The State of American Theology Study 2016

Abstract

The State of American Theology Study 2016 is a nationally representative survey commissioned by Ligonier Ministries and conducted by LifeWay Research to measure the theological understanding and beliefs of American adults. A demographically balanced online panel of 3,000 U.S. adults was surveyed April 14-20, 2016, on topics including the nature of God, the person of Jesus Christ, the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, sin, salvation, the authority and accuracy of the Bible, the church, and contemporary moral issues. Results were weighted to balance gender, age, ethnicity, income, region, and religion, and were further broken out by demographic subgroups and by respondents holding self-identified 'Evangelical Beliefs' as defined by a four-statement NAE/LifeWay Research scale.

Findings for Latter-day Saints

• 69% of Americans agree (53% strongly, 16% somewhat) that "there is one true God in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit," affirming the doctrine of the Trinity.
• 59% of Americans agree (36% strongly, 23% somewhat) that "Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God," a statement reflecting a non-Trinitarian, Arian-like view of Christ.
• 62% of Americans agree (40% strongly, 22% somewhat) that "Jesus is truly God and has a divine nature, and Jesus is truly man and has a human nature," affirming the hypostatic union.
• 64% of Americans agree (45% strongly, 19% somewhat) that the biblical accounts of the physical (bodily) resurrection of Jesus are completely accurate and that the event actually occurred.
• 65% of Americans agree (43% strongly, 22% somewhat) that "everyone sins a little, but most people are good by nature," a statement in tension with traditional doctrines of total depravity.
• 55% of Americans agree (33% strongly, 22% somewhat) that "the Bible alone is the written word of God," while 47% agree (29% strongly, 18% somewhat) that the Bible is "100% accurate in all that it teaches."
• 59% of Americans agree (33% strongly, 26% somewhat) that "only those who trust in Jesus Christ alone as their Savior receive God's free gift of eternal salvation."
• 44% of Americans agree (24% strongly, 20% somewhat) that "the church should be silent on issues of politics," while 45% disagree.
• 56% of Americans agree (35% strongly, 21% somewhat) that "gender identity is a matter of choice."
• 56% of Americans agree (33% strongly, 24% somewhat) that abortion is a sin.
• 58% of Americans agree (31% strongly, 27% somewhat) that sex outside of traditional marriage is a sin.
• 56% of Americans agree (28% strongly, 28% somewhat) that "the Holy Spirit is a force but is not a personal being," a statement contrary to orthodox Trinitarian pneumatology.
• Only about half of Americans (roughly 46%) affirm that hell is an eternal place of judgment where God sends all people who do not personally trust in Jesus Christ, while a similar share disagree.
• Americans who hold "Evangelical Beliefs" (defined by strong agreement with all four of a set of core statements on biblical authority, evangelism, the atonement, and salvation through Christ alone) diverge sharply from the general population on many items — for example, 97% of Evangelical Believers agree that God is a perfect being who cannot make a mistake, versus 58% of others.
• Belief patterns varied significantly by region, age, gender, education, income, and ethnicity — for instance, Americans age 18-34 were consistently the most likely to disagree with traditional theological statements, while African-Americans were consistently among the groups most likely to agree with them.

Limitations in methodology

The survey relied on a demographically balanced online panel rather than a probability-based random sample, and results were weighted (not raw) to approximate the U.S. population on gender, age, ethnicity, income, region, and religion, which can introduce panel-selection and weighting biases. The reported sampling error (+/-2.0% at 95% confidence) applies to the full sample only; margins of error are considerably higher for demographic and belief-based subgroups, and the study does not disclose the precise size of most subgroups used in comparisons. Findings rest on self-reported agreement with forced-choice theological statements, which can be sensitive to question wording, framing, and respondents' unfamiliarity with technical theological terminology rather than necessarily reflecting settled or informed belief. The study also does not report denomination-level breakdowns beyond a generic "Evangelical Beliefs" classification, limiting insight into variation across specific Christian traditions.

Related studies

• 2022TheologyTrinity

  The State of Theology 2022

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• 2014TheologyEvangelicalism

  Theological Awareness Benchmark Study

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• 2020

Cite this study

Ministries, L., Research, L. (2016). The State of American Theology Study 2016. Commissioned by Ligonier Ministries, conducted by LifeWay Research (TheStateofTheology.com). https://lwresearch21.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Ligonier-State-of-American-Theology-2016-Final-Report.pdf

Ligonier Ministries, et al.. "The State of American Theology Study 2016." Commissioned by Ligonier Ministries, conducted by LifeWay Research (TheStateofTheology.com), 2016. https://lwresearch21.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Ligonier-State-of-American-Theology-2016-Final-Report.pdf.

@article{ligonier_state_of_theology_2016,
  title = {The State of American Theology Study 2016},
  author = {Ligonier Ministries and LifeWay Research},
  year = {2016},
  journal = {Commissioned by Ligonier Ministries, conducted by LifeWay Research (TheStateofTheology.com)},
  url = {https://lwresearch21.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Ligonier-State-of-American-Theology-2016-Final-Report.pdf},
}