Who Reads The Bible
Percent of Presbyterians (
Specialized
Members Elders
Pastors Clergy
Individually 43% 50%
94% 84%
With Family 20% 22%
45% 40%
In a Bible Study Group 24%
30% 70% 42%
In Other Church Group 28%
38% 70% 45%
Frequency of Individual Bible
Only
12% of member panelists and 5% of elder panelists reported that they had never
read the Bible in the year prior to the survey.
Of
the 88% of members who reported that they had read the Bible at least once in
the previous year, about one-half of them--45% overall--chose one of these
three responses when asked to describe their personal Bible reading during
those twelve months: 'rarely, but no regular pattern'; 'at times, but no
regular pattern'; 'once a month or less.'
Viewed
more positively, 38% of members and 44% of elders reported reading their Bibles
weekly or more often in the past year.
In
contrast, only one pastor and four specialized clergy indicated
that they had never read the Bible in the prior year; overall, 7% of
pastors and 16% of specialized clergy reported reading the Bible less than once
per month in the prior year.
In a typical week, 22% of evangelical
Christians do not read the Bible at all.
Another thirty percent read it only once
or twice a week.
What then can the church do to reverse
the rising tide of biblical illiteracy? Here are some strategies:
1. Affirm the
authority of God's Word.
2. Read the Bible
with a sense of expectancy.
3. Directly encounter
the Word.
4. Encourage Bible
study dialogue
5. Model for other
believers the effectiveness of Bible principles.
6. Promote Bible
study tools.
What proportion of
Christians read the Bible regularly?
·
36% of adults read the bible during a typical week.
·
91% of households own at least one bible.
·
16% of regular churchgoers read something from the bible every
day.
·
A further 10% claimed to read several times a week.
·
42% read less frequently but at least once a year.
·
The remaining 32% having not read from it outside of church
services during the last year.
· 1.5% answered "No" to "Do you believe that the Bible is God's word?"
·
6% of the Christians answered "No"
or "Not Sure" to the following
question: "Do you believe that Jesus is the only way to
Heaven/God?"
· 15% of the Christian respondents did not believe the Bible to be totally inerrant.
· 31% of Christians surveyed did not believe that Jesus was the only way to Heaven.
· About 1.5% of the Christian respondents did not believe Jesus died for their sins, the supernatural exists, or the world was created by a supernatural being.
What do you believe?
How often do you read the
Bible? Why is it not more?