The Wanderer

The Evangelical Alliance has published a report on a survey of British evangelicalism. The report is available in various formats.

Scott McKnight highlights some characteristics of those “typically evangelical”:

• 91% think Jesus is the only way to God
• 96% attend a church once a week
• 77% are in small groups
• 83% read/listen to the Bible a few times a week
• 96% pray a few times a day
• 96% have given money to their church this year
• 88% strongly agree that their faith is the most important thing in their life
• 94% believe in creation care
• 85% voted in the General Election
• 83% believe in miraculous gifts today
• 94% agree that Christians should be united in truth
• 93% think Christians should have a voice in the media.

More incisive issues:

• 83% agree the Bible has “supreme authority” in beliefs, views, and behaviour
• 71% believe it is a Christian’s duty to be involved in evangelism (58% talk about their faith to someone once a month)
• 62% think sex before marriage is wrong.

But there’s variation:

• On inerrancy, 54% believe it; 32% are for it or unsure.
• Abortion: 37% think it’s wrong; 46% are straddling (unsure/disagree a little); 17% disagree.
• Hell: 37% strongly agree that hell is a place where the condemned will suffer eternal conscious pain; 13% agree a little with this; 31% are unsure; 8% disagree a little; 11% disagree a lot.
• Women in leadership: 51% are strongly in favor; 20% disagree only a little; [71% are in favor]; 9% are unsure; 10% disagree a little; 10% strongly disagree.
• Homosexuality: 59% agree a lot that homosexual sexual acts are wrong; 14% agree a little; 11% are unsure; 8% disagree a little; and 8% disagree a lot. [That is, about 16% of UK evangelicals are more or less in favor of homosexuality as acceptably Christian.]

A rather mixed bag, to say the very least.