Interpreting scripture among members of the United Methodist Church by sources of guidance on right and wrong (2014) Switch to: Sources of guidance on right and wrong among members of the United Methodist Church by interpretation of scripture

% of members of the United Methodist Church who say the holy scripture is…

Sources of guidance on right and wrongWord 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
Religion44%41%4%7%4%609
Philosophy/reason9%38%5%43%5%142
Common sense19%44%1%26%10%745
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