CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST BELIEF SCALE

Variable:

The Christian Fundamentalist Be­lief Scale (CFBS) was designed to provide a unidimensional scale to measure a single construct-fundamentalism. Fundamental­ ism is defined within the Protestant tradition and focuses primarily on the authority and inerrancy of the Bible.

Description:

The CFBS is a twelve-item scale. Respondents are asked to rate each item on a 5-point Likert-type scale, ranging from disagree strongly to agree strongly.

Practical Considerations:

The scale re­ quires no special expertise to administer, score, or interpret. It is appropriate for use with adolescents and adult Protestant sam­ples.

Norms/Standardization:

The scale was ad­ ministered to 395 male and 471 female ado­lescents attending two nondenominational, state-maintained schools in Scotland. Means and standard deviations are reported for males and females separately for grade years 7 and 8 and 9 and 10. For years 7 and 8 the mean for males (N = 224) was 33.2 (SD = 9.7) and for females (N = 262) was 35.8 (SD = 8.0). For years 9 and 10 the mean for males (N = 171) was 29.4 (SD= 10.5) and for females (N = 209) was 34.1 (SD= 10.0). No normative data has been es­tablished among samples in the United States.

Reliability:

Based on the total sample of 866 students, Cronbach’s alpha was 0.92.

Validity:

Construct validity was explored by correlating the CFBS with three indices of Christian practice for the total sample. Sig­nificant correlations were found in all cases for frequency of chruch attendance (r  .44), prayer (r = .50), and personal Bible reading (r = .47).

CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST BELIEF SCALE

Please Indicate your response to each item using the following scale:

1. disagree strongly
2. disagree
3. neutral
4. agree
5. agree strongly

1. I believe that God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh.
2. I believe that the Bible is the word of God.
3. I believe that Jesus was born of a virgin.
4. I believe that Jesus will return to earth some day.
5. I believe in hell.
6. I believe that God judges what I do and say.
7. I believe that Jesus died to save me.
8. I believe that Jesus changed real water into real wine.
9. I believe that Jesus walked on water.
10. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
11. I believe that God is controlling every bit of our lives.
12. I believe that Jesus really rose from the dead.

Location:

Subsequent Research:

None