New findings from the American Worldview Inventory 2023 (AWVI 2023), the first national post-pandemic study of Americans’ worldview, have confirmed and now quantified what many have long suspected—that the COVID-19 pandemic has shaken the very foundations of faith in the United States.
Conducted by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University under the direction of Dr. George Barna, the study has revealed that not only has the incidence of biblical worldview decreased from 6% to 4%, but that 14 different measures showed unusually substantial change—presenting both opportunities and challenges to the church.
The biggest statistical change noted between 2020 and 2023 among U.S. adults overall was a staggering 20-percentage point decline in those who believe they have a unique, God-given calling or purpose for their life. Before the pandemic, two-thirds of adults (66%) embraced that point of view, compared to slightly less than half of adults (46%) today who do.
Another double-digit decline was in the number of adults who believe human life is sacred. A minority of Americans (39%) held that view in 2020, but that number has plummeted to just 29% in 2023.
Ironically, while there was a large jump in the number of people accepting the idea of absolute moral truth, there was a drop of six-percentage points in the number of adults who believe that God is the basis of all truth.
Another noteworthy decline was a four-point drop in the number of adults overall who identify as Christian. That number slipped from 72% in 2020 to 68% in 2023—a continuation of a decades long pattern.
One of four unfortunate behavioral transitions concerned whether people describe themselves as “deeply committed to practicing” their religious faith. Prior to the start of the pandemic, six out of 10 adults (60%) made that claim. Today, that number is less than half (48%).
Lastly, one of the most frequently measured religious behaviors is that of church attendance, which the AWVI 2023 found has declined since the start of the pandemic by nearly six percentage points. Just one out of three adults (33%) now attends a church service during a typical week—a decline representing the loss of about 15 million churchgoing adults each week.
The study’s findings were not, however, limited to the adult population in the U.S. as a whole.
Interestingly, the research revealed that born-again Christians, specifically, experienced an unusually high number of changes in their worldview beliefs and behaviors. All told, there were 13 statistically significant changes identified among the born-again population—and the magnitude of the shift for two of them, Barna says, is quite astonishing.
First, the percentage of born-again adults who believe that they have a unique, God-given calling or purpose for their life has been cut nearly in half, from 88% to 46%. The second major reorientation was a 35-point swing regarding born-again individuals claiming that they are deeply committed to practicing their faith. The proportion dropped from a very robust 85% in 2020 to merely half of the group (50%) in 2023.
In addition to the massive reduction in their acknowledging a unique God-given purpose, born-again believers posted three other double-digit declines.
Decreases in biblical beliefs included a 14-point drop in the number contending the Bible is unambiguous in its teaching about abortion, a 14-point decline in those who believe that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life during His time on Earth and a 12-point downturn in those who claim that human life is sacred.
However, among the more than four dozen beliefs and behaviors evaluated, four particular beliefs showed significant movement toward biblical thinking.
In 2020, only one-third of the adult U.S. population dismissed the idea that there are no moral truths that are the same for everyone. In 2023, the proportion of those who rejected that notion rose to almost half (46%).
Another similar and sizable shift towards biblical thinking occurred in how many adults now reject the belief that eternal salvation can be earned through good works. That number jumped to just under half of adults (45%) from the one-third (35%) who denied that possibility just three years ago. The research also showed a seven-percentage point increase in the number of adults who accept the idea that the purpose of life is to know, love, and serve God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength—one of the Seven Biblical Worldview Cornerstones.
The final significant positive change was a five-point increase in the number of adults who contend that the Bible is the true and completely accurate word of God. Since the start of the pandemic, that proportion has climbed closer to the halfway mark, with 46% now holding that belief.
