I'm a sucker for religious statistics. Ever since I read and did a sermon series on UnChristian, by David Kinnaman, I've been fascinated by the things Christians and non-Christians believe and what they believe about each other. That's why I found the following over at Jason Boyett's blog, "O Me Of Little Faith," right up my alley.
"Have you had the following religious experience?" That's the question asked by the 2008 Baylor Religion Survey, authored by Dr. Rodney Stark and others, in an extensive look at the "depth and complexity" of America's religious landscape. The survey's findings are revealed in the book What Americans Really Believe, by Rodney Stark.
The surveyors spoke to 1,648 adults chosen randomly from across the country. When asked the question about having certain religious experiences, this is how many Americans answered YES:
- I heard the voice of God speaking to me: 20%
- I felt called by God to do something: 44%
- I was protected from harm by a guardian angel: 55%
- I witnessed a miraculous, physical healing: 23%
- I received a miraculous, physical healing: 16%
- I spoke or prayed in tongues: 8%
To be fair, it's not like any of these numbers are in the 90% range. While it may be a good 1 in 5 Americans who believe that they've heard the voice of God speaking to them, it's only 20% no matter how we slice it. And less than half of that figure have gotten into the gift of tongues as far as they know.
The thing I find particularly interesting is that a full 55% of the folks believed they have been protected by a guardian angel. Really? A full 55%. See, out of all of these, this particular point seems to be the weakest, Biblically. I think it plays into a particular pop-culture understanding of angels that we just don't seem to get from the Bible. Plus, I've always been troubled by the flip side of the phrase, "Well I had my guardian angel looking out for me!" For me, logically, this seems to break down when bad things happen. "Well, I guess HE didn't have his guardian angel looking out for him" or, worse, we end up with angels slacking off on the job or actually seeking harm to come to those under their charge. Some guardian!?
I'm sensing some amount of disconnect with the spiritual experience of my peers.
At least 44% of them have felt called by God to something.
I guess the question is called to WHAT?
The thing I find particularly interesting is that a full 55% of the folks believed they have been protected by a guardian angel. Really? A full 55%. See, out of all of these, this particular point seems to be the weakest, Biblically. I think it plays into a particular pop-culture understanding of angels that we just don't seem to get from the Bible. Plus, I've always been troubled by the flip side of the phrase, "Well I had my guardian angel looking out for me!" For me, logically, this seems to break down when bad things happen. "Well, I guess HE didn't have his guardian angel looking out for him" or, worse, we end up with angels slacking off on the job or actually seeking harm to come to those under their charge. Some guardian!?
I'm sensing some amount of disconnect with the spiritual experience of my peers.
At least 44% of them have felt called by God to something.
I guess the question is called to WHAT?
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