Americans who have endured major hardships or personal tragedies are more likely to read the Bible and describe their faith as a source of comfort than those who have not experienced similar struggles, according to a new survey.
The findings come from the American Bible Society’s fourth chapter of its “State of the Bible: USA 2026” report, released last week. The chapter explores how U.S. adults understand calling and how difficult life experiences shape their engagement with Scripture.
The results are based on 2,649 interviews with adults nationwide conducted from Jan. 8-27 in partnership with NORC at the University of Chicago.
Among respondents who had gone through divorce, 53% reported using the Bible, compared with 38% of those who had not experienced divorce. Bible use was also higher among those who had lived through a natural disaster, with 49% saying they read Scripture, compared with 38% of those who had not faced such an event.
The pattern was similar among people who had experienced a life-threatening illness or injury. Forty-eight percent of that group reported Bible use, compared with 37% of those who had not faced such a crisis. Those dealing with a life-threatening illness or injury were also more likely to say their faith was “a great source of comfort” while navigating “life issues,” at 38%, compared with 31% among those who had not experienced a similar event.
Bible reading was also more common among those grieving the death of someone close. Forty-five percent of respondents who had lost a close friend or family member reported using the Bible, compared with 35% of those who had not. Among those who had experienced such a loss, 38% said their faith was “a great source of comfort” during personal difficulties, compared with 29% of those who had not lost a loved one.
Those facing unemployment also reported higher Bible engagement. Forty-three percent of unemployed respondents said they used the Bible, compared with 37% of those not experiencing unemployment. Among those out of work, 38% strongly agreed that faith was “a great source of comfort” when dealing with “life issues,” compared with 31% of respondents who were not facing that disruption.
The report also asked respondents whether they had “a calling to a particular kind of work.” Fifteen percent said the statement was “totally true,” while 23% described it as “mostly true,” 25% as “moderately true,” 18% as “mildly true,” and 20% said they did not believe they had a calling at all.
Researchers compared those answers with the Scripture Engagement Scale, which measures both how often people use the Bible and how central its message is in their lives.
On a separate 10-point scale related to calling, the Scripture Engaged — defined as those scoring 100 or higher on the broader Scripture Engagement Scale — averaged 7.4, the highest level of agreement that they had and understood a calling. The Movable Middle, whose scores range from 70 to 99, averaged 6.0, while the Bible disengaged, who scored below 70, averaged 5.4.
Respondents in the Movable Middle category scored highest, at 5.1, on questions about whether they were trying to “figure out” or “searching” for their calling. The report said this suggests they were the group most likely to feel they were still discerning their calling. The Scripture Engaged averaged 4.7 on that measure, while the Bible disengaged averaged 4.3.
When respondents were asked whether they agreed that “calling is a spiritual experience,” 30% answered “not at all.” Another 23% said the statement was “moderately true,” 18% called it “mildly true,” 16% said it was “mostly true,” and 12% described it as “totally true.”
