Interpreting scripture among adults who believe in God and are fairly certain by religious group (2014) Switch to: Religious tradition among adults who believe in God and are fairly certain by interpretation of scripture
% of adults who believe in God and are fairly certain who say the holy scripture is…
| Religious tradition | Word of God; should be taken literally | Word of God; not everything taken literally | Word of God; other/don't know | Not the word of God | Other/don't know | Sample size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catholic | 22% | 29% | 2% | 40% | 8% | 1,854 |
| Evangelical Protestant | 26% | 42% | 2% | 23% | 7% | 827 |
| Historically Black Protestant | 35% | 31% | 2% | 23% | 10% | 175 |
| Jewish | 4% | 29% | 1% | 59% | 7% | 231 |
| Mainline Protestant | 8% | 33% | 2% | 48% | 10% | 1,550 |
| Unaffiliated (religious "nones") | 9% | 15% | 1% | 67% | 8% | 1,614 |
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: Word of God; should be taken literally, Word of God; not everything taken literally, Not the word of God
