Most American Christians do not believe that Satan or the Holy Spirit exist

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I didn’t really know where to put this since it really belongs in “Christian News” rather than “Catholic News,” but since that isn’t an option, I chose “Catholic News.” Either way, I find it disturbing to think that many CHRISTIANS do not believe that Satan exists. :eek::confused. Actually, I found several data points disturbing, considering the views of CHRISTIANS were explored. Excerpts from the article that address the title:

"Most American Christians do not believe that Satan or the Holy Spirit exist

A new nationwide survey of adults’ spiritual beliefs, conducted by The Barna Group, suggests that Americans who consider themselves to be Christian have a diverse set of beliefs – but many of those beliefs are contradictory or, at least, inconsistent.

…
…

Four out of ten Christians (40%) strongly agreed that Satan “is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.” An additional two out of ten Christians (19%) said they “agree somewhat” with that perspective. A minority of Christians indicated that they believe Satan is real by disagreeing with the statement: one-quarter (26%) disagreed strongly and about one-tenth (9%) disagreed somewhat. The remaining 8% were not sure what they believe about the existence of Satan."…

Full article here: timesnews.net/article.php?id=9013112
 
I know many people that say they are Catholic but do not know the first thing about Catholicism. So I am wondering how this poll was done. If you went up to a person in the street and asked if they were Christian they would probably say yes even if they have not been to church in years. This is not an excuse though. That is a very scaring result from the poll. Sadly our society reflects it.
 
kennewickmike said:
I know many people that say they are Catholic but do not know the first thing about Catholicism. So I am wondering how this poll was done. If you went up to a person in the street and asked if they were Christian they would probably say yes even if they have not been to church in years. This is not an excuse though. That is a very scaring result from the poll. Sadly our society reflects it.
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You make a very good point. People self-identifying as Christian but who do not practice their faith is probably something that does occur when polls or surveys are conducted. I know I have relatives who would identify themselves as Catholic, but they do not practice their faith at all. I think that this is more of a random sampling of only 1,871 people, so the title of the article “Most American Christians…” is misleading. Here are specifics regarding how the survey was taken:

"About the Research
This report is based upon telephone interviews conducted by The Barna Group for two surveys among people who described themselves as “Christian.” A total of 1,871 adults were randomly selected from across the 48 continental states, with the first 873 interviews conducted in January and February, 2008, and the remaining 998 interviews conducted in November 2008. "

Source: barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/260-most-american-christians-do-not-believe-that-satan-or-the-holy-spirit-exis
 
It is still a sad fact that you brought up. Abortions, death with dignity, capital punishment, quick fix pills, cosmetic surgery, everyone bring lawsuits against one another.

I realize that some of those things I listed can be used for the common good, but generally are not. We live like Devil so maybe that is why we do not believe in him. To believe in him we would have to acknowledge our actions.
 
These people, who call themselves christians, do not even follow the bible, let alone christian teaching.
" satan roams the earth like a roaring lion, seeking who he may devour. "
" Behold I saw the spirit of God descending on him like a dove "
I don’t know the "addresses " and its possible I paraphrased, but both of these are clearly biblical.
 
SwizzleStick said:
I didn’t really know where to put this since it really belongs in “Christian News” rather than “Catholic News,” but since that isn’t an option, I chose “Catholic News.” Either way, I find it disturbing to think that many CHRISTIANS do not believe that Satan exists. :eek::confused. Actually, I found several data points disturbing, considering the views of CHRISTIANS were explored. Excerpts from the article that address the title:

"Most American Christians do not believe that Satan or the Holy Spirit exist

A new nationwide survey of adults’ spiritual beliefs, conducted by The Barna Group, suggests that Americans who consider themselves to be Christian have a diverse set of beliefs – but many of those beliefs are contradictory or, at least, inconsistent.

…
…

Four out of ten Christians (40%) strongly agreed that Satan “is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.” An additional two out of ten Christians (19%) said they “agree somewhat” with that perspective. A minority of Christians indicated that they believe Satan is real by disagreeing with the statement: one-quarter (26%) disagreed strongly and about one-tenth (9%) disagreed somewhat. The remaining 8% were not sure what they believe about the existence of Satan."…

Full article here: timesnews.net/article.php?id=9013112
Click to expand...
Can we trust the polls? I knew a poll worker. Often the questions are so skewed as to be laughable.

That said, we live in an increasingly pagan and evil world, and it was our weakness in the name of ‘tolerance’ which probably led to this sad state of affairs.

Lord have mercy.
 
When I was a kid, my mom had a nun from our parish tell her, in front of a whole group of parishioners, that Satan was not real.
 
It’s interesting that even though we are on “the information superhighway,” Christians seem to actually know less, including Catholics. Get a Bible, read a few pages of the New Testament every day. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is available online.

The devil is real and demonic possession is real, but the current secular media dismisses Christian beliefs all the time. They mock God. They deny sin. “If it feels good, do it.” is the guiding principle. I heard a priest on Catholic Radio who does exorcisms. He said first, the person is examined to make sure they have no psychological disorders, and then they are prayed for, and yes, there is a specific ritual but it is not like the recent movie version. Angels are real as well.

But the world actively uses what they call “reason” to deny God and deny the work of God. Do you believe Jesus rose from the dead? Do you know Jesus speaks of the devil as an actual person? If you know these two things, then ignore what the scoffers say. I encourage you.

