A new Pew Research Center survey on the religious beliefs of Americans looks into what people mean when they say they believe in God.
The study surveyed 4,729 participants in December 2017. They were first asked “Do you believe in God, or not?” and 80 percent said they do. The study then asked those who said yes a follow-up question to clarify whether they believe in “God as described in the Bible” or “do not believe in God as described in the Bible, but do believe there is some other higher power or spiritual force in the universe.” Only 56 percent answered that they believe in God as described in the Bible.
The 19 percent who answered the initial question by saying they do not believe in God also received a follow-up question. They were asked whether they “do not believe in God as described in the Bible, but do believe there is some other higher power or spiritual force in the universe” or do they “not believe there is ANY higher power or spiritual force in the universe.” Of this group, 9 percent said they do believe in a higher power or spiritual force. Only 10 percent of those surveyed did not.
The article on the Pew Research Center website breaks this down by many other categories such as age groups, education level and political affiliations.
The full study is available for download.
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