Millions more Americans turned to Scripture during pandemic, study suggests By Emily Wood, Christian Post Reporter
Over an estimated 10 million more Americans turned to the Bible in the past year than in years past, as one in four adults reported reading the Bible more frequently during the pandemic compared to last year, the American Bible Society’s 2021 State of the Bible report suggests.
ABS released the first two chapters of its 11th annual State of the Bible report on Tuesday, documenting cultural trends in the realm of spirituality and Scripture engagement in the United States.
The data suggests that over 181 million Americans opened a Bible in the past year compared to 169 million adults who used a Bible at least occasionally in the year before.
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The findings for the report are based on a survey conducted in January 2021 through 3,354 online interviews from a representative sample of American adults nationwide, as well as 91 additional responses from Gen Z youth. The sampling error is plus or minus 1.692 percentage points.
The study found that roughly 16% of American adults read the Bible most days during the week, up from 12% in its 2020 report. Thirty-four percent said they read the Bible once a week or more, while 50% said they read the Bible less than twice per year.
The report also states that 63% of respondents reported their Bible usage was the same as the previous year. Although 9% said their Bible engagement decreased in the last year, 24% reported more frequent Bible reading during that time.
Nine chapters from the report will be released throughout the year. The first two chapters of the ebook are available for download at StateoftheBible.org.
In a Tuesday interview with The Christian Post, John Farquhar Plake, the director of ministry intelligence for the American Bible Society, said he believes Americans turned to God’s Word during the pandemic in a search for meaning and comfort.
