Highlights from a 2008 Harris Poll nation-wide survey of 2,126 U.S. adults:

• Americans who believe in God: 80 percent (unchanged since the last survey in 2005)
  
  
• Americans who believe Jesus is the Son of God: 71 percent
  
  
• Americans who believe in the resurrection of Jesus: 70 percent
  
  
• Americans who believe in the Virgin Birth: 61 percent
  
  
• Americans who believe in the survival of the soul after death: 68 percent
  
  

Atheist Penn Jillette is one half of Penn and Teller, a duo that has been headlining Vegas shows for years with comedy and the art of illusion. Penn has never been shy about his disbelief in God, often writing about his conviction in articles and best-selling books. Yet in an on-line video blog that can be found on YouTube, Penn shares a story about the time a gracious Christian businessman gave him ...

Note: This clip is preceded by an incident where a character takes the Lord's name in vain. If you use this clip, please pay special attention to the elapsed time noted at the conclusion of the illustration.

The story of Ghost Town centers around Bertram Pincus—a dentist who detests all people and only enjoys his work because he gets to stuff cotton balls into his clients' mouths and doesn't ...

In the 2007 film The Bucket List, two terminally ill men—played by Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman—take a road trip to do the things they always said they would do before they "kicked the bucket." In anticipation of the film's release, Nicholson was interviewed for an article in Parade magazine. While reflecting on his personal life, Nicholson said:

I used to live so freely. The mantra ...

Remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would strongly be tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, ...

A group of Americans were surveyed concerning issues of life after death:

• Ten percent believe we return to earth in a different form.

• Ten percent believe there is no life after death.

• Twenty-four percent believe the soul lives in a different place, determined by past actions.

• Forty-eight percent believe we go to heaven or hell, depending on confession of sins and accepting ...

Early in my ministry, I served a little church in rural Georgia. One Saturday we went to a funeral in a little country church not of my denomination. I grew up in a big downtown church. I had never been to a funeral like this one. The casket was open, and the funeral consisted of a sermon by their preacher.

The preacher pounded on the pulpit and looked over at the casket. He said, "It's too late for ...

A new report released Monday, June 23, by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life demonstrates the myriad ways that faith in America is more variegated and nuanced than it may appear at first glance.

Researchers for Pew's U.S. Religious Landscape Survey analyzed the religious practices of more than 35,000 U.S. adults and found that they generally embrace their own faith while respecting—and sometimes ...

According to a 2008 Harris Initiative survey, there has been a steady decline in the basic religious beliefs of Americans over the last four years (2005–2008):

Belief in God:
2005: 90 percent
2008: 80 percent

Belief in heaven:
2005: 82 percent
2008: 73 percent

Belief in the Devil:
2005: 68 percent
2008: 59 percent

Belief in hell:
2005: 69 percent
2008: 62 percent

On January 18, 1989, [Don] Piper was returning home from a conference in Galveston, Texas, when his car was struck head-on by a tractor-trailer truck, killing him instantly.

Ninety minutes after the accident, Dick Onerecker, a pastor who happened upon the scene, felt led by God to pray for the dead man. He did so, and Piper immediately returned to life. But for 90 minutes, as his lifeless body lay ...