By Michael Ashcraft –
Belief in Jesus roared back this year, making a 12% jump from 2021, the Barna Group reported this week.
“It may be the clearest indication of meaningful spiritual renewal in the United States,” Barna says.
Barna found a “groundswell of commitment to Jesus over the last four years.” According to its survey data, 66 percent of all U.S. adults say they have made a personal commitment to Jesus that is still important in their life today – up 12% from 2021.
“Young people and adults are moving closer to God, have more interest in God,” says CBN’s Billy Halloway.
The study is not an isolated blip. In January, Pew Research found None (not religiously affiliated) flatlined after decades of surging. On Thursday, the American Bible Society is expected to release data explaining surging Bible sales.
“There’s this undercurrent of warming towards faith,” says researcher John Plake, pointing out that the data is not only in America. “We’re getting the sense that something is going on. The inner C.S. Lewis in me wonders, Is Aslan on the move?”
What is causing particularly Gen Z to renounce the atheism of their parents?
Sociologists point to Covid isolation and rising depression and suicidal ideation. Preachers point to the rise of evil and its unattractive consequences: crime rates rising, anxiety, addiction, etc.
In pop culture, performers are increasingly overt with their push to Satanism. CBS news praised Sam Smith’s performance of “Unholy” at the Grammys in a devil-horned hat surrounded by strippers from a cage. But to any normal person, there was nothing appealing about it.
“The darkness is getting darker, the light is getting brighter,” says Jennie Allen, who leads revival meetings on American universities. “Hopelessness is growing and that in turn is causing a lot of people to want God. The Spirit is moving in a really unique way.”
Gen Z feels like it has been lied to by the reigning elites from politicians to celebrities. The arc of lying climaxed in Trump’s debate during the campaign. The legacy media reassured us that Joe Biden was still in his right mind, but when he took the stage and mumbled incoherently, the line was made manifest.
Gen Z pushed pack when it voted, and it is pushing back by slipping into church pews.
Revival is hitting the bastion of atheism: American universities. Beginning in February 2023, Asbury University sparked a national movement that also hit Lee University, Samford University, Baylor University, Texas A&M, Auburn University and even secular universities like Western Kentucky and Ohio State.
Has anyone studied the link between revival and The Chosen T.V. series? Anecdotal evidence is mounting that the series portraying the disciples of Jesus is leading to salvation after salvation.
Has anyone asked about Jordan Peterson’s influence? The anti-woke psychology professor exploded on the speakers’ circuit with his Jungian-influenced studies of the Bible that were wildly popular and curiosity-piquing. Bible sales jumped 22% in 2024.
“Notably, the largest increases are coming from people outside the church,” Barna reports. “Among those who do not attend church or who have distanced themselves from religious identity, the personal connection to Jesus is increasing.”
Atheism promised a perfect world. With religious driven out, rationalism and harmony would prevail and remake society into its best form, atheists said.
The opposite has happened.
With the canceling of morals, other systems have made bids to be the replacement. Islam in Europe is trying to impose shariah law while progressives say the new virtue is letting men into girls’ bathrooms and girls’ sports. Young men are told they have no virtue whatsoever to offer.
Naturally, they have turned elsewhere. Why not back to God?
UK journalist Douglas Murray foresees revival, which is significant because he is no believer himself. He’s a homosexual, but he thinks the tide of Christianity, after years of withdrawing, is coming back in.
“I’m not a believing Christian,” he says. “But where the hell do people think human rights came from? These are things that exist on the embers of Christian thought. It’s very hard to live as a complete nihilist. It’s very hard to believe that we have absolutely no purpose.”
