According to a recent Gallup Poll, America is experiencing the rise of secularism and the decline of literalism. The poll assessed the average American’s belief about the Bible and discovered that 28 percent of the population believes the Bible is in fact the literal word of God in comparison to 40 percent of the population that vouched for the same in the late 1970s.

In the mean time, one in five Americans look at the Bible in a secular way, describing it as “ancient fables, legends, history and moral precepts recorded by man.” This view saw a 10 percent rise in comparison with the late 1970s’ survey. Approximately 47 percent of Americans say the Bible is the “inspired” word of god that does not need to be understood literally, a view that has remained more or less stable over the years.

The overall acceptance of the holy book as being the actual or inspired word of God is relatively the same percentage of Americans that identify themselves as Christian, which is 76 percent. Similarly, the 21 percent of Americans that look at the Bible in a more secular way mirrors the 22 percent that associate themselves with another religion or no religion at all.

The poll was conducted after a survey revealed that most Americans read an older translation of the Bible. The survey, carried out by the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, discovered that more than half of the American population uses a King James Version Bible, famous for its use of words like “thou” and “thee.” In comparison, only 19 percent of the population reads the more modern New International Version.

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