Skip to main content

Life Death & Spirituality

Afterlife
What do people believe?





Surveys of religious beliefs are common in the USA. 

Christians are the largest group of religious people in the US so, it makes sense to consider the context  of beliefs about life after life. The primary story is from the Gospels, which can be found in the New Testament section of Bibles. Easter events begin with MaundyThursday or Good Friday (Some protestant groups skip Maundy Thursday). Jesus celebrated the Jewish Passover with his followers. He was betrayed and accused of wrongdoing. He was sentenced to die by crucifixion and buried. On Easter Sunday, his followers found his tomb empty, encountered Jesus in different situations, and spread the word of the resurrection. The Gospel of Luke reports the events beginning in Chapter 22.

A Harris Poll (16 December 2013) has some findings relevant to the Easter story. The survey of 2,250 adults was conducted between 13 and 18 November, 2013.

Belief in God is at 82% [54% reported they were absolutely certain there is a God.]

Belief that all or most of the New Testament is the Word of God 49%.

Belief in miracles 72%.

Belief in heaven 68%.

Belief that Jesus is God or the Son of God 68%.

Belief in the resurrection of Jesus 65%.

Does age make a difference? Yes it does. About half of young adults believe in the resurrection of Jesus compared to nearly 3/4 of older adults. Millenials are different from older Americans.


Belief in the survival of the soul after death 64%.

Belief in the devil 58%.

Belief in hell 58%

How many Americans are religious?
19% very religious
40% somewhat religious
23% not at all religious

Will Jesus return to earth?
Following the resurrection, Jesus met with his followers then ascended into heaven. Those present heard a voice saying Jesus will return. In 2013, Pew researchers asked Christians if they believed Jesus would return in the next 40 years. Just under half thought he definitely or probably would come back within 40 years.





Polls
See the Harris Poll for additional details including comparisons between 2013 and previous polls. There are other interesting questions and more refined analyses.

I found the Harris Poll Link down on some visits so here is a link to the UPI report about the same poll. And here is  the Reuters summary.
See the PewForum for many survey results. The Return of Christ Survey is from 26 March 2013

RELATED POSTS
Palm Sunday and Leadership Research
Death and Terror Management Theory








Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

EASTER: VARIATIONS IN BELIEF

Differences in Religious & Spiritual Beliefs Relevant to the Easter Story By Geoffrey W. Sutton, Ph.D. at suttong.com Like most Christians, my wife and I attend an Easter Service. And, a s usual, the media rise to the Spring occasion with Bible stories, comments from various religious leaders and a few atheists—just to keep things balanced. Other religions are on the back burner until Monday. So many statements of beliefs come from the Easter events.  For now, here’s a sample of some core beliefs from various sources. God: 51% believe in God as in the Bible Statista (May, 2023) reported US belief "in God as described in holy scriptures" at 51%. Another 22% reported a belief in a higher power or spirit. Pew researchers from 2021 find 58% believe in God as described in the Bible and another 32% believe in a God or Higher Power.  Belief in God is obviously a core belief. U.S. belief has declined to 58% having no doubt God exists and another 17% have do...
Post a Comment
Read more

9 Beliefs of Christian Counselors

Updated 26 Feb 2018 What Christian Counselors Believe, Value, and Practice Part I: Beliefs I once asked a conservative evangelical Christian Chaplain how he handled counseling when he was pretty sure a dying patient was not a Christian and, according to his tradition, would soon spend eternity in hell. He sincerely said he would have to think about that question. A female health care provider told me she switched jobs so she could work with children rather than seniors, because she believed that, unlike the elderly, children would go to heaven if they died. In this case, her Christian beliefs appeared to have a cause -effect influence on her career. Counselors normally focus on the needs of clients and help clients find solutions in a supportive setting. Theoretically, rapport ought to be enhanced when counselors and clients share common values and beliefs.  Why ask what Christian Counselors Believe? The primary reason ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Turing Test and Chat Psychotherapy 2025

  Where are we now? The Turing Test, originally called the "Imitation Game," is a concept proposed by Alan Turing in 1950 to address the question, "Can machines think?". Instead of trying to define the complex notion of "thinking," Turing suggested a practical test to determine whether a machine could exhibit behavior indistinguishable from that of a human (Vation Ventures.com). How it works Participants: Three individuals participate: The Interrogator (Judge): A human whose goal is to determine which of the other two participants is human and which is a machine. Human Participant: A human who aims to convince the interrogator that they are human. Machine Participant: A computer program that strives to imitate human conversation and responses so effectively that the interrogator cannot reliably distinguish it from the human participant. Communication : All three participants are isolated from each other and communicate solely through a text-based interf...
Post a Comment
Read more