The State of the Bible survey lead by the Barna Group reported an alarming trend in the US. More people are showing more apathy towards the Bible, a 10 percent from 2011, according the report. American’s hold the Bible in high regard, but an equal amount of people are indifferent towards scripture at 19 percent.

One of the reasons for the shift is that Millennials (18-29) have never read a Bible (39 percent) and believed that “no literature is sacred.” About 35 percent among the surveyed believed that the Bible had everything needed for a productive life, compared to older adults at 50 percent.

President and CEO of the American Bible Society Roy Peterson said he’s deeply concerned as 79 percent of Americans believed the Bible is sacred, compared to 86 percent in 2011.

“With four years of data from American Bible Society’s 'State of the Bible' research, we are now able to see trends in attitudes about and behaviors around the Bible,” he said according to a press release.

“The increasing polarization in attitudes about the Bible has implications for us as a nation and for our churches and families.”

More than 28 percent of people read the Bible daily with an average reading time of 35 minutes. There is hope that older Americans, who believe the lack of reverence for the Word of God has caused the moral decline, can sway Millennials.

Generation Xers ages from 30 to 48 believed that the Bible had too little influence over society at 52 percent compared to 15 percent, who believed the influence was too great over the country. Boomers cited that the lack of Biblical study caused a moral decline while Millennials cited corruption and greed.

“In our experience, they may not necessarily be coming back like previous generations,” said Peterson.

“Young people might have said, ‘God’s word is written by God, and it’s an important book.’ Today the skeptics are saying, ‘It’s just like any other piece of literature, and it’s no different from that.’”

For more findings from the survey: http://www.americanbible.org/features/state-of-the-bible-research-2014