This section contains statistics that address a number of dimensions of faith and Christian spirituality in America. The data are from recent nationwide surveys conducted by Barna Research Group, Ltd., among adults (18 or older) from the 48 continental states. Each survey included interviews with a minimum of 1000 people. Some of these questions are asked in our OmniPoll survey, conducted in January and July of each year, allowing us to regularly update the information. Other questions are asked on an irregular basis and therefore are not updated as frequently. Data that have been updated in our January 1998 survey have an asterisk at the end of the sentence.

The Bible

• 80% name the Bible as the most influential book in human history
• 58% believe the Bible is totally accurate in all it teaches*
• 38% read the Bible during a typical week, not including when they are at church*
• the King James Version is more likely to be the Bible read during the week than is the NIV by a 5:1 ratio
• 91% of all households own at least one Bible
• the typical household owns 3 Bibles
• among Bible readers, the average amount of time spent reading the Bible during an entire week is 52 minutes
• 22% say they have read the entire Bible

• 45% say they know the basic teachings and beliefs of Christianity "very well"
• 42% know that it was Jesus who preached the Sermon on the Mount
• 80% say the Bible specifically says that "God helps those who help themselves"
• 12% say that the name of Noah's wife was Joan of Arc

• 18% attend a small group or cell group in a typical week*
• 23% attend a Sunday school class in a typical week*
• 25% volunteer to help a church during a typical week*

• 29% of all adults - and 40% of Baby Buster adults - have never heard of spiritual gifts
• 69% have heard of spiritual gifts but do not know what their spiritual gift is
• 1% of adults and 9% of senior pastors claim they have the gift of evangelism
• 1% of adults and 6% of senior pastors claim they have the gift of leadership
• the most common gift claimed by church-goers is the gift of teaching (5%)
• the most common items mentioned as spiritual gifts which are not biblical gifts are love, kindness, relationships, singing, and listening
• 7% say they have spoken in tongues
• 13% have heard of the gift of tongues but say it is not operative today

• 62% say they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today*
• among those who say they are Christian and attend a Christian church, 49% say they are "absolutely committed" to the Christian faith*
• among born again Christians, 66% say they are "absolutely committed" to the Christian faith*
• 39% say it doesn't matter what faith you embrace because they all teach the same lessons

• 27% of born again Christians have been divorced; 23% of non-Christians have been divorced
• 23% of all born agains buy a lottery ticket in a typical week
• 33% of born again adults say it is impossible for them to get ahead in life because of the financial debt they have incurred
• 24% of the born again population believe that lying is sometimes necessary
• 80% of born again adults say they are an outstanding role model for today's young people
• 10% of born again adults who have children under the age of 18 home school their children*
• 32% of those who call themselves Christian say they have never experienced God's presence
• 6% define "success" in relation to spirituality

• 96% believe in God*
• 69% believe in God described as the all-powerful, all-knowing, perfect creator of the universe who rules the world today*
• 15% say God is no longer involved in their life
• 93% believe in the virgin birth
• 39% say Jesus did not have a physical resurrection
• 43% believe that Jesus Christ committed sins; 28% of born again Christians concur*
• 61% say that the Holy Spirit is not real, but just a symbol of God's presence or power; 55% of born again believers hold this view
• 61% say Satan is not living being but a symbol of evil; that includes 47% of born again Christians*

• 56% say a good person can earn their way into Heaven*
• 44% say if a person does not consciously accept Christ as savior, they will be condemned to Hell
• 44% say all people experience the same outcome after they die, regardless of their religious beliefs
• 34% say there are some sins that God cannot forgive
• 31% believe that Hell is a literal, physical place, 37% say it is separation from God

• 72% say they are church members
• 11% describe themselves as atheists or agnostics*
• Protestants outnumber Catholics by a 2 to 1 ratio*
• Largest denominations, by adult attendance: Catholic (29%), Baptist (20%)*
• 22% of all adults attend a mainline Protestant church*
• 5% attend a non-denominational, Christian church*
• 2% attend a Mormon church*
• Less than 1% of all adults associate with the Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu faiths*
• 2% are Jewish*

• 15% say they are "evangelical"
• 25% say they are "fundamentalist"
• 69% say they are "religious"*
• 51% say they are "theologically conservative"
• 26% say they are "part of the Religious Right"

• 43% of adults,
• 34% of teenagers are born again*
• there are 92-98 million born again people, of all ages, in the U.S.*
• 20% of all born agains are Catholic; among Catholics, 31% are born again*
• the denominations with the highest proportions of born again Christians are Assembly of God (73%) and Southern Baptist (71%)
• 64% of all born again Christians accepted Christ before age 18
• 59% of African-Americans are born again; 41% of Hispanics; 43% of Caucasians
• 13% say they accepted Christ as savior in direct response to a sermon
• 59% of all born agains are female*
• 28% are registered as Democrats, 34% are registered as Republicans, 17% are not registered to vote

• 6% of the population are evangelicals*
• there are 12 million evangelical adults*
• 6% of evangelicals attend mainline churches; less than one-half of one percent attend Catholic churches
• 24% are registered as Democrats; 47% are registered as Republicans; 8% are not registered to vote

• about half of all born again Christian adults say they have shared their faith with a non-Christian in the past year*
• 13% of born again Christians gave money to a homeless person in a typical week
• 43% of Protestant churches consider evangelism to be one of their top three ministry priorities this year
• 47% of adults say they have a personal responsibility to tell others their religious beliefs;
• 72% of born again adults embrace this responsibility*

• on a typical weekend, 115 to 120 million people, of all ages, attend religious services; 105 to 111 million attend Christian churches*
• 43% of adults attend church services in a typical week*
• 58% of adults attend church services at least once a month*
• in a typical week, 53% of Catholics attend Mass; 66% of born again Christians attend church; 48% of Protestants*
• almost half of the adults attending Christian church services during a typical month are not born again (46%)*

• 28% of all adults are unchurched; that's about 55 million adults
• 34% of all men are unchurched
• unchurched adults are most likely to live in the West (35% of the region's residents) or Northeast (34%), least likely in the South (19%)
• 22% of the unchurched are born again
• 82% were formerly regular church attenders

• 52% of adults donate money to a church in a typical month*
• 84% of adults donated money to a church in 1996
• among households that donated to a church in 1996, the median household donation to churches was $501
• the median total church donations in 1996 among born again donors was $674
• the median total church donations in 1996 among Catholics was $300; among Protestants it was $547
• 29% of those who donate to churches believe that the Bible commands us to tithe
• 17% of adults claim they tithe; 3% actually do so
• 14% of all adults donate to parachurch ministries

Born again Christian: we do not classify a person as "born again" if they say they are so. They are classified as such based on their response to two questions about their beliefs. The first enables them to indicate they have "made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in your life today". The second question asks about the afterlife; a born again Christian would say that when they die they will go to Heaven because they have confessed their sins and have accepted Jesus Christ as their savior.

Evangelicals : In our surveys, we do not ask people to define themselves as an "evangelical." We categorize an individual as an evangelical based upon their answers to nine questions about faith matters. Those included in this segment meet the criteria for being born again, as described above; say their faith is very important in their life today; believe they have a personal responsibility to share their religious beliefs about Christ with non-Christians; believe that Satan exists; believe that eternal salvation is possible only through grace, not works; believe that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and describe God as the all-knowing, all-powerful, perfect deity who created the universe and still rules it today. Thus, evangelicals are a subset of the born again population. Notice that being an evangelical has no relationship to church attendance or the denominational affiliation of the church with which they associate.

Unchurched: this refers to anyone who has not attended a church service for at least six months, excluding special events such as weddings or funerals.