Belief in each of the five spiritual entities is at its lowest, according to a Gallup poll released July 20. There has been a steady downward trend since 2001.
When compared to 2001, belief in both God and heaven saw the most significant change, down 16 points each with belief in hell down 12 points, and the devil and angels both down 10 points.
In this most recent poll, half of Americans (51%) believe in all five spiritual entities, while 11% do not believe in any of them. Seven percent of respondents aren’t sure about all of them and the remaining 31% believe in some but not others.
Americans who believe in God, angels, heaven, hell, and the devil has declined by three to five percentage points since 2016. Still, most Americans believe in God (74%), angels (69%), heaven (67%), hell (59%) and the devil (58%). A little more than two- thirds of respondents believe in angels (69%) and heaven (67%).
“Gallup has documented sharp declines in church attendance, confidence in organized religion and religious identification in recent years. Americans’ beliefs regarding God, angels, heaven, hell and the devil have also fallen by double digits since 2001,” Megan Brenan wrote. “Still, U.S. adults’ belief in each entity remains at the majority level, and regular churchgoers, Protestants and Republicans, in particular, remain largely resolute in their beliefs.”
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Director of The Raceless Gospel Initiative, an associate editor, host of the Good Faith Media podcast, “The Raceless Gospel” and author of Take Me to the Water: The Raceless Gospel as Baptismal Pedagogy for a Desegregated Church.
