OPINION:
A new survey of Americans’ religious beliefs is adding fuel to the increasing hope that authentic spiritual revival is truly on the horizon.
After years of increased secularism, rampant anti-faith bias and cultural denigration of biblical truth, shocking new Pew Research Center data indicates that Christianity’s decline has potentially paused and is leveling out.
The findings are understandably making some serious waves.
After all, researchers and Christian leaders have, for years, been boisterously sounding the alarm about a rampant decrease in self-reported adherence to Christianity, offering ominous warnings about the social, cultural and political tolls rooted in this pivot from God.
To illustrate the rampant decline of nominal Christianity numerically, consider that Pew found 78% of U.S. adults identified as Christians in 2007. But, by 2014, that percentage was down to 71%.
And, tragically, the latest figures collected from 2023-2024 found just 62% of Americans expressing a devotion to Christianity. As Pew noted, this indicates a 16-percentage point drop since 2007 and a 9-point drop since 2014.
On the surface, this is a crisis point that underscores and helps explain some of society’s pervasive ills, including record depression, the suicide crisis and a general loneliness and confusion that continue to emerge in key research.
Without a doubt, the rejection of biblical Christianity has yielded chaos. Just last year, an alarming study from George Barna of the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University shed light on the “consequences of anti-biblical worldview.”
Mr. Barna’s research indicated that the rampant depression, fear and anxiety raging in our culture are potentially rooted in culture’s separation from Christian beliefs and values — mainly, the cultivation of an anti-Christian worldview.
He essentially argued that those who lack a biblical worldview are more likely to struggle with these mental health ailments.
“The research instead indicates that those are often symptoms of an unhealthy worldview that produces and reinforces the emergence of anxiety, depression, fear and even suicidal thoughts,” Mr. Barna’s results read. “Instead of turning to mental health treatments, the best prescription for millions of Americans is to embrace a more reliable and proven worldview.”
And while these overarching statistics might seem discouraging and indicate a rejection of Mr. Barna’s prescription, the latest Pew data wave, collected among 36,908 U.S. adults as part of the organization’s Religious Landscape Study, shows a very different story could be on the horizon — one that’s far more hope-filled than the off-the-cliff plummet in faith many have feared.
“For the last five years, between 2019 and 2024, the Christian share of the adult population has been relatively stable, hovering between 60% and 64%,” Pew noted in its analysis. “The 62% figure in the new Religious Landscape Study is smack in the middle of that recent range.”
Plainly stated: Pew’s data indicates that the dreaded decline seems to have halted. This is encouraging, presents a real opportunity to reach hearts and minds, and seems to expose a slowing of overt secularization.
Consider that these statistics come at a time when everything from cultural whims to political tides are shifting, changing, reversing and course-correcting. As I’ve written, President Trump’s reascension to the White House is just one of the indicators pointing to a cultural about-face.
While Mr. Trump might in some ways seem like a strange bedfellow for evangelicals and Christians more broadly, his positions on issues such as gender and the sanctity of life have fueled fascinating collaborations and renewed interest in conservative and Christian ideals.
But it’s the spiritual implications that are deeply profound. Despite the negative trends in faith and culture right now, the theological openness being observed among young people, in particular, is undeniable.
As I’ve often said, Americans are increasingly realizing that they’ve been lied to, cannot possibly craft their own morality — and can benefit deeply from tapping into the spiritual realm.
Dynamics are shifting and faith is making a comeback in the mainstream as people attempt to right the ship and pivot from moral icebergs, and on a multitude of fronts.
In recent columns, I’ve addressed Hollywood’s powerful turn toward faith content, with Amazon Prime seemingly becoming the first major streamer to invest in a faith-forward project.
The company’s release of “House of David” quickly became the second most watched content on the platform last week, shattering all expectations. And we continue to see Hollywood elite and well-known stars openly embrace the Christian faith, with their fascinating journeys dominating headlines.
Plus, it’s impossible to look past massive campus revivals during which thousands of students flock to stages to accept Jesus and begin their Christian journeys. Far from one-offs, these stories of young people craving biblical truth are streaming in on a near-constant basis.
The faith demand is so massive that there’s a potentially historic mass baptism set to unfold later this year across the nation.
“We’re going to actually do a campaign that’s massive, basically inviting people that normally wouldn’t come to church to go, ’Hey, do you want to get closer to God? Are you ready to take the next step? Get water baptized. It’s the largest synchronized baptism day in history. Be a part of it,’” Baptize America founder Mark Francey of Oceans Church in San Juan Capistrano, California, told me recently.
It’s impossible to ignore the reality that God is working in truly incredible ways — and these examples only scratch the surface.
The encouraging Pew data simply seems to be catching up to and capturing the reality of what’s been happening on the ground.
• Billy Hallowell is a digital TV host and interviewer for Faithwire and CBN News and the co-host of CBN’s “Quick Start Podcast.” Mr. Hallowell is the author of four books.
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