Most Americans Take Well-Known Bible Stories at Face Value

The Barna Group released a report on October 21 revealing that the following percentages of adult Americans believe the following Biblical accounts to be “literally true, meaning it happened exactly as described in the Bible” as opposed to "meant to illustrate a principle but is not to be taken literally."

• 75% "the story of Jesus Christ rising from the dead, after being crucified and buried"
• 65% Daniel surviving in the lion’s den
• 64% Moses literally parted the Red Sea
• 63% David, killed the giant warrior, Goliath, with stones and a sling
• 60% Peter walking on water with Jesus
• 60% God creating the universe in six days

"This report is based upon a nationwide telephone survey conducted by The Barna Group in August 2007 among a random sample of 1000 adults, age 18 and older. The maximum margin of sampling error associated with the aggregate sample is ±3.2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. "

Read the entire report here.