American belief in "spiritual entities" drops to new low -- but still rather high

The percentages of Americans who believe in each of five religious entities — God, angels, heaven, hell and the devil — have edged downward by three to five percentage points since 2016. Still, majorities believe in each, ranging from a high of 74% believing in God to lows of 59% for hell and 58% for the devil. About two-thirds each believe in angels (69%) and heaven (67%).

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Gallup has used this framework to measure belief in these spiritual entities five times since 2001, and the May 1-24, 2023, poll finds that each is at its lowest point. Compared with 2001, belief in God and heaven is down the most (16 points each), while belief in hell has fallen 12 points, and the devil and angels are down 10 points each.

[Have the numbers declined? Yes, and significantly too. Still, nearly three in four Americans believe in God, two-thirds believe in Heaven, and just shy of six in ten believe there’s a Hell and Satan too. As they say, the devil’s in the details, and that’s nowhere more true than in polling. — Ed]

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