Study says more than half of American adults don't believe Jesus is God

A new survey is showing that more than half of adults in America, including 30 per cent of evangelical Christians, do not believe Jesus is God.

According to the 2020 State of Theology survey, most people agree however, that Jesus was a great teacher, the Christian Post reports.

While Biblical teachings clearly state Jesus was both God and man, and thus are the traditional teachings of many branches of Christianity, the biennial survey conducted by LifeWay Research states 52 per cent of American Adults believe Jesus was nothing more than a good teacher.

The report was conducted March 10 to 18 among 3,002 Americans, including 630 people who professed to be of evangelical belief.

The full report is expected to be released Sept. 8.

Stephen Nichols, chief academic officer of Ligonier Ministries, who requested the study, says statistics like these can be quite shocking.

"But they also shed light on the concerns that many American Christians and churches have expressed for decades," Nichols says. "As the culture around us increasingly abandons its moral compass, professing evangelicals are sadly drifting away from God's absolute standard in Scripture.

"It's 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."

Evangelicals were defined as people who strongly agree with four statements, for the purpose of the study: the Bible is the highest authority for what I believe; it is very important for me personally to encourage non-Christians to trust Jesus Christ as their Savior; Jesus Christ's death on the cross is the only sacrifice that could remove the penalty of my sin; and only those who trust in Jesus Christ alone as their Savior receive God's free gift of eternal salvation.

Around 65 per cent of evangelicals surveyed agreed with the statement, "Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God."

Theology experts say this response suggests a need for Christians to be taught more about the doctrine of the person and work of Jesus Christ.

An earlier study this year showed 51 per cent of Americans consider God to be "all-powerful, all-knowing, perfect and just creator of the universe who still rules the world today."