Religion: Counting Souls

In a speech to Episcopalians in Minneapolis last week, George Gallup Jr., 46, president of the American Institute of Public Opinion and an active member of the denomination, announced that this is the “Year of the Evangelical.” A new Gallup poll of 1,553 Americans who were interviewed in person five weeks ago showed the strength of Evangelical religion in the U.S. Highlights of the poll:

> A startling 34% of all Americans —about one-half of the country’s Protestants—say they have had a “born-again” experience, a turning point when they committed themselves to Jesus Christ. That projects to nearly 50 million Americans over age 18.

> Four out of ten Americans—nearly half of the Protestants—believe that the Bible “is to be taken literally, word for word.”

>J ust under half of the population —58% of the Protestants—say they have done personal witnessing, meaning that they have encouraged other people to believe in Christ or to accept him as Saviour.

Many Episcopalians and members of other denominations may think that “religious enthusiasm does not go hand in hand with intellectual seriousness and emotional balance,” says Pollster Gallup. But, he wonders, “isn’t it time for us to bring our religious feelings out of the closet?”