According to a recent survey, belief in miracles has seen a significant increase over the past few decades. This is especially true among Evangelicals and those with graduate degrees in the United States. Ryan Burge, a statistician and pastor, released his findings in a report. He pulled the data from the U.S. government’s General Social Survey.
Increases in belief among Evangelical Protestants, black Protestants, and individuals with higher education. In 1991, the most likely groups to report strong belief in miracles were Evangelical Protestants and black Protestants. Roughly 60% expressed definite belief. At the same time, Catholics and mainline protestants were much less likely to believe.
The survey found that 43% of Catholics and 35% of mainline Protestants reported that they “definitely believe” in miracles. In the years between 1991 and 1998, all groups began believing at higher rates. Mainline Protestants increased from 35% to 48%. Evangelicals jumped up to 71%, an 11 percentage point increase. For evangelicals, the belief in miracles continued to grow over the following decades.
In 2008, 79% of Evangelicals reported a strong belief in miracles, this increased dramatically to 81% by 2018. This represents a 20-point increase from 1991 to 2018 among Evangelicals. The belief among black Protestants also grew substantially. Black Protestants beliefs jumped 18 percentage points from 60% in 1991 to 78% in 2018. For Catholics and mainline protistans, the data was different.
Mainline Protestants experienced a drop from 60% in 2008 to 55% in 2018. Catholics declined from 53% in 2008 to 51% in 2018. Despite these trends, both groups still ported higher levels of belief in miracles in 2018 compared to the early 1990s. The data also showed that older generations report increased belief in miracles as they age.
According to the report, people born in the 1930s had a 56% belief in miracles in 1991. This increased to 66% by 2018. Burge, an associate professor at Eastern Illinois University, wrote “The data points to a pretty nuanced picture regarding how belief in miracles changes across the life course.” “It does look like the older generations did report an increase in belief as they aged” he added.
The most surprising development was the rise in belief in miracles among highly educated Americans. Traditional wisdom is that educated people are more skeptical of supernatural beliefs. However, the report found that in 1991, only 45% of Americans with a bachelor’s degree said they “definitely believe” in miracles. By 2018 the rate had risen to 63%.
The trend was even more pronounced among those with graduate degrees. Just 30% of individuals with at least a master’s degree reported belief in miracles in 1991. In 2018, that number was 61%. “In the early 1990s, folks with college degrees were significantly less likely to believe in religious miracles than those with a high school diploma,” he explained.
“That’s not true anymore. There is no statistical difference between definitely believing in miracles across levels of education,” he concluded. Breakpoint’s John Stonestreet and Shane Morris wrote “Secular spirituality is far from revival. Christians know of these other forces capable of counterfeit ‘miracles’ but that lead away from the Way, the Truth, and the Life. This should cause us to cry out for mercy for those who are being deceived.”