An overwhelming majority of practicing Christians (88%) — those who say they are Christian, attend church at least once a month and consider their faith “very important” in their lives — believe in the total accuracy of the Bible, while 4% did not and the rest were unsure. 

I am pleasantly surprised at this percentage (88%) of practicing American Christians holding to the inerrancy of the Bible.

A not so good percentage is when 2,656 American adults were surveyed 36% of respondents answered in the affirmative to the accuracy of the Bible, while 39% disagreed. Prior to the teaching of evolution in schools and universities as fact the % was much higher.

Of interest, about 45% of casual Christians, those who go to church at least once a month but do not consider their faith “very important,” characterized the Bible as totally accurate, while 23% took the opposite view. The overwhelming majority of non-Christians (70%) did not agree that the Bible is totally accurate, while 12% embraced the opposite position.

John Farquhar Plake, chief innovation officer at the American Bible Society and editor-in-chief of the State of the Bible series said: “Our latest survey finds a mixture of belief and questioning in the American public,” Plake added. “It’s true that nearly one in five Americans think the Bible was written to control and manipulate, but twice that many trust the Bible as ‘totally accurate in all the principles it presents.‘”

A total of just over one-sixth (17%) of those surveyed reported having “no trust” in religion, with higher percentages expressing “no trust” in the government (22%) and the media (29%). Meanwhile, much smaller shares of Americans told pollsters they had “no trust” in families (3%), medicine (5%) and education (5%).