A lot of people talk to God, and a surprising number report that God talks back.
A new survey of 4,729 American adults from the Pew Research Center said that 75 percent talk to God. And 28 percent said God talks to them.
But just who God is turned out to be tricky, said Pew.
While 80 percent said that they believe in God, only 56 meant “God as described in the Bible,” and 23 said instead they meant a higher power.
The new poll follows others that have shown a decline in those who believe in God. Pew’s goal in the religion and public life poll was to drill down deeper to find out what is going on. Among the key findings:
One-third of Americans say they do not believe in the God of the Bible, but that they do believe there is some other higher power or spiritual force in the universe. A slim majority of Americans (56 percent) say they believe in God “as described in the Bible.” And one-in-ten do not believe in any higher power or spiritual force.
In the U.S., belief in a deity is common even among the religiously unaffiliated – a group composed of those who identify themselves, religiously, as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular,” and sometimes referred to, collectively, as religious “nones.” Indeed, nearly three-quarters of religious “nones” (72 percent) believe in a higher power of some kind, even if not in God as described in the Bible.
For most who believe in the Biblical God, God is very rewarding, said Pew:
- 97 percent said God loves all.
- 97 percent said God has protected them.
- 87 percent said God has rewarded them.
- 70 percent said God determines what happens to them.
