To answer any significant question about where we come from, why we are here, what is right and wrong, who God is, and where we are going when we die requires doctrine. Subsequently, everyone has doctrine. The only question is whether it is truthful, biblical, and helpful.
Admittedly, in the name of being doctrinally vigorous, some people go too far and put secondary issues—those that are unworthy of battling over—in the closed hand of conviction. Conversely, some people do not go far enough and put in the open hand primary issues that are worthy of battling over. In writing Doctrine, my coauthor, Dr. Gerry Breshears, and I sought to follow the storyline of the Bible and focus on the major unifying, liberating, and life-changing doctrines of the Bible.
The timing of this book is incredibly significant. At the very least, evangelical Christians in general, and younger evangelical Christians in particular, seem incredibly confused on doctrine. One study revealing the incredible need for Doctrine is the third wave of the National Study of Youth and Religion (2008) (see note below). It reports the beliefs of the 13.5% of emerging adults (ages 18 to 23) in the United States today who self-identify as Protestant Christian and who attend an evangelical church at least “two to three times a month”:
- 97.2% believe in God.
- 96.6% believe that Jesus was/is the Son of God who was raised from the dead.
- 96.4% believe that God created the world.
- 89% “definitely” believe in angels.
- 76.2% “definitely” believe in demons.
- 82.5% “definitely” believe in any form of afterlife.
- 83.0% believe in astrology “not at all.”
- 83.2% believe in reincarnation “not at all.”
- 94.8% “definitely” believe in miracles.
- 95.0% believe in a coming judgment day, when God will reward some and punish others.
- 91.2% believe that God is a personal being who is still involved in the world today.
- 81.9% believe that only people whose sins are forgiven through faith in Jesus go to Heaven.
Corollary: 5.3% say that only good people go to Heaven; 2.5% say that all people go to Heaven; 4.9% believe “something else” about Heaven, and 2.2% “don’t really know or care” who goes to Heaven. 3.3% don’t believe in Heaven at all.
- 1.6% tries to include practices from Buddhism, Hinduism, Zen, or other Asian religions.
- 85.5% say that it is “okay for religious people to try to convert other people to their faith.”
- 71.8% say that Christians should only practice one religion.
- 24.6% say that it is okay for Christians to practice other religions as well. (Another 3.6% don’t know.)
- Less than two-thirds (66.2%) say that “only one religion is true.”
- 70.8% say that it is not okay for Christians to “pick and choose their religious beliefs without having to accept the teachings of their religious faith as a whole.”
- More than one-quarter (27.0%) thinks that it is okay to “pick and choose.”
- 89% say that they have “a lot of respect for organized religion in this country.”
- Almost one-quarter (24.3%) agrees with or is still undecided about moral relativism.
- 36.0% “agree” or “strongly agree” that “we should adjust our views of what is morally right and wrong” to reflect changes in our world.
- 52.0% “agree” or “strongly agree” that people should not marry someone of a different religion.
REMEMBER: These statistics are from the 13.5% of emerging adults (ages 18 to 23) in the United States today who self-identify as Protestant Christian and who attend an evangelical church at least “two to three times a month.” In Doctrine we hit all these issues and many more in a readable manner.
Note: The National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR) is the most comprehensive and rigorous social scientific research ever conducted on the religious and spiritual lives of American youth. It is based out of the University of North Carolina and the University of Notre Dame. The wave 1 survey was conducted among American youth ages 13 to 17 between July 2002 and April 2003, and produced a total N = 3370. Most recently, a third wave of the survey was conducted from September 24, 2007 through April 21, 2008 with the same respondents—when they were between the ages of 18 and 23 years. (This is during the first half of what developmental psychologists call “emerging adulthood.”) The National Study of Youth and Religion was generously funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. and is under the direction of Christian Smith of the Department of Sociology at the University of Notre Dame. For methodological details and related publications, visit: http://www.youthandreligion.org/.
