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Wednesday, June 4, 2014

The Bible

The Bible is important in American political culture.  Writers and orators frequently quote from it, and many see it as a source of moral guidance. Gallup reports:
Twenty-eight percent of Americans believe the Bible is the actual word of God and that it should be taken literally. This is somewhat below the 38% to 40% seen in the late 1970s, and near the all-time low of 27% reached in 2001 and 2009. But about half of Americans continue to say the Bible is the inspiredword of God, not to be taken literally -- meaning a combined 75% believe the Bible is in some way connected to God. About one in five Americans view the Bible in purely secular terms -- as ancient fables, legends, history, and precepts written by man -- which is up from 13% in 1976.

The latest results are from Gallup's 2014 update of its annual Values and Beliefs poll, conducted May 8-11.

Fittingly, overall acceptance of the Bible as being divinely written or inspired closely approximates the proportion of Americans identifying themselves as Christian: 76% in Gallup's 2013 religion aggregate. Meanwhile, the 21% viewing the Bible in secular terms nearly matches the combined 22% who identify with another religion or no religion.
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Ultimately, the finding that nine in 10 Christians believe the Bible emanates from God indicates that U.S. Christians are Christian in more than name only.