Growing, Diverse, Christian: New Demographic Profile of Adventists in the United States
From News Release, November 12: Because of interest in the religion of Dr. Ben Carson, a candidate for President of the United States, the Pew Research Center has released a new demographic profile of Adventists in America based on its surveys of the general public. It reveals an Adventist faith community that is both growing and diverse.
In its 2007 survey, Pew found that four-tenths of one percent of American adults indicated that they were an Adventist. By the time of the most recent survey last year, that had increased to one-half of one percent. That is a small number, but a significant rate of growth compared to the overall decline in the number of Christians of all denominations from 78.4 percent in 2007 to 70.8 percent in 2014.
The denomination is “among the most racially and ethnically diverse American religious groups,” the Pew report stated. It found that 37 percent of American Adventists are white, 32 percent are black, 15 percent are Hispanic, eight percent are Asian and eight percent are of other or mixed ethnicity.
There is also significant diversity in the views of Adventists on public issues. A total of 37 percent identify themselves as “conservative” on public policy, while 31 percent say they are “moderate” and 22 percent say they are “liberal.” In terms of political parties, 45 percent belong to the Democratic Party or lean toward it, while 35 percent belong to the Republican Party or lean toward it and 29 percent are independents.
“Known for its observance of the Sabbath on Saturdays and some other unique beliefs and practices,” Pew stated, “the church has transitioned from being seen as a cult by some Americans to a more mainstream evangelical Christian denomination.” Adventists are “extremely devout by traditional measures of religious observance.” Not a single respondent told interviewers that they did not believe in God and 89 percent expressed no doubt whatsoever. Only 63 percent of American adults took the same view.
Nine out of ten Adventists told Pew that they believe the Bible is the word of God and 48 percent said it should be taken literally. Two-thirds say they look to their faith as their primary source of guidance on questions of right and wrong, which is double the percentage for all American adults.
Two-thirds of the Adventists in the survey said that they usually attend church each week. This is a much higher percentage than most other Christian denominations, but it needs to be seen in the light of other research that shows that this particular question has a “halo effect” of about 20 percentage points. That is, about 20 percentage points out of the respondents do not actually attend that often, but say they do in order to be supportive of a value they believe in. This would get the actual level of attendance at about half which is what is generally reported on a weekly basis in terms of the head count in most Adventist churches in America.
But is wrong to conclude that “only half of Adventists go to church” because this is about “weekly.” Better data from internal studies show that about two-thirds of the members on the books in a typical Adventist church in the U.S. attend church at least once a month.
On variance that surprised the Pew researchers is the Adventist view of hell. Only half (52 percent) of Adventists indicated that they believe in hell, compared to 82 percent of evangelical Christians overall. Of course, this is a confusing question as it is normally asked in surveys because “do you believe in hell” does not address the nuances of what is meant by “hell” in Adventist theology and in Scripture.
“Adventists are divided over abortion,” the Pew report concluded. A total of 42 percent said that abortion should be legal in most cases, while 35 percent think it should be illegal in most cases and 19 percent that it should be illegal in all circumstances. In 2014, 63 percent of Adventists in the United States stated that they opposed allowing same-sex marriage.
It must be kept in mind that these data come from a relatively small sample of Adventists. The respondents were self-identified as Adventists from a very large sample of American adults. It is likely that some of them are not officially on the church membership list.
13 November 2015 @ 12:42 pm
Some of the Pew Survey Data on Adventists is so sobering that some are questioning the credibility of the entire survey. This despite the fact that Pew has a long and solid reputation for its research, which in this case was done by a group of highly respected experts. We may not like the results, but we can’t ignore the clear trends they show about shifting ideas, beliefs, and changes in USA expression of Adventism. I hope Brother Neal Wilson and every church leader studies this report carefully.
Alan Cooperman, associate director of research at Pew, explained recently “how respondents self-identify, religiously, in surveys seldom, if ever, lines up exactly with what their religious leaders or others might wish or expect.” He and other experts in the field note that people can differ on how they hear or interpret survey questions, and there is a certain degree of what researchers call “noise,” or randomness, in such studies.
Surveys can tell us only so much, and that people’s views and identities do not fit into neat, preconceived categories. Adventist young people, especially, see themselves as having many identities, not just one or two. So numbers do not tell the whole story. The Pew survey can help us understand ourselves.
13 November 2015 @ 4:32 pm
Neal Wilson? I’m sure you meant Ted. But good observation, Sam.
Jim
14 November 2015 @ 10:13 am
It seems likely that many Adventists, if asked, “Do you believe in hell?” would understand the quesiton as, “Do you believe in the ‘traditional’ concept of hell as a place ‘under the earth’ where sinners are roasted in perpetuity?”
It wasn’t until recently that I found a really concise way of explaining my belief regarding hell–“an event rather than a place”.
14 November 2015 @ 12:58 pm
To be clearer, Adventists do not believe in a hell of perpetual roasting, nor do they believe hell to be under the earth. The following is taken from the Adventist Biblical Research on Hell: https://www.adventistbiblicalresearch.org/sites/default/files/pdf/Watch%20Out%20for%20Hell.pdf
The Second Death: The unrighteous suffer “hell” for a LIMITED TIME ONLY. However, the RESULTS ARE ETERNAL. Rev 20:9 Fire devoured them. Rev 20:14-15 This is the second death. The unquenchable fire (Matt 3:12) cannot be extinguished until its work is done and everything is burned up (Matt 13:40-42; Jer 17:27–Jerusalem does not burn any longer). Satan is not the Lord of hell, but will also be destroyed (Matt 25:41; Rev 20:10)
Scripture tells us the saints will walk on the new earth with the ashes of the wicked under the soles of their feet. This doesn’t speak to an underground hell, nor does it speak to a perpetual burning/roasting. As you may recall, fire comes from out of heaven and devours/destroys the wicked who remain on the earth. The only thing perpetual or forever about hell is that the wicked will forever be forgotten and out of the presence of God and His grace.
There is nothing more of a priority for God than to end the controversy between good and evil. To continue with an everlasting hell would be counter-productive and a continual reminder –not to mention it shows God as merciless.
The earth will be cleansed and the wicked will be no more. Thanks be to God.
14 November 2015 @ 5:49 pm
E. Ekimi,
Yes, you answer is clearer. Unfortunately, most of the people who ask me about my beliefs don’t have that long an attention span. The short answer can be used as an introduction to my belief on the subject (and yours). You answer is a good as any and better than most.
14 November 2015 @ 7:13 pm
See the CNN Video here!on my channel:http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmGvdtMCf1aKjhcUa2b1DYWUDq9HPc8Ug
May the Lord prepare us, & guide Ben Carson in his Faith-walk!.. (We are going to have some very turbulent times in the near future.. Let us share the 3 angels messages brothers & sisters!)
19 November 2015 @ 5:28 am
I filled out my Adventist Today SurveyMonkey…DID U?
The GC, local conferences and churches need to initiate their own SurveyMonkeys!
What do THE PEOPLE think & believe??
One can only speculate without a very large survey sample size.
The tough job will be to figure out what relevant questions to ask.
There are close to 60,000 seconds in one single day as far as waking hours. What do SDA do with that time as far as thinking/doing??
What % ever look at their SS lesson?
Who has ever read the bible through once?
Do U feel comfortable inviting anyone to your church?
Are the sermons helping you spiritually?
Do U care about the W.O. flap/discord?
Do you usually go to Sabbath school?
Do you ever talk in Sabbath school?
How do U feel being called a Laodicean every chance the pastor feels like it in his sermon?