{"id":14237,"date":"2020-09-02T15:06:16","date_gmt":"2020-09-02T19:06:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=14237"},"modified":"2020-09-02T15:08:13","modified_gmt":"2020-09-02T19:08:13","slug":"one-third-of-evangelicals-say-jesus-was-not-god-poll-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2020\/09\/one-third-of-evangelicals-say-jesus-was-not-god-poll-shows","title":{"rendered":"One-Third of Evangelicals Say Jesus Was Not God, Poll Shows"},"content":{"rendered":"
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About a third of evangelicals say Jesus was a \u201cgood teacher\u201d but was not God, according to a LifeWay Research study created for Ligonier Ministries.<\/p>\n

Also, 65 percent of evangelicals believe \u201cJesus is the first and greatest being created by God\u201d a statement that goes against the Bible\u2019s teachings.<\/p>\n

John 1:1, John 8:58, Romans 9:5, and Hebrews 1:1-4 all speak to Christ\u2019s divinity.<\/p>\n

While these findings may be shocking to some, they shed light on the concerns that many American Christians and churches have expressed for decades, said Stephen Nichols, chief academic of Ligonier Ministries and president of Reformation Bible College.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the culture around us increasingly abandons its moral compass, professing evangelicals are sadly drifting away from God\u2019s absolute standard in Scripture. It\u2019s clear that the church does not have the luxury of idly standing by. This is a time for Christians to study Scripture diligently, engage confidently with people in our culture, and witness fearlessly to the identity and saving work of Jesus Christ in the gospel,\u201d Nichols said.<\/p>\n

Ligonier created the \u201cLigonier Statement of Christology\u201d to help Christians understand Scripture\u2019s teachings about Jesus. It defines \u201cevangelicals\u201d as those who strongly agree with these four statements:<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cThe Bible is the highest authority for what I believe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cIt is very important for me personally to encourage non-Christians to trust Jesus Christ as their Savior.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cJesus Christ\u2019s death on the cross is the only sacrifice that could remove the penalty of my sin.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cOnly those who trust in Jesus Christ alone as their Savior receive God\u2019s free gift of eternal salvation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The term \u201cevangelical\u201d is often thrown around loosely, and many people who identify as evangelical are running away from evangelical core beliefs at an alarming rate.<\/p>\n

As writer Michael Snyder points out, there is a great deal of discussion and confusion about \u201cevangelical voters\u201d and their core beliefs. Many people talk about the influence that they will have on the outcome of the presidential election.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the pundits on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News speak of evangelicals as if they were this monolithic group that all generally vote the same way and generally believe the same basic things,\u201d Snyder writes. \u201cPerhaps that was somewhat true at one time, but now things have dramatically changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The findings of this poll are concerning. Even Ligonier said it is surprising that nearly 30 percent of evangelicals affirm the statement, believing Jesus was a good teacher and nothing more.<\/p>\n

This is alarming! Do we even know what it means to be an \u201cevangelical Christian\u201d anymore?<\/p>\n