More Americans than ever turned to God’s word in 2020 and 2021 as COVID-19 disrupted their day-to-day lives, and research released today (April 6) suggests the pandemic is still affecting Bible engagement in the U.S.
The 2022 State of the Bible report from the American Bible Society shows a big drop over the past 12 months in the percentage of Bible users in the U.S., defined by ABS as those who read, listen to or pray with the Bible at least 3–4 times each year on their own, outside of a church service or church event.
In every study since 2018, between 47% and 49% of American adults were Bible users. However, the 2022 data showed a 10% decrease in the number of Bible users from the same time in 2021. That means nearly 26 million Americans reduced or stopped their interaction with Scripture in the past year, according to John Farquhar Plake, one of the authors of the study.
The number of Americans who engaged in Scripture also decreased. ABS describes the Scripture-engaged as those who regularly read, listen to or pray with the Bible and who say the Bible impacts their daily lives and helps guide their relationships with God and others.
In the past 12 months, Scripture engagement among American adults fell by 21% from 64 million in 2021 to only 49 million in 2022.
Most Scripture-engaged
Among the 19% of Americans who still qualify as Scripture-engaged, women are more Scripture-engaged than men (21% and 16%, respectively); African Americans are the ethnic group most likely to be Scripture-engaged; engagement is higher among those living in small cities and the South; and people 77 years and older are the most engaged, with Bible engagement decreasing with each younger generation.
Among Bible users, the survey also indicated a decreased level of spiritual impact — a measure of how people view the Bible and how reading the Bible influences readers to practice their faith, show love to others and live generously. In 2022, Americans are less likely than ever before to say that the Bible is influencing the way they live out their faith in relationship to others.
Plake suggested the timing of the survey, amid an early 2022 surge in COVID-19 cases and the start of the war in Ukraine, might be possible causes behind the drop in spiritual impact of the Bible.
However, another more lasting factor could be the changing relationship between Americans and the local church, he said.
“There can be little doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has seriously disrupted Americans’ behaviors, including their relationships with church communities, which are the epicenter of these behaviors for most American Christians,” Plake writes. “The very idea of ‘church’ is about relationships, not isolation; however, the notion of the church as a vibrant Christian community is being reimagined and rebuilt in light of social distancing and online services. These shifts are in addition to the normal, cyclical process of contextualizing the gospel to meet the changing cultural contexts formed by each new generation and technological development.”
This year’s data shows that many Americans are struggling to connect the teaching of the Bible to the ways they live out their faith in community, Plake said. Churches have a responsibility to help American Christians reconnect with the local faith communities.
‘Unique moment’
Plake said churches should first recognize the needs of American Christians in this “unique moment.”
“The data (and our personal experiences as leaders) tell us that American adults — particularly Christian adults — are struggling to live out their faith in a social context that has been upended by the pandemic. They do not see a way to connect their faith to meaningful action through generosity, community and relationships,” he writes.
Plake said now is also the time to pray for “divine insight and courage to respond with focus and creativity” and to “work to reconnect people to Christ-centered relationships and service.”
“The Christian faith was never designed to be lived in our heads or sequestered in our hearts. Instead, we are intended to live in vibrant Christian communities that share a missional focus,” Plake said.
“God has put us here — in this moment — so we must do what we can do.”
Additional results from the 2022 State of the Bible study will be released in the coming months. To download the first chapter, click here.
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