More than one third (39%) of U.S. adults believe that we are “living in the end times,” according to a Pew Research Center report published December 8.

Nearly half (47%) of all U.S. Christians agree, with Historically Black (76%) and evangelical (63%) Protestants being the most likely religious groups to say we’re living in the end times.

Less than one third of all other religious groups affirmed this position: Mainline Protestants (31%), “nones” (30%), other faith traditions (29%), Catholics (27%), Agnostics (14%) and atheists (9%).

Republican respondents (45%) were more likely than Democrat respondents (33%), while Black respondents (68%) were most likely than Hispanic (41%), white (34%) or Asian (33%) respondents to say we are living in the end times. Affirmation of this view diminished as respondents’ educational level increased.

A similar pattern among the demographic groups was seen in response to the question, “Do you believe Jesus will return to Earth someday?”

Evangelical (92%) and Historically Black (86%) Protestants were most likely to say, “yes,” followed by Mainline Protestants (64%) and Catholics (63%). Fewer than one third of the other religious groups said, “yes.” In addition, Republicans were more likely than Democrats, Black respondents were more likely than other ethnic groups to say, “yes,” and affirmation of Jesus’ earthly return diminished as education level increased.

Only 10% of all respondents expect Jesus to return during their lifetime, with Historically Black (22%) and evangelical (21%) Protestants were most likely to say, “Yes, Jesus will definitely / probably return in their lifetime.” By comparison, only 7% of Catholics and 6% of Mainline Protestants agreed.

The full report is available here. The topline results are available here. The overall margin of error is plus or minus 1.6 percentage points.

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