we’ve probably given them that impression. Good theology needs to be expressed from the pulpit as it comes up in the passages being preached, but it must come in a practical way that demonstrates its relevance. Church history should be integrated into sermons to show how American Evangelicals aren’t born ex nihilo. Small group and Bible study leaders should have basic theological competence before teaching the Bible to a group of people. Solid but engaging resources should be suggested to and provided for congregants in their church (note: not Grudem’s Systematic Theology… indeed, nothing with the word “systematic” in it).
2. Churches need to focus on discipleship more than anything else. This claim shouldn’t even be controversial. Jesus’ last command was to “make disciples,” which involves baptizing them (implying evangelization) and teaching them to obey all of Jesus’ commands. Discipleship is the main task of the church, and Jesus tells us this must involve teaching all of his message. Of course, his message presupposes the Old Testament and the rest of the New Testament, which was written by the “apostles,” who were his commissioned representatives on earth; as apostles, their words were his words (Luke 10:16). So in conjunction with evangelization, the main focus of the church should be on teaching the entirety of the Bible and basic biblical/orthodox doctrine. The church hammered out this basic orthodox doctrine long ago, over many centuries, over much blood, sweat, and tears (all very literally). There’s no need to reinvent the wheel, and God help us if we try to.
3. A focus on discipleship requires churches to have a system in place, the commitment to execute it over the long-haul, and tools to help facilitate the process. There are many good resources out there, but I happened to write Grounded in the Faith—a concise 60-page explanation of the basic, orthodox doctrine of the Apostles’ Creed–because of this dangerous state of theology in America. All Christians should at minimum understand the basic teaching of the Apostles’ Creed, and my little guide would help to prevent many of the false beliefs that came to light in Ligonier’s survey. For example, consider the three heresies from above:

Heresy #1

“The Holy Spirit is a force, not a person” (59%). Pages 37-38 of Grounded in the Faith teaches the contrary:

God’s Spirit, like the Son, was involved in creation (Genesis 1:2) and therefore has existed eternally with the Father and Son. The Spirit is a distinct person from the Father and Son but exists as God. The Spirit’s divinity is clear in Acts 5, for example. A married couple lied to the church about their financial contribution, to which Peter replied, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?” (Acts 5:3). Only a few sentences later, Peter reiterates, “You have not lied to man but to God” (Acts 5:4). Clearly, Scripture presents the Holy Spirit as God, equal in majesty and authority to the Father and Son.

Heresy #2

“God accepts the worship of all religions” (51%). I don’t explicitly address universalism when expositing the Apostles’ Creed, but maybe I will add that into a second edition since about half of Evangelicals seem to believe it. I do, however, emphasize the objective historicity of the Christian faith, based on Christ’s work (Grounded in the Faith, pp. 20-21).

That the Christian faith is based on historical events is what distinguishes it from most other major world religions (e.g., Hinduism and Buddhism). Christianity is not based on philosophical principles or wisdom gathered from human experience, like the sayings attributed to Confucius. Such sayings are only the earthly wisdom of human beings. Rather, Christianity is based on something that happened in time and space and was witnessed by hundreds of people (1 Corinthians 15:6), some of whom wrote down what they saw (which is how we got the Gospels; see Luke 1:1–4). No other religion claims that God became a human, was tried under a worldly ruler, was killed by men, and later rose from his own grave to prove his divinity. Other religions, like Islam, base their beliefs on prophets who never claimed to be God, never performed miracles, and never rose from the dead.

Heresy #3

“Jesus was the first and greatest being created by God the Father” (78%). This is the most startling and unsettling heresy of all, particularly because 78% of Evangelicals surveyed believe it! This heresy (Arianism) at one time almost won over part of the Christian world in the fourth century, but through decades of debates, battles, and serious controversy, Arianism was crushed and condemned–only to crop back up in the last century with the expansion of Mormonism and, apparently, accidental Arianism among Evangelicals. In Grounded in the Faith (pp. 9-11), I address this right at the beginning of the Apostles’ Creed with the line “I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.” In commenting on how God is the Father of Jesus Christ, I write,

We know this fatherly relationship with his Son is eternal because Scripture says that all of creation was made “through” the Son, “and nothing that was made was made without him.” So God’s fatherly relationship to the Son existed before creation, and the Son was never created.

The second discussion question in this section reads:

An ancient false teaching (Arianism) claimed that Jesus was a created being, and some religions today teach the same (for example, Mormonism). Explain why this teaching is incorrect and why it matters. Read John 1:1–3 to help you answer.

Unbiblical Beliefs

The other Evangelical beliefs that are contrary to clear biblical teaching are all addressed in Grounded in the Faith as Well.

• More than two-thirds (69%) of Americans disagree that the smallest sin deserves eternal damnation. By contrast, I ask (p. 19), “Because of just one sin, all mankind inherited a sinful nature. What does this fact suggest about the power and danger of sin?”
• A majority of US adults (58%) said that worshiping alone or with one’s family is a valid replacement for regularly attending church. By contrast, I write (p. 42), “Our ‘communion’ (meeting together) is important.  We are to “stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together…but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day [of the Lord’s return] drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24–25). Christians cannot hate or neglect the church, because it is Christ’s bride (Revelation 21:9), and because it is the most important means of being encouraged in our faith.”
• 32% of Evangelicals believe “religious belief is a matter of personal opinion [and] not about objective truth,” which is addressed by my emphasis on Christianity’s objective historical basis (quoted above for heresy #2).
•  “Most people are basically good” (52%). By contrast, I write (pp. 24-25), “The New Testament is clear that Adam’s sin set the entire course of humanity on a downward spiral. Through Adam’s sin, “many died” (Romans 5:15), meaning that Adam’s sin caused all his descendants to inherit the spiritually dead nature of their first father…. In other words, humanity’s moral capacities were tainted. Our nature became sinful so that we are born as “children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3) and “enemies” of God (Romans 5:10).”

Let’s Get to Work!

Reading the results of this survey has given me more motivation to be serious about discipling individuals in our churches. The encouraging thing about this need for discipleship is that it is really not that hard to teach basic Christian doctrine. The Apostles’ Creed is a wonderful guide to these beliefs because it has so much tradition and church-use behind it that we avoid the subjectivity of simply teaching what we believe are the most important basic beliefs. Grounded in the Faith is a tiny booklet with only 46 pages of exposition of the Creed, with seven pages of “next steps.”

It is honestly not that hard to walk through this book with someone 1-on-1 or 1-on-some in just a few weeks. I suggest 6-8 weeks, meeting for coffee and reading the chapters aloud together and then discussing the questions. Meeting in each others’ homes is also a great way to deepen your Christian fellowship with one another.

You don’t have to use my book, but use something! There are other small books that achieve the same goal of my book, such as C. E. B. Cranfield’s Apostles’ Creed (but sorry it’s $28 for 80 pages) or Rick Brannan’s Building a Firm Foundation (only $8, and exposits the Apostles’ Creed in 12 sessions; I haven’t read it, but Brannan is trustworthy). I highlight Grounded in the Faith because–and this is the main point of my post–if every one of these 3,000 Evangelicals surveyed had previously been walked through my book (or one like it) by a pastor or mentor, I think the results of the survey would be far more orthodox, and far fewer would believe in so many heresies and unbiblical positions.

Here’s to stamping out heresy among American Evangelicals.

Buy Grounded in the Faith now for only $6.99.

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Also in the Ministry and Discipleship Guides series, see Internalizing the Faith: A Pilgrim’s Catechism, to stimulate rich theological discussions beyond the basics.