Evangelical Support for Radical Gender Ideology Plummeting – But One in Five Still Reject the Bible’s Teaching on Gender: Ligonier Poll

Folks, the good people at Ligonier Ministries “buried the lede” in reporting their own poll, as editors say. The good news NOT highlighted in this Ligonier release is that evangelical Christian support for radical “gender” ideology is falling fast.

Below is a graphic on the key “State of Theology” poll question  (Statement No. 29) that bears this out: from 2016 to 2020, the percentage of respondents who “strongly disagreed” with the statement, “Gender identity is a matter of choice” rose from 54 percent to 67 percent. The percentage who “strongly agreed” fell from 24 percent to 15 percent in the same period.

Things are very bad culturally and so many who call themselves “Christian” are succumbing to worldly, LGBTQueer activist propaganda, but at least things are moving in the right direction on the God- and nature-defying “transgender” agenda. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH; @PeterLaBarbera

Here is Ligonier’s analysis of that section of the poll:

The unbiblical concept of relative truth has influenced every sphere of life in the United States, including the ethical issues that continue to be at the forefront of public debate. In 2020, a large percentage of U.S. evangelicals reject the arguments of “gender fluidity,” and this has been trending in a positive direction. Yet it remains concerning that one in five evangelicals still appears to reject the Bible’s teaching that our gender as male or female is given by God our Creator (Gen 1:27).

Here is Ligonier’s press release (after the jump):

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One in Five Evangelicals Reject the Bible’s Teaching on Gender — This Will be a Battle for Next Generation

News Release, Ligonier Ministries; first appeared on Christian Newswire.
Sept. 10, 2020

ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 10, 2020 /Christian Newswire/ — A recent survey from Ligonier Ministries shows that 22 percent of U.S. evangelical Christians agree with the statement, “Gender identity is a matter of choice.” However, this statement directly contradicts the Bible’s teaching that our gender as male or female is given by God our Creator (Gen. 1:27).

Ligonier Ministries’ biennial State of Theology survey provides key findings on what Americans think about God, truth, the Bible, worship, and ethical issues. Conducted with LifeWay Research, this survey polled a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults. The full results for the 2020 survey is now available at TheStateofTheology.com.

The unbiblical concept of relative truth has influenced every sphere of life in the United States, including ethical issues such as sexuality and gender that continue to be at the forefront of public debate. In 2020, 73 percent of U.S. evangelicals reject the arguments of “gender fluidity,” while 22 percent believe that “Gender identity is a matter of choice.”

As the broader culture in the United States increasingly embraces relativistic views of human identity, data from the State of Theology survey exposes a need for Christians to receive clear teaching from the Bible on the image of God, the creation ordinance of marriage, and the purposeful distinction between male and female gender.

Dr. Stephen Nichols, chief academic officer of Ligonier Ministries and president of Reformation Bible College, said:

“Children down to the earliest ages are now being told that they have the autonomy to determine whether they are a boy, a girl, or neither. Not only does this threaten an entire generation with lifelong trauma, but more ultimately this message is one of treason against the supreme authority of God. Christians must listen and submit to God’s steadfast Word in all that it teaches, but the 2020 State of Theology survey suggests that many American evangelicals are instead listening to the changing voice of culture. We hope this survey will help serve the church of Jesus Christ in making disciples who know, love, and contend for the truth, especially in a culture that is confused about what truth even is.”

LifeWay Research surveyed a nationally representative sample of 3,002 adults in the United States, including 630 professing evangelicals. The survey was carried out from March 10 to 18, 2020. More information can be found at TheStateofTheology.com.

Evangelicals were defined by LifeWay Research as people who strongly agreed with the following four statements:

The Bible is the highest authority for what I believe.

It is very important for me personally to encourage non-Christians to trust Jesus Christ as their Savior.

Jesus Christ’s death on the cross is the only sacrifice that could remove the penalty of my sin.

Only those who trust in Jesus Christ alone as their Savior receive God’s free gift of eternal salvation.

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About Ligonier Ministries:

Ligonier Ministries exists to proclaim, teach, and defend the holiness of God in all its fullness to as many people as possible. To that end, Ligonier’s outreach today is manifold and worldwide. Founded by Dr. R.C. Sproul in 1971, Ligonier’s teaching fellowship consists of theologians, pastors, and scholars. Ligonier publishes Renewing Your Mind broadcasts, the Reformation Study Bible, Tabletalk magazine, books through Reformation Trust, and hundreds of teaching series. The ministry also offers an undergraduate degree program through Reformation Bible College. In addition, Ligonier hosts national and regional conferences, provides an online learning community through Ligonier Connect, streams 24-hour Christian Internet radio through RefNet, answers biblical and theological questions with Ask Ligonier, pursues numerous translation efforts in other countries, and makes available thousands of unique educational resources online at Ligonier.org.

CONTACT: Deborah Finnamore, Publicity Manager, 407-333-4244 ext. 1158, definnamore@ligonier.org