Most U.S. Christians Don't Believe Satan, Demons and Holy Spirit Exist*

By Jennifer Riley
Christian Post Reporter

The majority of American Christians do not believe that Satan is a real
being or that the Holy Spirit is a living entity, the latest Barna
survey found.

Nearly six out of ten Christians either strongly agreed or somewhat
agreed with the statement that Satan "is not a living being but is a
symbol of evil," the survey found.

Forty percent strongly agreed with the statement while 19 percent of
American Christians somewhat agreed.

In contrast, about 35 percent of American Christians believe Satan is
real. Twenty-six percent strongly disagreed with the statement that
Satan is merely symbolic and about one-tenth (9 percent) somewhat disagreed.

The remaining eight percent of American Christians responded they were
unsure what to believe about the existence of Satan.

Interestingly, the majority of Christians believe a person can be under
the influence of spiritual forces, such as demons or evil spirits, even
though many of these same people believe Satan is merely a symbol of
evil. Two out of three Christians agreed that such forces are real (39
percent agreed strongly, 25 percent agreed somewhat).

Likewise, most Christians in the United States do not believe that the
Holy Spirit is a living force. Fifty-eight percent strongly or somewhat
agreed with the statement that the Holy Spirit is "a symbol of God's
power or presence but is not a living entity."

Only one-third of Christians disagreed with the statement that the Holy
Spirit is not just symbolic (9 percent disagreed somewhat, 25 percent
disagreed strongly). Nine percent expressed they were unsure.

Interestingly, about half (49 percent) of those who agreed that the Holy
Spirit is only a symbol but not a living entity, agreed that the Bible
is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches. The Bible
states that the Holy Spirit is God's power or presence, not just symbolic.

"Most Americans, even those who say they are Christian, have doubts
about the intrusion of the supernatural into the natural world,"
commented George Barna, founder of The Barna Group and author of books
analyzing research concerning America's faith.

"Hollywood has made evil accessible and tame, making Satan and demons
less worrisome than the Bible suggests they really are," he said. "It's
hard for achievement-driven, self-reliant, independent people to believe
that their lives can be impacted by unseen forces."

But a large majority of American Christians agree that a person must
choose to side with either good or evil. More than six out of ten
American Christians strongly agreed (61 percent) with the idea that a
person must either side with God or with the devil - that there is no
in-between position. Another 15 percent somewhat agreed.

Just one out of ten adults disagreed somewhat (10 percent) and a similar
proportion (11 percent) strongly disagreed. Only a few adults (3
percent) did not have an opinion on the issue.

Barna explained that because of the "sheer force of repetition" many
Americans "intellectually" accept the idea that you either side with God
or Satan and there's no in-between, even though this idea does "not get
translated into practice."

Other survey findings include a significant number of self-described
Christians believing that Jesus sinned when he lived on earth, contrary
to the core teaching of Christianity that teaches the divinity and
perfection of Jesus.

More than one-fifth (22 percent) strongly agreed that Jesus Christ
sinned when He lived on earth, with an additional 17 percent agreeing
somewhat.

However, nearly half of American Christians (46 percent) strongly
disagreed with the idea that Jesus sinned, and 9 percent disagreed
somewhat. Six percent did not have an opinion on the statement.

The Barna report is based on telephone interviews for two surveys among
people who described themselves as Christians. A total of 1,871 adults
were randomly selected from across the 48 continental states, with the
first 873 interviews conducted in January and February 2008, and the
remaining 998 interviews conducted in November 2008.