Around four out of ten Americans believe that humanity is living in the end times.
Some people have been able to predict the end of the world, or the “end times”, by anticipating periods of anxiety and catastrophes such as the coronavirus panic pandemic. Many people think this way based on religious scriptures. These beliefs, such as Christianity, include the expectation that Jesus will return to Earth during or after great turmoil.
According to a Pew Research Center survey, 39% of Americans believe that “we are living the end time,” while 58% believe otherwise.
This question is divided among Christians. 47% of Christians believe we are living in the end time, while 33% say so, and a majority of Christians in historically Black (76%) or evangelical (63%) Protestant traditions. 49% of Christians, 70% of Catholics, and 65%, of the mainline Protestants, say that we are not living through the end times. If you look at it more broadly, the proportion of Protestants saying we are living in end times is higher than that of Catholics (55% vs. 27%).
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Three-in-ten people (29%) who are not of non-Christian faiths and 23 percent who have no religious affiliation believe we live in the end times. The survey included Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus as well as other non-Christian religious groups. However, there weren’t enough people to separate these groups.
NEW: About four-in-ten U.S. adults believe humanity is ‘living in the end times’ https://t.co/p7FpT6lTKi pic.twitter.com/J4UGkylkMB
— Pew Research Center (@pewresearch) December 8, 2022
Black Americans (68%), Hispanic (41%), White (34%), and Asian (33%%) Americans are more likely to believe that humanity is in the end-times than Hispanic (41%), White (34%), and Asian (33%). Adults in Southern states (48%) are more likely than those in the Midwest (37%, Northeast (34%), or West (31%).
Americans who do not have a college degree are more likely to believe that humanity is near its end than those who do. Americans with lower incomes are also more likely to believe this, as opposed with people with higher incomes. This belief is more common among Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents than it is among Democrats and Democratic Learners.
Pew Research Center surveyed Americans about the end of the world as part of a larger survey on religion and the environment. This was partly done to determine if Americans’ views about the future are linked to their views about the environment.
Views on Jesus’ return to Earth
The survey also examined Americans’ opinions about a fundamental tenet in Christianity: the belief Jesus will return to Earth one day. This is sometimes called the “second coming”.
More than half (55%) of Americans, including three quarters of Christians, believe that Jesus will return to Earth one day. The likelihood of a second coming of Jesus is higher among Protestants who belong to the historically Black (86%) and evangelical (92%) traditions than any other Christians. About four out of ten Americans don’t believe Jesus will return (25%) or do not believe that Jesus is God (16%).
Respondents who believed Jesus would return to Earth were also asked how sure they were that it would happen in their lifetime. One in ten Americans believe that Jesus will return to Earth during their lifetime. 27% of those surveyed aren’t sure if Jesus will return during their lifetime. 19% of respondents say Jesus will most likely return during their lifetime.
American Protestants of the historically Black tradition (22%), evangelical Protestants (21%), as well as Catholics (7%) or mainline Protestants (6) have higher percentages of Americans saying they believe Jesus will return in their lifetime. The share of Black (19%) or Hispanic (14%) Americans who believe the second coming will occur in their lifetimes is higher than that of White, non-Hispanic Americans (8%)
However, all religions have people who are more likely to express doubt about the timing of Jesus’ return and less likely to believe it will occur in their lifetime. About seven in ten evangelicals (50%) say they don’t know if Jesus will return in their lifetime, and 21% say that Jesus will most likely not return to their lives. Nearly two-thirds (47%) of people in the historically Black Protestant tradition are unsure about the timing (17%).
