Interpreting scripture among adults who believe in God with absolute certainty by religious group (2014) Switch to: Religious tradition among adults who believe in God with absolute certainty by interpretation of scripture

% of adults who believe in God with absolute certainty who say the holy scripture is…

Religious traditionWord 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
Catholic29%42%3%18%7%4,775
Evangelical Protestant59%28%4%5%4%7,594
Historically Black Protestant62%23%3%7%5%1,694
Jehovah's Witness49%38%8%1%4%221
Jewish26%39%3%21%10%277
Mainline Protestant32%39%3%16%9%3,989
Mormon35%56%5%2%2%576
Muslim48%28%11%10%3%192
Orthodox Christian35%45%4%9%8%113
Unaffiliated (religious "nones")26%23%2%39%10%1,805
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