Stephen King: 'Religion is a Dangerous Tool...But I Choose to Believe God Exists'

Carrie Dedrick | Updated: Oct 30, 2014

Stephen King: 'Religion is a Dangerous Tool...But I Choose to Believe God Exists'

Bestselling horror novelist Stephen King is set to release a new book about a Methodist pastor who loses his faith after an accident. “Revival” will hit book stores on Nov. 11. 

In an interview with Rolling Stone, King compared the novel to his own experiences; King said he grew up in the Methodist church, but doubted organized religion since childhood. “Once I got through high school, that was it for me,” he said. 

According to King, organized religion is “a very dangerous tool that’s been misused by a lot of people.” 

Yet King still says that he believes in God “because it makes things better. You have a meditation point, a source of strength.” He continued, “I choose to believe that God exists, and therefore I can say, ‘God, I can’t do this by myself. Help me not to take a drink today. Help me not to take a drug today.’ And that works fine for me.” 

King believes “in evil” as well, but has spent years trying to determine if evil is inside humans or if “there is a force in the world that really wants to destroy us, from the inside out, individually and collectively.” 

Although, King said, “The older I get, the less I think there’s some sort of outside devilish influence; it comes from people.”

Publication date: October 30, 2014



Stephen King: 'Religion is a Dangerous Tool...But I Choose to Believe God Exists'