Though American culture seems to be increasingly secularized, here’s some good news: most Americans still believe in the historical accuracy of the traditional Christmas story.
A recent PewForum poll asked people whether they believed the following four aspects of the story were true: that Jesus was born to a virgin, that the baby Jesus was laid in a manger, that wise men followed a star and brought gifs, and that an angel announced the birth of Jesus to shepherds.
Amazing, at least 65% of all Americans said they believed all four of those things to be historically true. 22% believe some elements of the story, while only 14% don’t believe any of the elements of the story.
There is some bad new from the survey: younger generations are less likely to believe the story, and the more education a person has the less likely they are to believe elements of the story.
But the overall fact remains that most Americans still believe the story.
Other interesting results include:
- Women are more likely than men to believe the story
- White evangelicals are the most likely to believe the story
- A third of Americans who seldom or never attend religious services believe the full story
Here’s the results of the study:
