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It's Saturday, April 20, 2024.

Today’s edition covers how Americans engage with the Bible in 2024, the latest Mark Driscoll controversy, an exposé of Benny Hinn, the influence of Thomas Aquinas, and much more.

“My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times. You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones, who wander from your commandments.” (Psalm 119:20-21)

Of Christian Concern

AMERICAN BIBLE USE IS “INCHING DOWNWARD,” AND SCRIPTURE DISENGAGEMENT “AT ITS HIGHEST POINT EVER”: REPORT

Screenshot from the cover of the State of the Bible 2024 report. (American Bible Society)

American Bible Society released its State of the Bible 2024 report, with a number of insightful data. Here are a few.

• The number of Americans who use the Bible dropped dramatically from 50% in 2021 to 40% in 2022, and has been “inching downward” ever since (39% last year, and 38% this year).

• Most Americans’ Bible reading has not changed, but more people self-report increased reading (15%) than report decreased reading (10%).

• The percentage of those disengaged with the Bible “is now at its highest point ever.” This means less people are reading it frequently, being impacted by it in their relationships, and relying on it to make their decisions.

• More Black Americans (28%) are engaged with Scripture, compared with Hispanic (18%), White (16%), and Asian  (10%).

• More Evangelical Protestants (46%) are engaged with Scripture, compared with Mainline Protestants (25%), Historically Black Protestants(26%), and Catholics (11%).

• More people in the South (25%) are engaged with Scripture, compared with the West (15%), the Northeast (13%) and the Midwest (13%).

• Unsurprisingly, Scripture engagement decreases by generation. More Boomers+(24%) are engaged with Scripture, compared with Gen X (21%), Millennials (12%), and Gen Z adults (11%).

• Perhaps surprisingly, though, a full half of Americans (50%, up from 46% last year) “now agree that Bible reading is an important component of a child’s character development.”

Jennifer Holloran, President and CEO at American Bible Society, responds to the survey results in part with the commentary, “The data allow us to know the current state of being. But by themselves data do not provide the answers to shifting minds and hearts so that people can see the gift of God’s Word already within their reach. We can reflect on the data all day, but it is pointless if it does not lead us collectively toward action.”

She adds, “This is where we must look to the church to respond.” How? Unity, she says. “Not uniformity in traditions or approach, but our unity in our love for the gospel and our belief that the message of Jesus transforms lives. . . . Perhaps we need more time together contemplating the truth and beauty of the gospel, giving us less time to focus on the aspects of life that might divide us if we elevate them above the importance of the gospel.

“More than ever, we need a united church to come together around changing the trajectory of Scripture engagement in the United States.”

Explore the results for yourself here.

Also Noteworthy

A “stripper pole” performance at the Stronger Men's Conference (left), and Pastor Mark Driscoll criticizing it during his talk (right).

→ Pastor Mark Driscoll, a well-known evangelical preacher who is no stranger to controversy, was kicked off stage during a men’s conference last weekend after publicly criticizing the inclusion of a former male stripper’s performance earlier in the conference, calling it “the Jezebel spirit”. The head of the Stronger Men's Conference, Pastor John Lindell, after dismissing Driscoll from the stage, told the booing audience that Driscoll should have talked to him privately first. Driscoll and Lindell had a conciliatory onstage discussion later in the conference.

→ This past Sunday marked ten years that the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram kidnapped 276 Christian girls from a school in Chibok, Nigeria, sparking the social media trend #BringBackOurGirls. A full 91 of them are still missing, Persecution.org reports

→ “Prominent Orthodox bishop” Mar Mari Emmanuel and other parishioners were stabbed by an alleged Muslim attacker during a church service in Australia. The bishop, who was treated in the hospital and in stable condition, reportedly “put his hand on the attacker and started praying” after being stabbed.

→ Fifteen states in the U.S. sent a letter to the Bank of America’s CEO on Monday, calling out the financial institution for religious and political discrimination.

→ Planned Parenthood released its 2022-2023 annual report, attesting to its nearly 393,000 murders in 2021-2022. The organization received nearly $700 million in taxpayer money during that period.

