Few Churchgoers Read the Bible Daily Despite High Regard
Although most churchgoers say they place a high value on scripture, only about one-third actually read it daily, the Lifeway Research State of Discipleship study found.
“Protestant churchgoers overall report they are engaging the Bible, but on any specific question. as many as one in five say they are not following Jesus Christ in that way,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “This reflects an overall pattern in assessments of churchgoers where the direction is often good but far from the standard seen in scripture.”
Six in 10 Americans who attend religious services at least once a month regularly read the Bible, including 31 percent who read it every day and 30 percent who do so a few times a week. Some engage once a week (14 percent) or a few times a month (11 percent).
Reading frequencies have remained mostly steady since 2019, when 59 percent were regular Bible readers. Personal Bible engagement has increased, however, since previous studies. In 2012, 46 percent regularly read the Bible, including 19 percent who did so every day. Five years earlier, in 2007, only 36 percent of churchgoers were regular Bible readers, with just 16 percent who read it daily.
“The portion of churchgoers reading the Bible a few times a week or more on their own has leveled off recently after rising dramatically since 2007, but the churchgoer population was also changing during this period,” McConnell said. “A lower percentage of Americans attend a Protestant church once a month today than when this series of studies began. Clearly, the remnant of Americans attending church each month are more willing to regularly read the Bible on their own than when churches were more populated.”
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Although nine in 10 Americans have read at least some of the Bible, just 22 percent have finished the entire Bible at least once. Churchgoers are more likely than others to have read larger percentages of the Bible. Even among those who attend church services more than once a week, around six in 10 say they have read the entire Bible at least once.
As expected, U.S. Protestant churchgoers hold scripture in high regard, but not always in the highest regard. Around three-quarters say the Bible has authority over every area of their lives, with 15 percent unsure and 11 percent disagreeing. However, only 40 percent strongly agree.
“The Bible can’t have full authority in someone’s life if they don’t know what it says or aren’t considering what it says about the specific things they are facing in life,” McConnell said. “The Bible makes the appeal, ‘be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God’.”
–Lee Hartman
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