More Americans are now reading the Bible but fewer believe it’s 100% accurate: study

Michie · Nov 9, 2025

With Millennials and Generation Z leading the way, particularly among men, Bible reading among U.S. adults in 2025 is at its highest level in the last 15 years, according to new data from the "State of the Church" initiative.

The initiative by Barna Group and Gloocollected data from 12,116 online interviews conducted between January and October of 2025. The research revealed that approximately 50% of self-identified Christians report reading the Bible weekly, the highest level of Bible reading among Christians in more than a decade.

Weekly Bible reading among all U.S. adults reached its lowest point in 15 years in 2024 when it hit 30%. In 2025, the figure rebounded 12 percentage points to 42%, according to the latest data.

"Bible reading is rising again across generations, marking a reset to faith engagement levels we haven't seen in a decade," David Kinnaman, CEO of Barna Group, said in a statement. "People aren't just curious about faith — they're opening Scripture for themselves. This trend aligns with other signs of renewal we've seen in our research, like growing commitments to Jesus and increased church attendance."

Continued below.

More Americans are now reading the Bible but fewer believe it’s 100% accurate: study

With Millennials and Generation Z leading the way, particularly among men, Bible reading among U S adults in 2025 is at its highest level in the last 15 years, according to new data from the State of

www.christianpost.com

Benjamin Müller · Nov 9, 2025

I suppose I would be in the camp that doesn't believe the Bible is 100% accurate but rather 99% accurate. There are spurious verses and a few scribal errors that have made their way into the text but it doesn't impact my belief on it being the word of God. I think the writer of the article would have done better to explain if accuracy is meant by scribal errors and spurious verses or if people truly do not trust it as the word and inspiration of God.

Overall it's really nice to see that the younger generation and especially the men leading the way in spiritual renewal. A shame about the women, though. I would venture to say that's because they're going to university and droves and depending on the university they are being taught anti-Christian ideologies.

chevyontheriver · Nov 10, 2025

Michie said:
With Millennials and Generation Z leading the way, particularly among men, Bible reading among U.S. adults in 2025 is at its highest level in the last 15 years, according to new data from the "State of the Church" initiative.

The initiative by Barna Group and Gloocollected data from 12,116 online interviews conducted between January and October of 2025. The research revealed that approximately 50% of self-identified Christians report reading the Bible weekly, the highest level of Bible reading among Christians in more than a decade.

Weekly Bible reading among all U.S. adults reached its lowest point in 15 years in 2024 when it hit 30%. In 2025, the figure rebounded 12 percentage points to 42%, according to the latest data.

"Bible reading is rising again across generations, marking a reset to faith engagement levels we haven't seen in a decade," David Kinnaman, CEO of Barna Group, said in a statement. "People aren't just curious about faith — they're opening Scripture for themselves. This trend aligns with other signs of renewal we've seen in our research, like growing commitments to Jesus and increased church attendance."

Continued below.

More Americans are now reading the Bible but fewer believe it’s 100% accurate: study

With Millennials and Generation Z leading the way, particularly among men, Bible reading among U S adults in 2025 is at its highest level in the last 15 years, according to new data from the State of

www.christianpost.com

Or maybe that just means they aren't reading it with Fundamentalist slavishly literalist standards. That could be good.

fhansen · Tuesday at 10:45 AM

Michie said:
With Millennials and Generation Z leading the way, particularly among men, Bible reading among U.S. adults in 2025 is at its highest level in the last 15 years, according to new data from the "State of the Church" initiative.

The initiative by Barna Group and Gloocollected data from 12,116 online interviews conducted between January and October of 2025. The research revealed that approximately 50% of self-identified Christians report reading the Bible weekly, the highest level of Bible reading among Christians in more than a decade.

Weekly Bible reading among all U.S. adults reached its lowest point in 15 years in 2024 when it hit 30%. In 2025, the figure rebounded 12 percentage points to 42%, according to the latest data.

"Bible reading is rising again across generations, marking a reset to faith engagement levels we haven't seen in a decade," David Kinnaman, CEO of Barna Group, said in a statement. "People aren't just curious about faith — they're opening Scripture for themselves. This trend aligns with other signs of renewal we've seen in our research, like growing commitments to Jesus and increased church attendance."

Continued below.

