92% of Americans believe in God or a Universal Spirit. Devil: 70%. Angels: 75%. Heaven: 81%.
A Gallup poll surveyed Americans' belief in God or a universal spirit as well as their belief in angels, the Devil, heaven and hell.
78% of respondents claimed to believe in God. 14% believed in a universal spirit. Only 7% did not believe in either.
81% of Americans believe in heaven, but only 69% believe in Hell.
There has been some change in these measures of belief in the Devil over time. In several surveys conducted in the 1990s, less than 60% of Americans said that they believed in the Devil.
The three surveys conducted since 2001 have all shown roughly 7 out of 10 Americans saying that they believe in the Devil. It is important to note, however, that there have been changes in the context in which the belief in the Devil question has been asked. Some older Gallup surveys included the Devil in a list of things such as witches, reincarnation, and ghosts. The three surveys conducted since 2001 have included the Devil in a list of more directly religious entities.
These changes make it difficult to ascertain if there has been a real change in belief structures, or if the changes are due more to respondents' views of which type of Devil is being discussed.
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