{"id":13156,"date":"2025-05-23T08:11:05","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T12:11:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/?p=13156"},"modified":"2025-05-23T08:11:05","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T12:11:05","slug":"study-finds-that-bible-reading-is-increasing-amongst-a-surprising-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2025\/05\/study-finds-that-bible-reading-is-increasing-amongst-a-surprising-group.html","title":{"rendered":"Study Finds that Bible Reading is Increasing Amongst a Surprising Group"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Adobe Stock | Inset: Christian Daily International<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The American Bible Society (ABS) has released another part of its 2025 State of the Bible Report<\/a>, where it showed a growing interest in Bible reading, particularly among young men. For the past four years, Bible engagement had steadily dipped from 50 percent in 2021 to 38 percent in 2024. But for 2025, the number went up three points, which is equivalent to about 11 million people. Dr. John Plake, Chief Innovation Officer at the American Bible Society, told Christian Daily International<\/em><\/a> that it was an encouraging sign. \u201cWe were incredibly encouraged. It\u2019s not yet a trend, but it\u2019s a significant step in the right direction,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Looking demographically, women and older adults remained relatively flat in Bible use. But amongst men, the number increased by 21 percent, with a 30 percent increase in millennial men. Bible reading also increased in traditionally secular areas, such as the San Franciso Bay area, where 40 percent identified as Bible users. The increases aren\u2019t just limited to the US either. In the UK<\/a>, church attendance has gone up from four percent in 2018 to 16 percent in 2024 amongst adults aged 18-24. In young men, the number went up from four percent to 21 percent. \u201cIn churches across society something amazing is happening, challenging long-held predictions about the future of Christianity in the twenty-first century. Where once we saw aging congregations and a steady decline in attendance, we see dramatic growth, led by the young,\u201d stated a report from the Bible Society in the UK.<\/p>\n

While both the UK and the US are seeing increases in the \u201cBible-curious,\u201d that has not necessarily transformed into higher church attendance numbers. \u201cPeople are not interested in church or organized religion, but the Bible and Jesus are topics they are more willing to engage with,\u201d said Kenny Dubnick, the International Mission Board\u2019s (IMB) European People\u2019s Affinity cluster leader for the UK and Ireland said. This highlights the importance of discipleship as young people sort out their beliefs. \u201cIn some of our church plants in Scotland, we have seen a growing group of teenagers interested and curious about the church. However, many of them are navigating a syncretism in their belief and worldview. They\u2019re piecing together their worldview from various voices, including online and social media influencers,\u201d said Matthew Spandler-Davison, a Kentucky Baptist pastor leading church plants in his native Scotland. \u201cIt\u2019s a gift to have them with us, but the exclusivity of Christ \u2013 that He alone is the way, the truth and the life \u2013 is a real stumbling block for some. We may see some drift away in the coming year if we are not clear about the claims of Jesus and the call to a life of repentance and faith in Christ alone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

While social media and influencers tend to be painted in a negative light for such trends, the increased curiosity in Bible reading comes around the same time as Joe Rogan has begun exploring more faith matters on his podcast. Rogan\u2019s podcast is hugely popular, especially among men. He recently hosted an episode with Christian apologist Wes Huff, who spoke candidly with Rogan about his faith. The episode has nearly 6.5 million views, with Huff recently confirming<\/a> that Rogan has begun regularly attending a church since their discussion. Huff, too noted the growing interest in Christianity amongst young people. \u201c[Rogan] a very inquisitive individual, and I think for the better in that he’s communicating with me and other people in his life who are influences that can speak into, you know, these issues of reliability and trustworthiness and verisimilitude of something like the pages of Scripture, and where he should and shouldn’t be looking for the information in regards to that\u2026We’re seeing what I don’t think is an exaggeration to say, somewhat of a resurgence in interest in these topics that we’ve been talking about, even the nitty gritty,\u201d he said. Plake\u2019s data shows a similar need. \u201cThere are 71 million Americans in what we call the \u2018movable middle,\u2019\u201d Plake explained. \u201cThey\u2019re curious about the Bible, but uncertain. They need someone to come alongside them, answer their questions, and help them discover the bigger story of Scripture.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The American Bible Society (ABS) has released another part of its 2025 State of the Bible Report, where it showed a growing interest in Bible reading, particularly among young men. For the past four years, Bible engagement had steadily dipped from 50 percent in 2021 to 38 percent in 2024. But for 2025, the number…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":13159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nStudy Finds that Bible Reading is Increasing Amongst a Surprising Group<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bible curiosity is rising\u2014especially among young men\u2014with millions returning to scripture as faith gains traction in unexpected places.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2025\/05\/study-finds-that-bible-reading-is-increasing-amongst-a-surprising-group.html\" \/>\n<meta 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