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The depth of their religious belief was stronger than I expected. Out of 60 interviews, only 2 people told me they did not believe in God. But the real proof was the number of people who recounted detailed stories of miracles performed on their behalf. There were many tales of recovery from serious illnesses or supernatural good luck in automobile accidents, but beyond those were incidents that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

One older gentleman described how depressed he was after his wife's death. He was visited in a dream by a white-haired, white-bearded, white-robed stranger who led him to a mansion where he was comforted by his wife. When he awoke, his depression was gone, and he began the process of recovery. But there's more: The same angelic stranger had appeared to him in dreams twice before, once when he was a young soldier in Korea on the verge of nervous breakdown and once just before his first son was born. Both times he was calmed and restored.

Another fellow had two supernatural stories, one in which he was miraculously saved while being crushed during a crane accident and another in which his friend's departed spirit visited him in the form of an eagle while he was fishing. He was certain the eagle spoke to him, letting him know his friend was in heaven.

I have known the two men who told these stories for more than 20 years. There is no chance they were pulling my leg. They were describing what they interpreted as acts of divine intervention on their behalves. Whatever really happened with the white-robed angel or the eagle, my respondents experienced the events as instances where God was willing and able to act in their lives.

This is not some generic belief in a vague concept of God. My flea market subjects believe in the God of the Bible. In fact, the large majority of them believe the Bible is God's word-for-word revelation. More than 50 of my 60 respondents said Adam and Eve were real people who lived in a real garden, and more than 50 confirmed that Jesus was born of a virgin and raised bodily from the dead. They told me their grandparents and parents believed these things, so they did, too.

And why not? Evolution, as they understand it, seems much less plausible than creation. As I heard over and over, "We had to come from somewhere. You can't tell me something as beautiful and complicated as this world just happened." As for the Resurrection, if God the Father could take care of them in their trials, surely he could raise his own Son.

The dealers are believers and literalists, but are they conservative evangelicals? I think not. Only a handful of my interviewees could name their favorite Bible stories. When asked directly, "Do you read the Bible regularly?" fewer than ten said they did. It appears that my flea market respondents "believe" the Bible in a general sense—they think believing it is the right thing to do—but they do not know much about what is in it, because they neither read it nor pay much attention to others who do.

When I asked whether their religious beliefs shaped their economic and political actions, most assured me they did. But when I asked how, their answers were, again, vague: They treat others fairly, do not lie or steal, and are as kind and generous as practically possible. Virtually no one drew a direct connection between religious beliefs and specific obligations. Most importantly, they do not feel the obligation to attend church. They say they can experience God in nature, in their cars, or even right where they sit at the flea market. Not only do they not read the Bible—despite its literal truth—but they are also wholly unfamiliar with biblically based media. Very few could name a single television preacher other than Billy Graham. Exactly 3 out of 60 told me they had read any of the bestselling books by Rick Warren or LaHaye and Jenkins. By contrast, I imagine nearly every person reading this essay immediately grasped my Left Behind reference in the first sentence.

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October 2006, Vol. 50, No. 10