By a three to one margin (71 percent to 26 percent), Americans say they are more likely to personally develop their own set of religious beliefs than accept a comprehensive set of beliefs taught by a church or denomination, a Barna study, released Monday, shows.

Among those who describe themselves as Christians, for instance, nearly half believe that Satan does not exist, one-third say that Jesus sinned when He was on earth, two-fifths say they do not have a responsibility to share the Gospel with others, and one-quarter dismiss the idea that the Bible is accurate in all of its teachings – beliefs that are contrary to most church teachings.

Others, the researcher noted, say they believe they will receive eternal salvation because they confessed their sins and accepted Christ as their savior, but they also believe that a person can do enough good works to earn eternal salvation.

“This has resulted in an abundance of unique worldviews based on personal combinations of theology drawn from a smattering of world religions such as Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, and Islam as well as secularism,” he said.

In other words, the Barna survey’s findings show that people no longer look to denominations or churches for a complete set of theological views. Rather, combining beliefs from different denominations, and even religions, is becoming the norm.

The report is based upon telephone interviews conducted by The Barna Group with a random sample of 1,004 adults selected from across the United States, ages 18 and older, in August 2008.