Content Catch-Up

Screengrab of Mike Winger’s video exposé of Benny Hinn. (Mike Winger / YouTube)

Recent, notable content by Christian creators, or of Christian interest.*

→ The Victims of Benny Hinn: In a viral video, YouTube Bible teacher Mike Winger exposes certain abuses perpetrated by prosperity preacher Benny Hinn, who reportedly remains highly influential on the Christian world stage. Hinn’s ministry filed copyright claims against Winger’s video, which YouTube has dismissed as false claims. (Video)

→ Doug Wilson’s Christian Nationalism: In a clip from high-profile pastor Doug Wilson’s recent interview with Tucker Carlson, the minister succinctly defines and defends his conception of “Christian Nationalism.” (Video)

*Not necessarily an endorsement

Church History Tidbit

Thomas Aquinas’ Influence

Panel of an altarpiece by Carlo Crivelli, 15th century, Ascoli Piceno, Italy. (Public Domain)

Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) is considered by some to be “the greatest of the medieval philosopher-theologians.” Born in Roccasecca in Italy, he studied first at the Benedictine monastery in Cassino, then at the University of Naples, where he first encountered the writings of Aristotle.

Despite his family’s great efforts to dissuade him (which included detaining him in the family castle for many months, and allegedly hiring a prostitute to try to seduce him), he became a Dominican monk. He is famous for his synthesis of Aristotelian philosophy with Christianity, and of faith with reason. His two most popular works are Summa theologiae and Summa contra Gentiles.

“In these works,” Britannica explains, “he clearly distinguished between the domains and methods of philosophy and theology. The philosopher seeks the first causes of things, beginning with data furnished by the senses; the subject of the theologian’s inquiry is God as revealed in sacred scripture. In theology, appeal to authority carries the most weight; in philosophy, it carries the least.”

Whatever he borrowed from Aristotle and Plato, he always “transformed and deepened.” As an example, he adapted Aristotle’s “proof of the existence of a primary unmoved mover” to argue for “the God of Judaism and Christianity” (which was certainly not Aristotle’s conclusion).

“Aquinas never compromised Christian doctrine by bringing it into line with the current Aristotelianism; rather, he modified and corrected the latter whenever it clashed with Christian belief.”

There are aspects of Aquinas’ extensive teachings with which most Protestants differ (for example, he argued for transubstantiation), but he remains a major influence in theology and philosophy whose ideas cannot be ignored.

The Bible, Briefly

Do Not Add or Take Away

Photo: Eduardo Braga

The fourth- and third-to-last verses in the Bible say, “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.” (Revelation 22:18-19)

Have you ever heard these verses alluded to, to suggest we must not add or subtract from the Bible? Is that what these verses are saying? Bible teacher Mike Winger weighs in.

‘This Book’

“What is the ‘this book’?” he asks rhetorically. “Now, a lot of people [notice] that this is at the end of the Bible…[so] they just maybe intuitively think it refers to the entire Bible.” But, he observes, “When Revelation was written, it was written as one standalone document…and it was then sent to these different churches who, when reading it, would have read it by itself, [and] would have probably read ‘this book’ in reference to just the twenty-two chapters of the book of Revelation.”

Beyond that, he says of the verses, “We also have descriptions of ‘the holy city’ ‘described in this book.’ That’s in the book of Revelation, specifically. ‘The plagues described in this book’—that’s in the book of Revelation. It’s all very specific.” So, “Yes, this is probably just about the book of Revelation.”

Don’t Overreact

That said, Winger cautions against overreaction: “Does that mean, however, it’s ok to add to and take away from the Word of God?” He points out, “In principle, if God will do all this to you if you add or take away from the book of Revelation, should we think that you will then be totally in the clear if you add or take away from something else He said? Probably not.” Plus, there’s Proverbs 30:5-6: “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.”

“If you need a verse that sort of sweepingly suggests that God’s Word as He delivers it is right and good and you shouldn’t change it,” Winger says, “then this is probably your blanket statement right in here in Proverbs chapter 30.”

Context Is King

Winger’s analysis is instructive for Bible-reading beyond these two verses. There are many places in the Bible where a verse on its own may seem to be teaching a certain truth that, when understood in context, it’s not teaching. But that doesn’t mean the truth it’s not teaching is not true. The Bible may teach that truth elsewhere, and you may need to do a bit of research to figure out if it does and where.

But, whatever we do, we mustn’t misuse any passage of Scripture to claim it supports a view that it doesn’t. Otherwise…well, we may find ourselves adding to or taking away from the Bible.

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Why "18:15"? The name Project 18:15 is based on Proverbs 18:15: “An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.” The aim is for this weekly email—a Christian news briefing, a Bible study, and a Church history lesson rolled into one—to be one way you keep abreast of current events and acquire knowledge you might not acquire elsewhere.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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