April 2018 – A new study by Barna Group has found Generation Z (those born between 1999 and 2015) to be the least religious in the country's history, less likely to attend church services, and more likely to see science as superior to the Bible than older generations.
The number of teens who claim to be atheist (13%) is now twice that of U.S. adults in general (6%). This is a much higher number of atheists than the generation previous to them, the millennial generation (7%). What is Gen Z’s biggest reason to reject faith? Reconciling a good God with the existence of evil and suffering, the study found.
The study also found that in general Gen Z seems more skeptical to the claims of the Bible and more willing to listen to the world’s interpretation of science. Even 49% of churchgoing teens said, “The church seems to reject much of what science tells us about the world.”
The most common reason for not attending church among non-Christians and Christians in Gen Z is that “church is not relevant to me personally” (59%), while 48% said that they “find God elsewhere.”
