The Barna Group released a new report which says that Bible reading has declined over the last 6 years in America.
Only about one-third of Americans read the Bible once a week or more in 2016. In 1991, the national adult average of individuals who read the Bible frequently was 45 percent. Six years ago, in 2009, this proportion was fairly constant as 46 percent of the Americans said they read Bible often, at least once a week.
The study attributes this decline to a shrinking population of elders, which is the most-avid reader of the Bible. As many as 49 percent of elders reported reading Bible at least once a week or more, while Millennials (24 percent) were the least likely to read the Bible.
The Bible is still considered sacred literature over texts of other faiths. About 80 percent of the Americans identified the Bible as the sacred book in 2016, which is down from 86 percent in 2011. The number of people considering Koran, Torah, Book of Mormon as sacred text was constant over the six years. But, the proportion of Americans saying none of the books were sacred doubled from 7 percent to 14 percent in the last six years.
Bible skepticism has also increased since 2011, the study says. Six years ago, 53 percent of Americans strongly agreed that the Bible was a sufficient guide to live a meaningful life, but only 45 percent of the people thought so in 2016. At the same time, the number of people who strongly disagreed to this statement increased from 23 percent to 33 percent in six years.
Now, less number of people think that the 'Bible is totally accurate in all of its principles it teaches.' Since 2011, the number of people believing in the accuracy of the Bible declined from 48 percent to 33 percent.
However, the Bible is still physically present in most American households. About nine in 10 adults and teenagers own a Bible, according to Barna. This proportion has also been constant during the last several years.
A majority of Americans read the Bible to bring themselves closer to God. About 64 percent of the Americans gave this reason for reading Bible six years ago, but the number decreased to 55 percent in 2016.
Some 16 percent of Americans said reading the Bible gave them comfort, and 18 percent said they read the Bible for direction. The proportion of people reading the Bible for these purposes increased slightly from 2011, when 14 percent read it for comfort, and 12 percent read it for direction.
A silver lining in the dismal report is that six in 10 Americans wanted to read the Bible more than they were engaging with it at present.
'The Bible in America,' released by Barna in May 2016, is one of the largest data collections done by Barna over any one theme. Since 2011, Barna carried out over 14,000 interviews with American people for annual State of the Bible reports.
"A healthy dose of skepticism means that people are still asking questions of faith, of Christianity and of the Bible," said David Kinnaman, president of Barna and director of the research. "I believe those questions, when asked and answered honestly and from a biblical point of view, can lead to the Spirit's work in people's lives."
