Literal God: ~~99%+

The entire framework of Christianity was supernatural and eschatological. No Pope of this era shows evidence of metaphoric-only belief.

Literal Heaven: ~~99%+

Heaven was conceived concretely (resurrection of the body, eternal paradise). Greek metaphysics shaped nuance, but belief in a real afterlife was unquestioned.

2. High Middle Ages (8th–14th c.)

Literal God: ~~98–100%

Scholastic theology (Aquinas, etc.) reaffirmed a personal Creator. Any serious deviation would have been heresy.

Literal Heaven: ~~95–100%

Heaven was still physical/resurrected but increasingly “intellectualized” (Beatific Vision). Some popes might have privately leaned toward a more mystical, less spatial heaven, but still real.

3. Renaissance & Early Modern (15th–17th c.)

Literal God: ~~90–95%

Humanist popes (e.g., Leo X, Alexander VI) were sometimes cynically secular in lifestyle. Letters and behavior suggest a few may have been more political deists than devout theists.

Literal Heaven: ~~80–90%

Some popes likely treated heaven more as theological necessity than personal conviction. Private disbelief was dangerous, but the worldly cynicism of the Borgia era hints at erosion.

4. Enlightenment to Pre-Modern (18th–19th c.)

Literal God: ~~85–95%

The papacy doubled down against rationalism (e.g., Pius IX’s Syllabus of Errors), but a few intellectual popes may have entertained more philosophical, non-anthropomorphic conceptions of God.

Literal Heaven: ~~75–90%

Heaven was increasingly described in abstract terms (“union with God” rather than a place). Likely some popes believed more in a spiritual state than a literal “realm.”

5. 20th Century to Present

Literal God: ~~80–90%

All popes are professed theists, but modern biblical scholarship makes “literal” belief more nuanced (e.g., God as ultimate ground of being).

Literal Heaven: ~~60–80%

Vatican II and theologians like Benedict XVI describe heaven as a “state of communion,” not a spatial paradise. Some popes probably still imagine a personal afterlife, others lean toward a metaphysical state.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5780374&forum_id=2),#49306313)

Early Reformation

Patron of art and pleasure; reportedly quipped, “How well we know what a profitable superstition this fable of Christ has been for us” (attributed in hostile sources). Even if apocryphal, it reflects widespread suspicion of cynical unbelief

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5780374&forum_id=2),#49306335)