Americans Hedge Their Bets on the Afterlife: More Believe in God than the Devil

Americans appear to be hedging their bets on what awaits them in the afterlife with more people believing in God than the devil and heaven outpolling hell, according to a new survey. 

The Gallup poll found that belief in the five spiritual entities - God, angels, heaven, hell and the devil - has been declining.

But it also shows that majorities still believe in each. 

Belief in God (74%) takes the top spot, followed by angels (69%), heaven (67%), hell (59%) and the devil coming in last (58%), according to the poll released Thursday.

The survey shows that poet Charles Baudelaire's quote from the 19 century may have been prophetic.

“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist,” he wrote.

But belief in the five religious concepts are at their lowest points since the poll began asking Americans the questions in 2001. 

Belief in God and heaven has fallen 16% each, while belief in hell has dropped 12% - belief in the devil and angels has tumbled 10 points each. 

At the same time, nearly three in 10 Americans don't believe in satan (28%) or hell (27%).

Only 12% say they don't believe in God, and 18% each don't believe in angels or heaven.

Roughly half of Americans, 51%, believe in all five, but 11% do not believe in any of them. Another 7% aren't sure and 31% put their faith in some but not all. 

Frequent churchgoers, Protestants and Republicans are the groups most likely to believe in all five.

Belief in the spiritual entities range from 87% to 78% among Republicans, from 68% to 51% among independents and from 66% to 44% among Democrats. 

Americans with household incomes under $40,000 have higher belief rates than those with incomes of at least $100,000, but majorities in both groups believe in God, angels, heaven, hell and the devil.

Adults 55 and up are more likely to believe than those in the 35 to 54 age group.

Those aged 18 to 34 have the lowest level of belief, but retain majorities for all but the devil. 

Women outpace men in belief in four of the five concepts—deadlocking with men in belief in the devil (58%)

"Gallup has documented sharp declines in church attendance, confidence in organized religion and religious identification in recent years. Americans’ beliefs regarding God, angels, heaven, hell and the devil have also fallen by double digits since 2001. Still, U.S. adults’ belief in each entity remains at the majority level, and regular churchgoers, Protestants and Republicans, in particular, remain largely resolute in their beliefs," the poll concluded. 

The survey polled 1,011 adults between May 1-24. It has a plus/minus 4% margin of error.