Poll: Do American Evangelicals ''Walk the Walk?''

Four out of 10 Americans identify themselves as evangelical, but a much smaller percentage “walk the walk,” according to a newly released Gallup poll on America’s religious trends.

By Pauline J. Chang, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, June 09, 2005

Four out of 10 Americans identify themselves as evangelical, but a much smaller percentage “walk the walk,” according to a newly released Gallup poll on America’s religious trends.

The Gallup Organization polled 1,000 U.S. adults in mid-April and found that 42 percent labeled themselves “born-again” or “evangelical.” However, in a survey held one month later on 1,000 Americans, the poll found that only about a quarter of the population hold to “core evangelical doctrines.”

Gallup identified three core evangelical beliefs as: believing that the Bible is the actual word of God, engaging in evangelism by encouraging friends and relatives to believe in Jesus, and having undergone a born-again experience.

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The results found that 52 percent of Americans engages in evangelism, 48 percent underwent a born-again experience, and 32 percent believes the Bible is the actual word of God.

However, only 22 percent were found to hold all three beliefs.

“It has been difficult for experts to get an accurate read on the percentage of evangelicals in the United States, and estimates can vary widely,” Albert L. Winseman, Gallup’s religion and social trends editor, wrote in announcing the data. “Looking only at the basic Gallup Poll self identification question, it would appear that evangelical Christians make up a sizeable portion of Americans.

“However, when analyzing respondents’ answers to three questions that most evangelical leaders would say are core evangelical doctrine, the percentage is much smaller.”