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Are Christian Marriages Less Successful?

by Terrence Hatch
5/04/2009 / Marriage

A recent Barna report confirms that Christians divorce more often than atheists. What it doesn't say is that Christian marriages are also the most successful. Here is the rest of the story.

A decade ago, the Barna Group reported that Christians divorce more often than atheists, and young people cite this statistic as a reason to avoid church altogether. But Barna failed to communicate that Christian marriages are significantly more successful at the same time. Most notably, only one-third as many evangelical Christians say they are currently divorced, as those claiming no religion. The reason for the paradox is that Barna doesn't base his divorce rate on those who have married at least once, but rather on the entire population of the group, including singles who have never married. Since fewer atheists marry, their divorce rate is lower, because you can't get divorced if your aren't first married. Saying that Christians have higher divorce rates is a lot like saying that stunt men fall down more, or that people with driver's licenses have more accidents. Of course they do, but stunt men are still better jumpers, and licensing still makes better drivers.

More recently, in March of 2008, Barna released a new report, but again concluded that Christian marriages are more prone to failure. And once again, the success rate is not cited. Here are the most recent statistics, but with the missing success rates calculated. By applying the formula, SR = 100% - D/M, we discover that among adults who have ever married or divorced, the percentage of the population who have married and never divorced is:

* 62 percent for born-again Christians. (Married = 84%, Divorced=32%).
* 54 percent for atheists/agnostics. (Married = 65%, Divorced = 30%).
* 49 percent for non-Christian faiths. (Married = 74%, Divorced = 38%).

In other words, by calculating the success rate, Christian marriages are shown to be more successful than marriages between atheists, agnostics, and others in non-Christian faiths. But a further weakness in the publicly released version of the report is that it fails to give enough information to break down the success rates of various denominations. We can find those statistics in an earlier 2001 report, the huge American Religious Identification Survey. ARIS surveyed more than 50,000 adults, but focused on respondents current situation, rather than whether they had ever married or divorced. And like Barna's survey, their results painted a similar picture. So here are a few of the highlights, along with the newly calculated success rates. By applying the same success rate formula, we find that for current situations in 2001, of the total population of those who say they are either married or divorced, the percentage of the total who say they are currently married is:

* 91 percent for Evangelicals. (Married=74%, Divorced=7%).
* 88 percent for the Assemblies of God. (Married =73%, Divorced = 10%).
* 88 percent for the Church of Christ. (Married = 63%, Divorced =9%).
* 87 percent for Catholic. (Married = 60%, Divorced =9%).
* 83 percent for Baptists. (Married = 58%, Divorce = 12%)
* 81 percent for Pentecostals. (Married = 58%, Divorced = 14%).
* 81 percent for Buddhists. (Married = 35%, Divorced = 8%.)
* 69 percent for those claiming no religion. (Married =19%, Divorced =9%).

When compared with the Barna report, this report also implies that when Christians divorce, they are quicker to remarry, suggesting a greater satisfaction with the marriage experience. Both reports lead to the obvious conclusion that Christian marriages are more likely to succeed. In fact, as alluded to earlier, among Evangelical Christians who identify themselves as married or divorced, only one person in ten is currently divorced, while among those claiming no religion, three times as many are currently divorced. But a number of atheistic and Christian sources are claiming the opposite are claiming Christians divorce as much or more than atheists. Even some churches pass on the misinformation, apparently thinking that it motivates members to greater spirituality, but without regard for its impact on those who may be considering a lifestyle of faith.

Actually, a correct interpretation of the results supports the belief that faith in God leads to abundant life, which is a claim of Christ. So while the divorce rate in Churches should always be of concern, the evidence indicates that churches are doing something right. It is time to communicate the truth to a generation that is buried in a wave of misleading information. Christian marriages are indeed the most successful.

References:

ARIS. 2001. American Religious Identification Survey. The Graduate Center of the City University of New York. http://www.gc.cuny.edu/faculty/research_studies/aris.pdf>. Accessed 2/2009.

Barna, George. 2004. Born Again Christians Just As Likely to Divorce As Are Non-Christians. http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdateNarrow&BarnaUpdateID=170>. Accessed 2/25/2009.

Barna, George. 2008. New Marriage and Divorce Statistics Released. http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdateNarrow&BarnaUpdateID=295>.

This study is free for non-profit use, and is also available in book and e-book form under the title "The Trinity Doctrine in Scripture," from Amazon.com. Terrence is also author of the books, "Amazing Evidence: Grounds for Belief" and "Big Flood Big Faith: Noah's Flood and Earth's Extreme Makeover"

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