Growing Number Of Young Adults Find The Bible Transformative In Their Lives, Report Says
ABS released the first installment of the State of the Bible 2024 report that revealed how much young adults say the Bible is transformative.
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The American Bible Society released the first installment of its State of the Bible 2024 report that revealed how much young adults say the Bible is transforming their lives. While studies show that a large number of young adults remain “Bible Disengaged,” 54 percent of Gen Z still “somewhat” or “strongly” agree that the Bible has been a transformative tool in their lives in comparison to 50 percent the year prior (2023), according to the report that sampled 2,506 young adults.
“Increasingly, the Bible must compete for our attention in an ever-busier world,” American Bible Society Chief Program Officer and Editor-in-Chief of the State of the Bible series, John Farquhar Plake, said in a statement.
The report defines a Bible user as someone who interacts with Scripture at least three or four times a year outside of church services. Despite the younger generations not engaging with the Bible on a daily basis and being fully immersed in the word, the results show that “Bible Disengaged” does not equate to a lack of interest in growing in Christ.
Other key findings reported by the American Bible Society:
There are more Bible Disengaged Americans than ever: The State of the Bible research team combines metrics on frequency of Bible interaction, centrality of the Bible in one’s relationships with God and others, and the Bible’s impact on decision-making. This yields a score that identifies a respondent as Scripture Engaged, Bible Disengaged, or in the Movable Middle. This past year saw 4% of the total population—more than 10 million people—slide from the middle to the least engaged category. Now 57% of Americans are Bible Disengaged—the highest number in the 14-year history of this survey (pages 6–7).
Once again, Black Americans lead the way in Scripture Engagement: In the past year, the Scripture Engagement of Black Americans increased slightly to 28%. This is higher by far than the score for white Americans, which dropped slightly to 16%. Black Christians are also far ahead of other demographics in measures of spiritual vitality and church attendance, providing a strong example that other Christians can follow (pages 8–9).
More Christians are thriving in their faith, but more Christians are ailing, too: In the last two years, State of the Bible has employed the Spiritual Vitality Gauge (owned by Renovo), which asks a series of questions on beliefs, spiritual practices, and how Christians put their faith in action. The results divide people into four categories: Ailing, Unhealthy, Healthy, and Thriving. The 2024 survey saw a modest increase among Christians who are Thriving (from 19% to 21%). However, there was an even greater increase among those who are Ailing (21% to 28%). While some grew stronger in their faith during the past year, even more got weaker—an important detail as we consider the overall spiritual health of Christians in the U.S. (pages 12–13).
“Our youngest adults show signs of interest in the Bible, curiosity about it, and transformative interaction with it,” Plake noted. “If this trend continues, we have good reason for hope.”
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