Six out of ten Americans (59 percent) reject the existence of Satan, indicating that the devil, or Satan, is merely a symbol of evil. Catholics are much more likely than Protestants to hold this view -- 75 percent compared to 55 percent -- although a majority of both groups concur that Satan is symbolic.

The rejection of Satan's existence seems to conflict with the fact that a slight majority (54 percent) also contends that, "a human being can be under the control or the influence of spiritual forces such as demons."

A slight majority of adults (51 percent) believes that "praying to deceased saints can have a positive effect in a person's life," according to Barna's research. Catholics were twice as likely to embrace this idea. However, one out of six evangelicals and half of the non-evangelical born-again Christians surveyed also believe in praying to dead saints.

More than one-third of those surveyed (35 percent) also believe it is "possible to communicate with others after they die." Catholics were more likely than Protestants to embrace this view (45 percent of Catholics, 26 percent of Protestants).

Barna's research is based on a telephone survey of 630 adults nationwide. The survey was conducted in August. George Barna, who heads the Ventura, Calif.-based research group, said he was not surprised by the findings.

"Over the past 20 years we have seen the nation's theological views slowly become less aligned with the Bible," Barna said in a news release. "Americans still revere the Bible and like to think of themselves as Bible-believing people, but the evidence suggests otherwise. Christians have increasingly been adopting spiritual views that come from Islam, Wicca, secular humanism, the eastern religions and other sources. Because we remain a largely Bible-illiterate society, few are alarmed or even aware of the slide toward syncretism -- a belief system that blindly combines beliefs from many different faith perspectives."

Classic beliefs

There are some fundamental Christian precepts that most Americans have held onto, according to Barna's research. The survey indicates that more than three-quarters of all adults adopt each of three classic Christian beliefs. For instance, the concept of the trinity -- "God is one being in three separate and equal persons -- God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit" -- is deemed to be a reality by 79 percent of adults. Women are more likely than men to accept the Trinity as real, by an 85 percent to 72 percent margin.

The idea that "every person has a soul that will live forever, either in God's presence or absence" is also embraced by 79 percent of American adults.

The third perspective is that "the Bible can only be correctly interpreted by people who have years of intense training in theology." This argument, which goes back to the Protestant Reformation of several hundred years ago, was rejected by 76 percent of adults.