Most Russians believe in God, Heaven and Angels

The overwhelming majority of Russians believe in the existence of God (73%) and angels (53%). This was the result of a survey carried out by VTsIOM research institute on 1600 Russians in December 2003. 46% believe in the existence of heaven while just 44% believe in the existence of hell and the devil. It turns out that Russians are actually quite skeptical about witches as 45% of Russians do not believe in them.

The results of the survey were particularly revealing in questions relating to their creed or denomination. One in every eighteen people who consider themselves Orthodox do not believe in God whereas this figure is 5 times lower among Muslims. Approximately every fourth Orthodox Christian and every third Muslim do not believe in the existence of heaven. A quarter of Orthodox Christians and almost half of Muslims do not believe in the existence of hell. Almost 50% of Orthodox Christians and about a third of Muslims believe in the existence of witches.

44% of Russians believe in miracles and 25% believe in ghosts. Also, 42% believe in astrology, about 25% believe in reincarnation and 34% of respondents said they believe in UFOs. It is curious that over half of Orthodox Christians believe in miracles whereas just a third of Muslims believe in them.