What do Americans believe about angels, demons, and supernatural beings? This is a question the American Bible Society (ABS) recently asked Americans, and it yielded some interesting results.
Listen to the latest episode of “Quick Start” 👇
Dr. John Pleik, editor-in-chief of the State of the Bible series and chief innovation officer of ABS, told CBN News that the majority of Americans believe in spiritual beings.
“We found that two-thirds of Americans, 64 percent, actually believe that spiritual beings exist beyond the natural world,” Pleik said. “Unless you listen to people who are really naturalistic or really scientific in their worldview, you don’t know that it’s particularly surprising.”
But most Americans have a simple belief that there’s more to it, Pleik said. This is the question at the heart of CBN’s “Investigating the Supernatural” film series. The first film, “Investigating the Supernatural: Miracles,” deals with miraculous healings, and the second film, “Investigating the Supernatural: Angels and Demons,” released in March, explores the reality of angels and demons.
ABS research specifically investigates these topics.
Another interesting belief factor surrounds Americans’ opinions about God, heaven, angels, and hell. After all, it turns out that the public is more likely to believe in God, heaven, and positive elements than in hell and more difficult spiritual emotions.
“People want to believe that if a supernatural world exists, it’s a benevolent supernatural world, so they tend to believe in God, heaven, and angels to a higher degree than they affirm beliefs in Satan, hell, and demons,” Plake said. “So you get these categories. The differences aren’t that big, but they’re important and noticeable.”
He continued, “For example, 68% of Americans believe in God, 55% believe in Satan, 62% believe in Heaven, and only 53% believe in Hell.”
Meanwhile, 64% believe in angels, while only 51% believe in demons.
“The percentage of Americans who say, ‘No, I don’t believe it at all’ is actually quite small,” Pleik says. “In most cases, less than one-fifth of Americans believe in the supernatural.”
Researchers also looked at “atheists,” or Americans who identify as atheists, agnostics, or simply have no religious affiliation. There is even deep tolerance and belief among these people.
“Thirty-six percent of them agree that there are spiritual beings beyond the natural world,” Pleik said. “And these are people who have no religious affiliation at all.”
As the number of voices facing censorship by big tech continues to grow, sign up for FaithWire’s daily newsletter and download the CBN News app, developed by our parent company, to get the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.
