By Selwyn Duke

We don’t know if they fancy they can walk on water. But almost half of all Americans, including a striking number of Christians, don’t believe they’re sinners. It’s a revelation that has implications not just for the church, but for civilization generally.

The above findings are from a study, released September 4, by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University (ACU). It’s not just that many Americans are outright sin deniers, either. For among those who claim to believe in sin, a majority contend there are no “absolute sins.” That is, “sins that are constant, regardless of the conditions or context,” as ACU puts it.

Apparently, many people think God changes his mind like a politician trying to win their votes.

Of course, such spiritual confusion is nothing new. In 2023, for example, research found that less than half of born-again Christians believe Jesus lived a sinless life on Earth. So, who knows? Maybe some of these non-sinning “Christians” think they could teach Jesus a thing or two.

Sin, the Behavior, Is In. Sin as a Concept? Not So Much

The recent findings on sin are part of the annual American Worldview Inventory. And one major finding, ACU relates,

is that just one out of every seven — or about 14% — of self-described Christians have a core theology of sin that is biblically accurate.

The rest have a culturally “accurate” (read: fashionable) view of sin.

Here’s a summary of ACU’s findings:

• Eighty-four percent of adults do agree that “sin” exists.
• Groups less likely to believe in sin are Gen Zers, Asian-descent Americans, sexual devolutionary (LGBTQ+) individuals, those lacking religious affiliation, Bible skeptics, believers in reincarnation, and those denying afterlife existence.
• Seventy-two percent of those who believe in sin define it as disobedience to God. As mentioned earlier, however, 52 percent of this group claim there are no absolute sins; rather, the matter is context-dependent.

As for the belief that everyone has sinned, only 52 percent of adults agree with this central Christian dogma. As to specificity, the following groups embrace the belief at the percentages indicated:

• Self-professed Christians, 66; Protestants, 73; Catholics, 57.
• Gen Z, 41; Millennials, 49; Gen X, 53; Boomers, 57.
• Blacks, 62; Whites, 51; Hispanics, 50; Asians, 28.

We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Salvation?

Now we come to personal sinfulness. The following groups’ members agree that they’re sinners at the percentages indicated:

• American adults overall, 52.
• People 50-plus, 56; those under 50, 47.
• Blacks, 54; Asians, 31.
• Born-again Christians, 26. (Many may believe, suggests ACU, that Christ’s forgiveness removes the label.)
• Among churchgoers — mainline Protestants, 70; independent/nondenominational, 69; evangelical, 61; charismatic/Pentecostal, 55; Catholic, 50.
• Non-Christians (mostly atheists/agnostics), 36; non-Christians aligned with other religions, 27.
• Atheists/agnostics, 38.
• Adults with a biblical worldview, 90.

Additionally, ACU reported that Midwestern and Southern residents are more likely to admit sinfulness than Eastern or Western residents. (This is intuitive since the latter are in general more liberal.) Moreover, 33 percent of adults believe others sin, but deny their own sinfulness.

As to the last finding, this is where many may now exclaim, “Hey, I know a guy like that!” We do have to wonder, too, how many among that 33 percent are more concerned about the speck in their brother’s eye than the beam in their own.

No Beam and the Collapsing Pillars of American Christianity?

So what explains the ACU findings? Cultural Research Center head George Barna, who directed the university research, has some idea. As ACU relates:

“The job of the local church is to educate God’s people about God’s ways,” the ACU professor explained. “Yet, a 2019 Pew Research study that analyzed sermon content across the nation, determined that just 3% of all sermons preached even mentioned sin. That’s a devastating body blow to the Church world.”

Obviously, too many pastors, unlike God, are like politicians trying to win votes. More could be said about this wanting religious education, too.

For example, too many people, lots of Christians included, have a very simplistic view of sin. That is, if one conceptualizes sin as being limited to murder, adultery, theft, and other marquee-name sins, it’s easy believing you’re sinless. But the principle here is to hurt no one, including yourself, in not just deeds, but also words and thoughts. Apropos to this, note how Jesus warned that anyone even lusting after a woman “hath committed adultery with her already in his heart,” and that being angry with your brother can be akin to thought-murder. And, of course, sinful thinking can take manifold forms.

Moreover, there are not just sins of commission, such as the above. There also are sins of omission; i.e., failure to do things you should have done.

In reality, anyone seeking after holiness — striving to walk with God — learns that it’s as with improvement at anything. There’s always another level that can be reached.

That is, in this case, until you reach Heaven.

Slouching Toward Sodom

Then there’s another matter. How could anyone believe God deems what sin is, but also that sin is not absolute (i.e., it’s changeable)? The answer is that, as is so common with humans — and especially moderns — these people are operating emotionally, not rationally. It’s all part of the relativism, and relativism-shaped thinking, epitomizing our time.

Regarding this and related to the above, I’ve reported on how most Christians don’t believe in morality (objective by definition). Rather, the most common way they make what we call “moral” decisions is based on feelings.

And, of course, if morality is changeable, so is immorality (or sin). It’s mighty convenient, too. For if sin is changeable, people can change it to whatever suits them at the moment based on what sin is in.

This matters for society — a lot. For it’s much as if we ceased believing there’s an objective standard for human nutrition. It would be much less likely anyone would improve his diet. After all, dietary “sin” could then be whatever one’s palate dictated. That junk food could now be heavenly (and not just in flavor). “If it tastes good, eat it.”

A people that ultimately believes there’s no objective standard for behavior will be plagued by increasing misbehavior. And, of course, is not this belief, and the consequent actions, precisely what we witness all around us today?

                   This article was originally published at The New American.