<p>This study was conducted to determine the acceptance of illness and religious coping styles of newly diagnosed cancer patients. The data were collected via descriptive characteristics such as the "Acceptance of Illness Scale" and "Brief Religious Coping Scale." In this study, individuals who were over 50&#xa0;years of age, illiterate, not working, not smoking and not using alcohol had higher mean scores of positive religious coping, while those who were single and who received support from a psychologist in coping with illness had higher mean scores of negative religious coping (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.05). Individuals who received support from a psychologist scored higher on the acceptance of illness scale than those who received support from themselves or their family (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.05). There are significant relationships between acceptance of illness and positive religious coping (0.134) and negative religious coping (− 0.307) (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.05). Age, marital status, employment status, smoking and alcohol use and receiving support from a person were found to be effective in religious coping, while receiving support from a psychologist was found to be effective in acceptance of illness. There is a relationship between positive and negative religious coping and acceptance of illness, and planning care accordingly is recommended.</p>