More Americans are now reading the Bible but fewer believe it’s 100% accurate: study

With Millennials and Generation Z leading the way, particularly among men, Bible reading among U S adults in 2025 is at its highest level in the last 15 years, according to new data from the State of

www.christianpost.com

The world's been growing darker, which has the benefit of attracting more of us to the light. The bible separates and distinguishes between the two and offers an answer, the triumph of light over darkness. At the same time, knowledge has increased and there are good reasons for doubting the absolute perspicuity or scientific accuracy of Scripture. This need not be a problem; God's voice, the voice of Truth and Love, can be heard throughout the bible either way, I appreciate a teaching I'm familiar with here:

107 The inspired books teach the truth. "Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures."72

RileyG · Wednesday at 12:07 AM

chevyontheriver said:
Or maybe that just means they aren't reading it with Fundamentalist slavishly literalist standards. That could be good.

Yup!

Ellesmere · Friday at 1:03 AM

1) Given that are currently over 45,000 Christian denominations, groups and sects in the world it shouldn't come as a surprise that no version of the Bible can achieve universal acceptance - even within the Christian community itself!

2) Read the Preface found at the front of any version of the Bible - I challenge anyone to find in these introductory notes the claim that their translation to be "INFALLIBLE!"

3) That being the case leaves the Bible subject to different interpretations!

-

PloverWing · Friday at 8:43 AM

Ellesmere said:
2) Read the Preface found at the front of any version of the Bible - I challenge anyone to find in these introductory notes the claim that their translation to be "INFALLIBLE!"

Most often, I hear infallibility or inerrancy being claimed for the "autographs" -- the Greek or Hebrew texts written by the original authors -- not for the English translations themselves. Probably that's what Barna and Gloo have in mind, but I don't know if they specified that in their question, and I don't know if that's what the responders thought as they answered.

FAITH-IN-HIM · Friday at 10:28 AM

Benjamin Müller said:
I suppose I would be in the camp that doesn't believe the Bible is 100% accurate but rather 99% accurate. There are spurious verses and a few scribal errors that have made their way into the text but it doesn't impact my belief on it being the word of God. I think the writer of the article would have done better to explain if accuracy is meant by scribal errors and spurious verses or if people truly do not trust it as the word and inspiration of God.

Overall it's really nice to see that the younger generation and especially the men leading the way in spiritual renewal. A shame about the women, though. I would venture to say that's because they're going to university and droves and depending on the university they are being taught anti-Christian ideologies.

How do you determine which parts of the Bible are factual? Is it possible to believe that Jesus is God—born of a virgin, crucified, and resurrected after three days—but doubt stories like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walking through fire because it seems physically impossible?

Hvizsgyak · Friday at 4:30 PM

The doubters probably get their skepticism from some of the so called Bible scholars (such those associated Bart Ehrman or the Jesus Seminar). I agree with Benjamin Muller, I can see a few scribal errors but overall I don't see why the authors of the Bible would deliberately write lies.

iarwain · Friday at 6:15 PM

There's a difference between believing there may be some scribal errors, or even that accuracy was not always the main objective, but that the actual meaning and message still gets through - and discounting passages that might disagree with your idea of morality (especially "modern" morality). But does it matter, for example, if Job actually existed, or was just a parable? Don't we get the same meaning out of it either way?

All that said, I would not feel comfortable saying that ANY scripture is in error.

FAITH-IN-HIM · Saturday at 8:56 AM

iarwain said:
There's a difference between believing there may be some scribal errors, or even that accuracy was not always the main objective, but that the actual meaning and message still gets through - and discounting passages that might disagree with your idea of morality (especially "modern" morality). But does it matter, for example, if Job actually existed, or was just a parable? Don't we get the same meaning out of it either way?

All that said, I would not feel comfortable saying that ANY scripture is in error.

Of course, the existence of Job and the Book of Job is significant, especially considering that both are referenced multiple times in the New Testament by Paul and James. If neither Job nor the Book of Job existed, it would raise doubts about the reliability of Paul or James writings.

Similarly, if certain laws from Leviticus conflict with contemporary moral values, it raises the question of whether Moses was genuinely a prophet or simply someone who devised rules to govern his followers.

Yarddog · 2025-11-30T20:05:02-0600

FAITH-IN-HIM said:
How do you determine which parts of the Bible are factual? Is it possible to believe that Jesus is God—born of a virgin, crucified, and resurrected after three days—but doubt stories like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walking through fire because it seems physically impossible?