Peace,
Ed
 
A lot of the world views Christians as low intelligence people that need their superstitions to make sense of the world.
 
edwest2 said:
It’s interesting that even though we are on “the information superhighway,” Christians seem to actually know less, including Catholics. Get a Bible, read a few pages of the New Testament every day. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is available online.

The devil is real and demonic possession is real, but the current secular media dismisses Christian beliefs all the time. They mock God. They deny sin. “If it feels good, do it.” is the guiding principle. I heard a priest on Catholic Radio who does exorcisms. He said first, the person is examined to make sure they have no psychological disorders, and then they are prayed for, and yes, there is a specific ritual but it is not like the recent movie version. Angels are real as well.

But the world actively uses what they call “reason” to deny God and deny the work of God. Do you believe Jesus rose from the dead? Do you know Jesus speaks of the devil as an actual person? If you know these two things, then ignore what the scoffers say. I encourage you.

Peace,
Ed
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The word “sin” gets a bad rap. It is not just breaking a rule, but breaking a relationship.
Every sin is a small apostasy, a deviation from the path that leads to our proper destination or an absndonment of the vehicle that it taking us in the right direction. We are like people who decide to jump off a train and yet expect to get to the end of the line. All roads do not leads to Rome.some lead to Albany.
 
The question is poorly worded. It asks if Satan is “a living being”. What is that suppose to mean? Angels-even fallen ones like satan-exist, but they are not “alive” in the biological sense.
 
SwizzleStick said:
I didn’t really know where to put this since it really belongs in “Christian News” rather than “Catholic News,” but since that isn’t an option, I chose “Catholic News.” Either way, I find it disturbing to think that many CHRISTIANS do not believe that Satan exists. :eek::confused. Actually, I found several data points disturbing, considering the views of CHRISTIANS were explored. Excerpts from the article that address the title:

"Most American Christians do not believe that Satan or the Holy Spirit exist

A new nationwide survey of adults’ spiritual beliefs, conducted by The Barna Group, suggests that Americans who consider themselves to be Christian have a diverse set of beliefs – but many of those beliefs are contradictory or, at least, inconsistent.

…
…

Four out of ten Christians (40%) strongly agreed that Satan “is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.” An additional two out of ten Christians (19%) said they “agree somewhat” with that perspective. A minority of Christians indicated that they believe Satan is real by disagreeing with the statement: one-quarter (26%) disagreed strongly and about one-tenth (9%) disagreed somewhat. The remaining 8% were not sure what they believe about the existence of Satan."…

Full article here: timesnews.net/article.php?id=9013112
Click to expand...
During my Senior year in High School the Priest who taught me told me that Satan does not exist?:eek: This was in a Catholic High School!
 
This survey is of self-identified “Christians.” Some people on this thread seem to think it was a survey of Catholics. There are a great many liberal Protestants, for one group, that for example do not believe the Christ is divine. Many Protestants believe that everyone goes to heaven. etc. Liberal Protestants greatly downplay the supernatural, including the possibility Satan exists. This is not to condemn the beliefs of some Protestants, but simply to point out that the results of this survey are quite to be expected.
I have often though it very likely though that a higher proportion of the general U.S. population in the last few decades, including those even with no official religious affiliation, believe in Satan. What of popular movies like “The Exorcist” and the whole great multitude of horror movies in which demons play a part since that movie? There seems a quite popular current of belief in satan nowadays.
 
And yet another poll/survey (Rasmusen??) found that 80 percent of Americans believe Christ walked the earth, and nearly that many that He was both God and Man, and died on the cross and rose from the dead to redeem us.

It does imply a belief in Satan, for from whom are we to be redeemed but the one who set death and sin free in this world?
 
Calling oneself a Catholic or a Christain nowaday means nothing.

S/he might believes just as much as an agnosic or an atheist believes.

Better that they strip that name and call themselves something else.

Too bad we have to wait 'til end time to separate the sheeps from the goats
 
averheyen said:
Boy are they in for a suprise!
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I think that it delights Satan and his angels to no end to convince the world that he is not real. Makes his job of corrupting the world easier.

St. Michael, the Archangel,
Defend us in battle
Be our guard against the snares and the wickedness of the devil
May God rebuke Him we humbly pray, and do thou O Prince of the Heavenly hosts
By the power of God
Cast into hell, Satan and all evil spirits
Who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls
Amen

God Bless!
To Jesus, through Mary
 
Sailor_Kenshin said:
Can we trust the polls? I knew a poll worker. Often the questions are so skewed as to be laughable.

That said, we live in an increasingly pagan and evil world, and it was our weakness in the name of ‘tolerance’ which probably led to this sad state of affairs.

Lord have mercy.
Click to expand...
I never trust polls nore most newspapers either…Some are really so atheistic it isn’t funny, and they never miss a chance to take a swipe at those who beleive…they must be a miserable lot
 
I thought I should mention one of C. S. Lewis’ most popular books, “The Screwtape Letters.” This book fictionally provides the advice of a senior demon, Screwtape, to a lesser one on tempting one victim of his temptation. The remarks provided on amazon.com call this book a masterpiece of reverse psychology. I recall that Screwtape remarks that it is best that people not believe in them in this day and age.
 
Ten out of ten Christians in Paradise believe Satan is a living being. Ten out of ten believe in the Holy Spirit.
 
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