A record-low 20 percent of Americans believe the Bible is the literal word of God, down from 24 percent the last time Gallup asked the question in 2017 and half of what it was at its high points in 1980 and 1984.

Meanwhile, 29 percent currently say the Bible is a collection of “fables, legends, history and moral precepts recorded by man.” This marks the first time significantly more Americans have viewed the Bible as not divinely inspired than as the literal word of God. The most significant percentage, 49 percent, choose the middle alternative, roughly in line with where it has been in previous years.

Interpretation of the Bible, the Holy Scripture of the Christian religion, has varied widely across time and religious traditions. Gallup has been asking Americans specifically about their views on a literal interpretation of the Bible since 1976, with the latest update coming in Gallup’s May Values and Beliefs survey.

The shift in attitudes about the Bible is not an isolated phenomenon. It comes even as several indicators show a decline in overall religiosity in the U.S. adult population. These measures include drops in formal identification with a religion, self-reported membership in a church, self-reported religious service attendance, personal importance of faith, and a decline in belief in God. Thus, it is not surprising that views on the nature of the Bible have shifted in a less religious direction as well.

Gallup’s biblical literacy question is asked of the entire U.S. adult population. This group includes people who identify with religions outside of the Christian tradition — about 9 percent of adult Americans in Gallup’s latest estimates. Plus, the sample consists of those with no specific religious identity, almost all of whom do not believe that the Bible is literally true.

More granularly, 30 percent of Protestants say that the Bible is literally true, compared with 15 percent of Catholics. Almost two-thirds of Catholics choose the alternative that the Bible is the inspired word of God, but every word should not be taken literally.

As was the case in 2017, belief in a literal Bible is firmest among those who are more religious and those with less formal education. Americans who identify as evangelical or born again are much more likely than others to view the Bible as literally true. However, even among this group, the percentage believing in a literal Bible is well less than 50 percent.

The issue of how to interpret the Bible has been a subject of debate since the first words of what became the Old Testament were written down centuries before the birth of Christ. In recent years, various religious leaders and entities have staked out positions on the Bible that they claim define truth and that, in turn, have become an integral part of their religious positioning. The most prominent of these positions is the belief that the Bible is inerrant and must be viewed as literally true, a position adopted as part of the evangelical movement in this country over the past centuries and by several Protestant denominations.

At this point, a declining proportion of the overall American population — now 20 percent — believes the Bible is literally true, word for word. About half believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God, but not everything in it should be taken directly, while almost three in 10 say the Bible is an ancient book of fables and history. Belief in a literal Bible is declining, part of a general pattern of declining religiosity among the adult American population.