Nearly all Protestant pastors, along with large majorities of practicing Christians and U.S. adults overall, say they are concerned that artificial intelligence could misinterpret Scripture, according to new Barna research.
The findings come from two surveys conducted in partnership with Gloo for the State of the Church initiative. One online survey questioned 1,514 U.S. adults in November 2025, while a second surveyed 442 U.S. Protestant pastors online in December 2025.
The research found that 94% of pastors expressed concern about AI misinterpreting Scripture, compared with 83% of practicing Christians and 74% of U.S. adults overall.
Pastors and practicing Christians differed, however, on how AI should respond when biblical interpretations genuinely conflict. Sixty percent of pastors said AI should present all major interpretations and explain their differences without declaring one correct, compared with 26% of practicing Christians. Another 26% of practicing Christians said AI should identify the “right” interpretation, while only about one in 10 pastors agreed.
Practicing Christians were also four times more likely than pastors to say AI should resolve disagreements by presenting only the interpretation with the broadest acceptance. Nearly 20% of practicing Christians said disputed passages should not be interpreted by AI at all, a position held by roughly twice as many pastors.
Daniel Copeland, Barna’s vice president of research, said pastors appear to view AI more as an aid to reflection than as an authority on biblical meaning.
“Their approach points to using AI as a tool to aid their learning, not to tell them what to think,” Copeland said. “Pastors seem to want people to use the tool but let it expand their understanding and push them to think for themselves.”
Separate Barna research released earlier this year found that about one-third of practicing U.S. Christians believe spiritual advice from AI can be as good as advice from a pastor, with practicing Christians more likely to hold that view than non-practicing Christians or non-Christians.
Even so, Christians currently use AI far more often for learning, advice and writing assistance than for interpreting Scripture or receiving spiritual guidance, according to the research.
