Region among who do not believe in Heaven by interpretation of scripture (2014) Switch to: Interpreting scripture among who do not believe in Heaven by region

% of who do not believe in Heaven who are in…

Interpreting scriptureNortheastSouthMidwestWestSample size
Word of God; should be taken literally14%45%17%24%438
Word of God; not everything taken literally18%33%23%25%588
Not the word of God23%28%18%31%6,487
Other/don't know24%23%18%34%409
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: Northeast, South, Midwest, West