Do you believe the Bible is the literal word of God? Since 1991, the Gallup Organization has asked Americans that question, yet their answers remain remarkably unchanged. About 31% of people believe the Good Book is infallible. Frank Newport with Gallup says we still live in a country where God’s word is taken seriously.

“Religious people around the world who believe that a religious document is inerrant will engage in behaviors and support types of policies which are significantly different than others might and those have real implications for society.”

Year after year, the other constant is that belief in the infallible word correlates with church attendance and a Protestant Christian theology. Dr. Richard Land with the Southern Baptist Convention is not surprised.

“People who take the Bible seriously are going to go to church. And if they go to church they’re going to hear sermons and they’re going to have Sunday school lessons that are going to teach them that the Bible is the inerrant and infallible word of God.”

If you add together the people who think the whole Bible is the direct word of God and those who see it as divinely inspired, but not all parts are to be taken literally, you arrive at about 80% of the public believing it to be a major source of truth in their lives.

“This is a very religious country and it’s getting more so, not less so.”

Nineteen percent of Americans surveyed say the Bible is a book of ancient fables, legends or history written by man.