A new Gallup poll found that 20 percent of Americans say the Bible is the “actual word of God and is to be taken literally, word for word.” That’s a record low for Gallup, and a four percent drop from 2017, the last time the question was asked. Meanwhile, 29 percent of Americans say the Bible is an “ancient book of fables, legends, history and moral precepts recorded by man.” That’s the highest number ever recorded, a three percent increase from 2017.
At the same time, the largest chunk of respondents take a middle road, saying the Bible “is the inspired word of God, but not everything in it should be taken literally.” About 49 percent agreed with that statement, a two percent climb from 2017.
It continues a trend that’s been taking place for about 10 years now, with a growing number of Americans disputing the idea that the entire Bible should be taken literally as God’s word. In 2011, the number was 30 percent, so a 10 percent drop in a little over 10 years is significant, as is the growing number of people who say the Bible is a collection of legends and fables — which was 17 percent in 2011 and 29 percent today.
That said, the roughly half of Americans who say the Bible is the word of God but not everything in it should be taken literally has held fairly steady over the last few years. It seems that a stubborn 50 percent (give or take) of the country believes the Bible is spiritually important, but does not believe every word should be taken literally. Just how much of it they think should be taken literally or what that means is a question this Gallup study doesn’t answer.
“Americans’ interpretations of the Bible are important, because the Bible is often used as the basis for policy positions on moral and values issues, including such things as abortion and gay and lesbian relations,” wrote Frank Newport of Gallup. “Some more conservative Protestant groups use a literal interpretation of passages from the New Testament as the basis for their belief that women should not be in positions of religious leadership in churches. Gallup’s data show that the use of a literal interpretation of the Bible as the basis or justification for social policy positions will likely resonate only with a declining minority of the overall U.S. population.”