Does scripture tell you that you have to believe in the latter? Believe in Jesus, trust in the blood and you'll be okay.

FAITH-IN-HIM · 2025-12-01T07:14:09-0600

Yarddog said:
Does scripture tell you that you have to believe in the latter? Believe in Jesus, trust in the blood and you'll be okay.

Which Jesus should I believe in: the Son of God, the carpenter from Nazareth, or the man who died and rose again?

If I doubt the Bible's accuracy, how can I accept its claims that Jesus is God, was born of a virgin, crucified, died, and rose again?

Yarddog · 2025-12-01T10:07:18-0600

FAITH-IN-HIM said:
Which Jesus should I believe in: the Son of God, the carpenter from Nazareth, or the man who died and rose again?

Aren't they same.

FAITH-IN-HIM said:
If I doubt the Bible's accuracy, how can I accept its claims that Jesus is God, was born of a virgin, crucified, died, and rose again?

Just admit that you don't believe. I had a cousin that was mentally challenged. He couldn't read but he believed.

FAITH-IN-HIM · 2025-12-01T10:13:11-0600

Yarddog said:
Aren't they same.

Just admit that you don't believe. I had a cousin that was mentally challenged. He couldn't read but he believed.

The son of God, the carpenter from Nazareth, and the man who died and rose again are all the same person.

I want to know how you determine that Jesus is the Son of God. I assume you trust what is written in the Bible. My question is, if you think some parts of the Bible might not be accurate, how can you be sure that the statement about Jesus being the Son of God is reliable?

Yarddog · 2025-12-01T10:20:21-0600

FAITH-IN-HIM said:
I want to know how you determine that Jesus is the Son of God.

I didn't believe because the bible says it. I believe because God's Spirit reveals it.

FAITH-IN-HIM said:
I assume you trust what is written in the Bible.

I believe what Gods Spirit reveals about scripture.

FAITH-IN-HIM said:
My question is, if you think some parts of the Bible might not be accurate, how can you be sure that the statement about Jesus being the Son of God is reliable?

Because God's Spirit. I know that some things don't line up properly but that doesn't change the message.

FAITH-IN-HIM · 2025-12-01T10:30:43-0600

Yarddog said:
I didn't believe because the bible says it. I believe because God's Spirit reveals it.

I believe what Gods Spirit reveals about scripture.

Because God's Spirit. I know that some things don't line up properly but that doesn't change the message.

To whom does God's spirit reveal? Is it you?

Yarddog · 2025-12-01T10:50:10-0600

FAITH-IN-HIM said:
To whom does God's spirit reveal?

To whom is called. You cannot understand scripture without it being revealed through God's Holy Spirit.

FAITH-IN-HIM said:
Is it you?

Scripture says says many are called but few are chosen.

FAITH-IN-HIM · 2025-12-01T10:59:29-0600

Yarddog said:
To whom is called. You cannot understand scripture without it being revealed through God's Holy Spirit.

Scripture says says many are called but few are chosen.

How can someone know which scripture is accurate? Does the Holy Spirit guide people to the correct one?

Here is what bible says

“ All scripture is inspired by God and useful for refuting error, for guiding people's lives and teaching them to be upright.” 2nd Timothy 3:16 ( Catholic Online version)

Either Paul was mistaken when he wrote this, or if he is correct, then everything in the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit and therefore accurate.

Yarddog · 2025-12-01T11:17:27-0600

FAITH-IN-HIM said:
How can someone know which scripture is accurate?

I believe all scripture is truth. What that truth is can only be revealed through God's Spirit.

FAITH-IN-HIM said:
Does the Holy Spirit guide people to the correct one?

The Spirit can but each person may read something different. What spirit guides them?

FAITH-IN-HIM said:
Here is what bible says

“ All scripture is inspired by God and useful for refuting error, for guiding people's lives and teaching them to be upright.” 2nd Timothy 3:16 ( Catholic Online version)

Either Paul was mistaken when he wrote this, or if he is correct, then everything in the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit and therefore accurate.

It is truth and inspired by God. Accuracy may vary depending on the reader's spirit or , maybe, translations.

More Americans are now reading the Bible but fewer believe it’s 100% accurate: study

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