...the survey is claimed to be the most extensive and sensitive study of religion ever amassed.

"We wanted to do something that most surveys don't and that is to probe questions that are typically not asked on surveys," said Dr. Byron Johnson, professor of sociology and co-director of the ISR. "So for example, most surveys might ask how often you pray. We want to know whom do you pray to, what was the last thing you prayed about, and why do you pray."

"We know that a lot of Americans believe in God, but we want to know what you think God's personality is like and how engaged God is in the world."

Although analysis of the data will be ongoing, some significant findings have emerged from the preliminary analyses. The Baylor Religion Survey found that a third of Americans (33.6 percent), roughly 100 million people, are Evangelical Protestants by affiliation. The majority (62.9 percent) of Americans not affiliated with a religious tradition believe in God or some higher power.

Nearly three fourths of Americans (71.5%) pray at least once a week and almost half (49.2%) attend church at least once a month.

The survey also finds a surprising level of paranormal belief and experience in the U.S., with paranormal beliefs most prevalent in eastern states and less prevalent in southern states.

But one area that emerged from the survey which has excited the researchers is what they call the "Four Gods." These depend on how engaged people think God is in the world and how angry God is with the world. "If you think about people perceiving God as high in anger, low in anger, high in engagement, low in engagement, it results in four different types of gods," said Froese.

The data showed that 31.4 percent believe in an Authoritarian God, who is very judgmental and engaged, 25 percent believe in a Benevolent God, who is not judgmental but engaged, 23 percent believe in a Distant God, who is completely removed and 16 percent believe in a Critical God, who is judgmental but not engaged.

What researchers also found was that the type of god people believe in can predict their political and moral attitudes more than simply looking at their religious tradition.

"This is a very powerful tool to understand core differences in the United States," said Baylor researcher Paul Froese.. "If I know your image of God, I can tell all kinds of things about you. It's a central part of world view and it's linked to how you think about the world in general."

"In general what we find is people who believe in a more angry and engaged God tend to be moral absolutists," says Froese. "In other words, they think things are either right or wrong, and they also tend to be political conservatives."

Ekklesia.co.uk