Prayer in America
Nearly six-in-ten U.S. adults say they pray at least once a day although the frequency of prayer differs significantly by religious tradition, age, gender and income.
When Will Jesus Return?
Fully 79% of U.S. Christians believe in the Second Coming of Christ. Only 17% don’t — fewer than the 20% who believe the Second Coming will occur in their lifetime.
Not All Nonbelievers Call Themselves Atheists
About one-in-20 Americans say they do not believe in God, but that doesn’t mean 5% of Americans are atheists. In fact, 14% of nonbelievers self-identify as Christian. Only a quarter of those who do not believe in God consider themselves atheists.
Losing Wealth, Finding God?
Is the falling economy raising attendance at religious services?
The Stronger Sex — Spiritually Speaking
Analysis of survey data shows that women are more religious than men on a variety of measures.
A Religious Portrait of African-Americans
While the U.S. is generally considered a highly religious nation, African-Americans are markedly more religious on a variety of measures than the U.S. population as a whole, including level of affiliation with a religion, attendance at religious services, frequency of prayer and religion’s importance in life.
Many Americans Say Other Faiths Can Lead to Eternal Life
Most American Christians, including evangelicals, have more than just other Christian denominations in mind when they say there are many paths to salvation. Also, roughly one-third of Americans believe that whether one achieves eternal life is determined by what a person believes, with nearly as many saying eternal life depends on one’s actions.
Palin Nomination Puts Spotlight on Pentecostalism
From the time she was a teenager until 2002, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin attended a Pentecostal church , a denomination that emphasizes such practices as speaking in tongues, prophesying, divine healing and other miraculous signs of the Holy Spirit.
What Brain Science Tells Us About Religious Belief
Recent advances in neuroscience are offering researchers a look into the physiology of religious belief. In a transcript from a Pew Forum event, University of Pennsylvania radiologist, Dr. Andrew Newberg, discusses how measurable brain activity matches up with the religious experiences described by worshippers.
Courts Not Silent on Moments of Silence
An Illinois statute, now on temporary hold by a U.S. District Court, has given rise to the latest in a long line of constitutional cases involving required moments-of-silence in public schools.
