The problem with the problem of biblical illiteracy

We’ve been warned.

The Christian body in America is immersed in a crisis of biblical illiteracy.

George Barna

Preachers, professors, and researchers have been alerting us to drastically low levels of Bible knowledge.

Americans revere the Bible — but, by and large, they don’t read it. And because they don’t read it, they have become a nation of biblical illiterates.

Gallup

When new Bible literacy studies are announced, social media buzzes and sermons abound about the cause of this.

These days many of us don’t even know basic facts about the Bible.

Kenneth Berding

Who’s to blame for this? Millennials? Gen Z? Generation X? How about those Boomers?

It’s obvious: We are living in a post-biblically literate culture.

Ed Stetzer

Biblical illiteracy concerns me.

. . . Christian leaders have been lamenting the loss of general biblical literacy in America.

David R. Nienhuis

But all the talk about biblical illiteracy troubles me more.

Biblical illiteracy is not a new problem.

Concerns about biblical illiteracy are not new to this generation — or the previous one. People have been sounding the alarm about biblical illiteracy for a very, very long time.

Before we can solve the biblical illiteracy problem, we need to understand what the problem is.

Perhaps surprisingly, the problem is more complex than you think.

That’s what this series is about.