Nearly Half of Americans Call the Bible “Ancient Myths”: What This Means for the Church Today
📉 The Great Disconnect: When the Holy Book Becomes a Fairy Tale ✨
Have you looked at a bookshelf lately? For centuries, the Bible sat on the top shelf of Western culture. It was the standard for law, morality, and truth. Even people who didn’t go to church respected it.
But the ground has shifted beneath our feet.
According to recent data (including a landmark Gallup poll), fewer than 20% of Americans now believe the Bible is the literal Word of God, and nearly half view it as a collection of “fables, legends, history, and moral precepts recorded by man.”
In other words: Ancient Myths.
To many of your neighbors, the story of the Resurrection is no different than the story of Zeus or Thor.
What does this mean for the Church today?
It means the days of “because the Bible says so” are over. We are no longer playing on a home field; we are missionaries in a foreign culture. But this isn’t a reason to panic. It is an invitation to rediscover why we believe what we believe—and to live it out so powerfully that the “myth” becomes undeniable reality.
Part I: Why the Shift? The Death of Cultural Christianity 🏛️
The Information Age vs. The Wisdom Age 📱
Why do so many people view Scripture as fiction?
- Scientism: The belief that only things proven in a lab are “real.” Miracles (like the Red Sea or the Virgin Birth) don’t fit the scientific method, so they are labeled myths.
- Moral Conflict: The Bible says things about money, sex, and pride that offend modern sensibilities. It is easier to label the Bible a “myth” than to submit to its authority.
- Biblical Illiteracy: Most people rejecting the Bible haven’t actually read it. They are rejecting a caricature of the Bible they saw on TikTok or TV.
For a look at how God proves His authority through nature, read Why Did God Stretch a Line Across the Sky?.
Part II: The “True Myth” (A Better Perspective) 📖
C.S. Lewis and the Story That Is Real 🦁
C.S. Lewis, the great Christian thinker, was an atheist who loved ancient myths. He struggled to believe in Jesus until his friend J.R.R. Tolkien explained a profound truth:
Christianity is the “True Myth.”
It has all the wonder of a great story—a dying God, a rescued bride, a defeated dragon—but with one massive difference: It actually happened.
- It happened in real history.
- It involved real geography (Jerusalem, not Olympus).
- It was witnessed by real people who died for their testimony.
The Bible isn’t “Once upon a time.” It is “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar” (Luke 3:1). It anchors itself in history.
For evidence of Jesus’ divinity in history, read 5 Bold Biblical Claims That Prove Jesus Is Truly God.
Part III: 3 Common Misconceptions About This Statistic 💡
Misconception 1: The Church is dying.
- Correction: The cultural church is dying. People who went to church just to look like “good citizens” are leaving. But the faithful church—those who truly believe the Gospel—is often growing and deepening. The sifting process is painful, but it purifies the Body.
Misconception 2: We should stop quoting the Bible to non-believers.
- Correction: Some think, “If they don’t believe it, why quote it?” But the Bible says the Word itself is “quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword” (Hebrews 4:12). The Word has inherent power to pierce the heart, even of a skeptic. Don’t stop quoting it; just stop assuming they already agree with it.
Misconception 3: “Myth” means it has zero value.
- Correction: Even secular people admit the Bible has “moral value.” But we must push further. If it’s just good advice, it’s optional. If it’s God’s Word, it’s imperative. We cannot settle for Jesus being a “good teacher.”
For more on the danger of half-hearted belief, see The Double-Edged Command: Why Jesus’ Call to Watch and Pray Is Your Key to Victory.
Conclusion: From Argument to Demonstration 🌟
What does this mean for us?
If the world thinks the Bible is a myth, arguments rarely change their minds. Lives do.
The early church lived in a Roman world that thought Christianity was a weird superstition. They didn’t win Rome by winning debates; they won Rome by out-loving, out-serving, and out-dying their pagan neighbors.
When you forgive the unforgivable, when you have peace in a storm, when you love your enemy—you make the “myth” look like the most real thing on earth.
Reflection: Does your life look like a copy of the culture, or does it look like the “Ancient Myth” is actually alive in you?
