New Barna Update Appropriate to Our Study

You might want to review the results of Barna's latest update "How Different Generations View and Engage with Charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity".

A couple of pertinent excerpts:

• "The four generations also demonstrated contrasting perspectives about the Holy Spirit. Despite their skepticism about the charismatic and Pentecostal expressions of Christianity, older believers stood out from younger Christians for their likelihood of saying that they “consistently allow their lives to be guided by the Holy Spirit.” Elders (64%) and Boomers (59%) outpaced Busters (54%) and Mosaics (38%) on this viewpoint.
  
  
• "In spite of their openness to the charismatic and Pentecostal elements of the Christian faith, the youngest believers offered an unexpected, existentialist view of the Holy Spirit. In total, 68% of Mosaic Christians said they believe that the third person of the trinity is just “a symbol of God’s power or presence, but is not a living entity.” This compares to 59% of Busters, 55% of Boomers, and 56% of Elders who believe the Holy Spirit is merely symbolic."

Be sure to see the chart "Generations and the Holy Spirit" for some revealing (#2) and shocking (#3, #8) statistics. Goes to show you that we can be a product of what we are taught (or not taught). (The headline contains an active hotlink to go there.)

IBG / 04-08-10