Interpreting scripture among adults in the West by belief in God (2014) Switch to: Belief in God among adults in the West by interpretation of scripture
% of adults in the West who say the holy scripture is…
| Belief in God | Word of God; should be taken literally | Word of God; not everything taken literally | Word of God; other/don't know | Not the word of God | Other/don't know | Sample size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Believe in God; absolutely certain | 38% | 34% | 3% | 17% | 7% | 4,781 |
| Believe in God; fairly certain | 16% | 25% | 1% | 48% | 10% | 1,764 |
| Believe in God; not too/not at all certain | 4% | 10% | < 1% | 79% | 7% | 564 |
| Do not believe in God | < 1% | 1% | < 1% | 95% | 4% | 1,081 |
| Other/don't know if they believe in God | 3% | 4% | 1% | 72% | 20% | 239 |
Sample sizes and margins of error vary from subgroup to subgroup, from year to year and from state to state. You can see the sample size for the estimates in this chart on rollover or in the last column of the table. And visit this table to see approximate margins of error for a group of a given size. Readers should always bear in mind the approximate margin of error for the group they are examining when making comparisons with other groups or assessing the significance of trends over time. For full question wording, see the survey questionnaire.
Learn More: Word of God; should be taken literally, Word of God; not everything taken literally, Not the word of God
