In U.S., 3 in 10 Say They Take the Bible Literally
PRINCETON, NJ — Three in 10 Americans interpret the Bible literally, saying it is the actual word of God. That is similar to what Gallup has measured over the last two decades, but down from the 1970s and 1980s. A 49% plurality of Americans say the Bible is the inspired word of God but that it should not be taken literally, consistently the most common view in Gallup’s nearly 40-year history of this question. Another 17% consider the Bible an ancient book of stories recorded by man.
You can check out the full Gallup study here, but below are some charts I thought my readers would find interesting.
The Greatness of the Honey Badger
Apparently this has been popular for quite some time, but I’m just getting wind of it.
Language warning.
Correlated – Discover Surprising Correlations
Are apartment dwellers more likely to read comic books? Do people who square dance have higher-than-average auto accident rates? Are people who drive domestic cars more likely to prefer Coke over Pepsi?
Correlated helps discover surprising correlations between seemingly unrelated things.
By answering each day’s survey question, you’ll help us make new correlations.
At the end of the day, the results of the survey are compared with the results of all previous surveys, and the two outcomes with the strongest link are highlighted.
It’s fun. It’s painless. It’s free. Enjoy.
Here are some previous correlations:
- Only 35 percent of people with a landline phone have worn braces, compared with 48 percent of people in general.
- 64 percent of mushroom haters prefer tea to coffee, compared with 44 percent of people in general.
- 44 percent of bad spellers prefer white noise when they sleep, compared with 30 percent of people in general.

