Interpreting scripture among who believe in Hell by race/ethnicity (2014) Switch to: Racial and ethnic composition among who believe in Hell by interpretation of scripture

% of who believe in Hell who say the holy scripture is…

Racial and ethnic compositionWord of God; should be taken literallyWord of God; not everything taken literallyWord of God; other/don't knowNot the word of GodOther/don't knowSample size
White40%36%3%15%6%12,965
Black59%23%3%10%6%2,460
Asian32%31%3%27%7%430
Latino48%27%3%17%5%2,252
Other/Mixed40%32%4%17%7%834
Note: Whites, blacks, Asians and those in the other/mixed category include only those who are not Latinos. Latinos include people of all races.

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