Gallup: Fewer People Than Ever Before Think the Bible is Literally True

The good news: 24% of Americans says the Bible is the literal word of God, the lowest number ever seen in a Gallup poll in 40 years.

The bad news: Jesus H. Christ, 24% of Americans say the Bible is the literal word of God.

I guess we can rejoice in the fact that the number is going down and more people than ever before (26%) admit the Bible is “a book of fables, legends, history and moral precepts recorded by man.”

It’s also good to see that only 12% of people under the age of 30 say the Bible is literally God’s Word. Somewhere, Ken Ham is freaking out.

Keep in mind, though, that these surveys should always be taken with a grain of salt because many people may feel guilty saying the Bible is anything but perfectly true. Hell, the same survey found that 7% of people with “No religion” said the Bible should be taken literally. (Hey, religious “Nones”: STOP MESSING WITH OUR DEMOGRAPHICS!)

Moral of the story: Our ideas are going mainstream. It’s becoming more acceptable to question religion. It’s okay to think that a Bible is a guidebook instead of a history book. We have a long way to go, but the trends are in our favor.