Liberals and Democrats Less Likely to Believe the Bible

Liberals and Democrats are less likely to believe in the divine inspiration of the Bible according to a new Gallup Poll released on July 8th.

The poll consisted of 1,018 Americans of different political backgrounds answering the question: “Which of the following statements comes closest to describing your views about the Bible”:
- the Bible is the actual word of God and is to be taken literally, word for word
- the Bible is the inspired word of God but not everything in it should be taken literally
- the Bible is an ancient book of fables, legends, history and moral precepts recorded by man?”

According to the results 30 percent said the bible was to be taken literally, with 49 percent saying it was the inspired word of God. Only 17 percent of those asked said the Bible was a book of fables and moral precepts penned by man without the inspiration of God.

Almost a third of liberals and a quarter of Democrats denied the Bible’s divine authorship, making those two groups the largest in the poll to disbelieve the Bible.

Only 7 percent of conservatives attributed the Bibles authorship to man along with 20 percent of moderates and 30 percent of liberals.

Out of the moderates 55 percent said the Bible was the inspired word of God, with 48 percent of liberals and 45 percent of conservatives in agreement.

Only 14 percent of liberals said the Bible was the actual word of God and to be taken literally, along with 46 percent of conservatives and 23 percent of moderates.

When broken up into political party affiliation, 24 percent of Democrats, 21 percent of independents and 7 percent of Republicans said the Bible was a book of fables and moral precepts recorded by man.

Nearly half of each party said the Bible was the inspired word of God, with 51 percent of Republicans, 50 percent of independents, and 46 percent of Democrats in agreement.

Out of the Republicans, 43 percent said the bible was the actual word of God, with 27 percent of democrats, and 23 percent of independents agreeing on this view.

And although a higher percentage of all groups either took the Bible as the literal word of God or attribute it to his divine inspiration, with 93 percent of Republicans and 73 percent of independents and Democrats, Democrats and liberals still had the highest percentage of people attributing the Bible to fables, legends and moral precepts recorded by man, making them less likely to believe the Bible.