Generational cohort among adults who say their holy scripture is the word of God but should not be taken literally by religious group (2014) Switch to: Religious tradition among adults who say their holy scripture is the word of God but should not be taken literally by generational group

% of adults who say their holy scripture is the word of God but should not be taken literally who are…

Religious traditionYounger MillennialOlder MillennialGeneration XBaby BoomerSilentGreatestSample size
Catholic13%9%27%35%14%1%2,722
Evangelical Protestant16%16%29%29%10%< 1%2,430
Historically Black Protestant21%20%29%25%6%1%453
Jehovah's Witness14%7%30%37%12%< 1%101
Jewish18%13%29%26%13%2%177
Mainline Protestant14%11%25%32%16%2%2,133
Mormon16%18%31%24%9%1%356
Unaffiliated (religious "nones")22%19%30%25%4%< 1%699
Sample sizes and margins of error vary from subgroup to subgroup, from year to year and from state to state. You can see the sample size for the estimates in this chart on rollover or in the last column of the table. And visit this table to see approximate margins of error for a group of a given size. Readers should always bear in mind the approximate margin of error for the group they are examining when making comparisons with other groups or assessing the significance of trends over time. For full question wording, see the survey questionnaire.

Learn More: Younger Millennial, Older Millennial, Generation X, Baby Boomer, Silent, Greatest