Fewer Interpret Bible Literally, Survey Finds

One of the most dramatic shifts in religious beliefs in this country is how people view the Bible. As recently as 1963, two out of three adults accepted the Bible as the actual word of God, to be taken literally word for word. Today, only about one adult in two (49%) continues to view it that way.

Although some young people continue to interpret the writings of the Bible literally, the majority now are more likely to view scriptural writings as inspired accounts that sometimes must be interpreted figuratively. Young people also are less likely than their elders to accept biblical accounts of the creation of human beings and the universe as being literally true.

Literal belief in the Bible seems to decline with age. Overall, 39% of teen-agers say they believe in it word for word, but this view is less often held by older teen-agers. Most likely to interpret the Bible literally are 45% of younger teen-agers, ages 13 to 15. By age 16, just 31% of teen-agers hold to literalist interpretations of the Bible.

A near majority of teen-agers (46%) view the Bible as the inspired word of God, but not as a book in which everything should be taken literally. This also is the view of 49% of the adults in this country.

For 14% of teen-agers the Bible is nothing more than an ancient book of fables, legends, history and moral teachings, recorded by man. A similar number of adults (16%) take the same view.

A slight majority of teen-agers (52%) believe humans have developed over millions of years from lesser forms, but that the process was guided by God. An additional 10% of teen-agers say human development took millions of years, but also maintain that God played no role in the process. Both theories are consistent with the scientific world’s prevailing Darwinian view of the development of human life. Younger teen-agers (39%) are somewhat more likely than older teen-agers (30%) to accept the literal biblical view of the creation of humans.

The findings are based on telephone interviews with 505 teen-agers conducted Jan. 23-31.