bible1
General Social Survey https://gss.norc.org
Question 1260. Which of these statements comes closest to describing your feelings about the Bible? 1. The Bible is the actual word of God and it is to be taken literally, word for word 2. The bible is the inspired word of God but not everything should be taken literally, word for word 3. The Bible is an ancient book fo fables, legends, history, and moral precepts recorded by man. 4. This does not apply to me.
For further details see the official GSS documentation.
Counts by year:
| year | iap | book of fables, by man | don't know | god-inspired, shouldn't take literally | no answer | this does not apply to me | word of god, take literally | Total |
| 1972 | 1613 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1613 |
| 1973 | 1504 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1504 |
| 1974 | 1484 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1484 |
| 1975 | 1490 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1490 |
| 1976 | 1499 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1499 |
| 1977 | 1530 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1530 |
| 1978 | 1532 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1532 |
| 1980 | 1468 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1468 |
| 1982 | 1860 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1860 |
| 1983 | 1599 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1599 |
| 1984 | 1473 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1473 |
| 1985 | 1534 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1534 |
| 1986 | 1470 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1470 |
| 1987 | 1819 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1819 |
| 1988 | 1481 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1481 |
| 1989 | 1537 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1537 |
| 1990 | 1372 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1372 |
| 1991 | 158 | 188 | 50 | 639 | 25 | 27 | 430 | 1517 |
| 1993 | 1606 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1606 |
| 1994 | 2992 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2992 |
| 1996 | 2904 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2904 |
| 1998 | 1548 | 207 | 56 | 585 | 38 | 40 | 358 | 2832 |
| 2000 | 2817 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2817 |
| 2002 | 2765 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2765 |
| 2004 | 2812 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2812 |
| 2006 | 4510 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4510 |
| 2008 | 2023 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2023 |
| 2010 | 2044 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2044 |
| 2012 | 1974 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1974 |
| 2014 | 2538 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2538 |
| 2016 | 2867 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2867 |
| 2018 | 2348 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2348 |
| 2021 | 4032 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4032 |
| 2022 | 3544 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3544 |
| Total | 69747 | 395 | 106 | 1224 | 63 | 67 | 788 | 72390 |
1 word of god, take literally
2 god-inspired, shouldn't take literally
3 book of fables, by man
4 this does not apply to me
NA(d) don't know
NA(i) iap
NA(j) I don't have a job
NA(m) dk, na, iap
NA(n) no answer
NA(p) not imputable
NA(q) not imputable
NA(r) refused
NA(s) skipped on web
NA(u) uncodeable
NA(x) not available in this release
NA(y) not available in this year
NA(z) see codebook