Belief in God among adults who say religion is somewhat important by interpretation of scripture (2014) Switch to: Interpreting scripture among adults who say religion is somewhat important by belief in God

% of adults who say religion is somewhat important who say they…

Interpreting scriptureBelieve in God; absolutely certainBelieve in God; fairly certainBelieve in God; not too/not at all certainBelieve in God; don't knowDo not believe in GodOther/don't know if they believe in GodSample size
Word of God; should be taken literally72%23%3%1%1%< 1%1,057
Word of God; not everything taken literally60%36%3%< 1%< 1%< 1%2,770
Word of God; other/don't know72%24%1%1%1%1%121
Not the word of God35%43%11%1%7%3%3,566
Other/don't know51%36%7%2%2%4%797
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: Believe in God; absolutely certain, Believe in God; fairly certain, Believe in God; not too/not at all certain, Do not believe in God