Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging

truth.

For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street.

Put into the Wall Street Journal, recent polling data shows a quote,

"...surprising surge of faith among young people."

As columnist Claire Ansbury wrote, about a third of 18 to 25-year-old say they believe

more than they doubt the existence of a higher power, up from about one quarter in 2021,

according to a recent survey.

This study corresponds with others that have offered surprising insights about Gen Z,

when Barnas study, for example, found that globally 52% of teenagers today identify as Christian.

Six and ten are motivated to know more about Jesus, and the US and Canada, Barnas concluded,

teens feel less negatively about sharing their faith than millennials do, with 81% rejecting

the statement that, quote, "...if someone disagrees with you, it means they're judging you."

My Ansbury's explanation for the increased interest in matters of faith is that after

three years of loss and confusion and bloating the disruption of a global pandemic, young people

are seeing the need for something bigger than themselves.

Quote, in many ways, it aged young Americans, and they are now turning to the same comfort

previous generations have turned to during tragedies for healing and comfort.

Barnar Researcher Daniel Copeland even called them the Open Generation.

And yet, at the same time, the spiritual openness of young people often comes at the cost

of identifiably Christian convictions.

His political scientist, Ryan Burge, laid out in 2021, quote, "...they are the first generation

...