Poll: Two-Thirds of Americans Say They Are Sinners

Most Americans self-identify as sinners, according to a new poll from LifeWay Research.

• 67 percent of Americans say they are sinners.
• 34 percent said they are a sinner and "work on being less of one."
• 28 percent said they "depend on Jesus Christ to overcome sin."
• 10 percent said sin does not exist.
• 8 percent said they are not a sinner.
• 5 percent said they are a sinner, but are fine with it.
• 15 percent refused to answer.

LifeWay executive director Scott McConnell said in the report that he was inspired to conduct the poll on his way to a hockey game in Nashville. He passed a group of religious protesters calling bystanders sinners.

"I wondered how many people really think of themselves as sinners," he said.

The survey also found that those from the northeast are more likely to accept their being sinners or to say sin does not exist than those from the south and west. Evangelicals overwhelmingly credit Jesus with overcoming their sin, while non-evangelicals lag far behind in that category.

"To some Americans, saying you’re a sinner is a way of admitting you are not perfect," McConnell said. "To those folks, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re evil or should be punished for your sin. That’s something the church should pay attention to."

The LifeWay poll surveyed 1,000 Americans online from Sept. 27 to Oct. 1, 2016.

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