93% of Evangelical Pastors believe in Hell, versus 45% of Mainline Leaders, Survey Finds

June 13, 2025

U.S. clergy have varying beliefs regarding the Bible, Hell, God’s existence and miracles, according to findings from the National Survey of Religious Leaders.

Christianity Daily reports that 93% of Evangelical pastors in the U.S. expressed certainty when questioned about their belief in Hell, compared to 70% of Catholic priests and 45% of Mainline Protestant leaders.

Regarding belief in miraculous healing, 84% of Evangelical pastors and 78% of priests said they definitely believed, while only 47% of mainline clergy agreed.

On the question of God’s existence, Evangelical and black Protestant leaders had the highest level of certainty at 98% and 89%, respectively.

85% of Catholics surveyed indicated certainty with Mainline Protestants registering the lowest confidence with 70 saying they had no doubts and 26% saying they believed in God while admitting some doubts.

According to Christianity Daily, the survey also probed beliefs about the Bible, including whether respondents see it as the literal Word of God, as inspired with symbolic elements but without error or as inspired but not historically accurate.

Roughly 20% of 20% of Evangelical and black Protestant clergy took a literalist view of the Bible while 70% of evangelicals and 67% of black pastors said the Bible is inspired and without error but contains symbolic elements.

The data in the survey appears to suggest that certainty in theology often goes hand in hand with a willingness to proselytize.

In this sense, Evangelical pastors showed the highest rate of both with Catholic and Mainline leaders expressing less certainty about key doctrines and less inclination toward evangelism.

Participants in the survey showed broad agreement on the topics of astrology and physical reincarnation with almost none saying they definitely hold those beliefs.

Photo: top, Credit: Unsplash/Priscilla Du Preez