A new report reveals that while younger generations of Americans are less religious and engaged with the Bible than their older counterparts, half of them say the Bible transformed their lives..The American Bible Society’s (ABS) State of the Bible USA 2023 report, released Aug. 10, focused on Generation Z, born in 1997 or later. The annual survey found a higher share of Gen-Z respondents identified as agnostics, atheists or “nones” (34%) than the older generations, yet 58% of Gen-Z respondents identified as Christians.. Bible statsBible stats .Despite low-Scripture engagement, about half of Gen Z respondents agreed that “the message of the Bible has transformed my life.” This was 49% between ages 18 and 21, and 52% among those 22 to 26..Gen Z has the lowest frequency of Bible use among the five generations examined. Only 30% interact with the Bible on their own outside of a church service at least three times a year..The share of Bible users rises with age with 33% of millennials, 39% of Gen Xers, 46% of baby boomers and 48% of "Elders" fitting the definition..The study found that 60% of Gen-Zs were in the “Bible Disengaged” category on its Scripture Engagement Scale, which determines an individual’s placement based on their responses to questions about “the frequency of Bible use and the impact and centrality of its message.”.Just 30% of Gen Z falls into the “Movable Middle” category, which contains those who score between 70 and 99, while only 10% were in the “Scripture Engaged” category, reserved for respondents who score 100 or higher. This represents a slide from 14% in 2021 and 12% in 2022..Strangely, the younger group of Gen Z has higher levels of Bible use (34%) than the older group (27%), while nearly twice as many younger members of Gen Z (22%) reported seeing their Bible use increase over the past year than the older ones (12%)..Younger Gen Z members were less likely to be "Bible Disengaged" than older Gen Z respondents (55% vs. 65%)..Non-Christians constitute a majority of the older members of Gen Z (52%), while still being a minority (40%) of the younger group. Eighteen percent of younger Gen Z respondents are practicing Christians compared to just 8% of the older subgroup..In a statement, ABS Chief Ministry Insights Officer John Farquhar Plake described Gen Z as “a generation struggling to find their footing with faith.”.After noting that “scripture engagement rates for Gen Z have been on a steady decline over the past three years,” he expressed gratitude that “this generation still shows significant interest in the Bible and the message of Jesus.”.“Ministry leaders may be surprised to find how open Gen Z adults in their communities are to discussion about God’s Word,” he added. “And if the trends we’re seeing continue—it’s crucial to be having those conversations now.”.ABS surveyed 2,761 U.S. adults in January with a margin of error of +/-2.59 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
A new report reveals that while younger generations of Americans are less religious and engaged with the Bible than their older counterparts, half of them say the Bible transformed their lives..The American Bible Society’s (ABS) State of the Bible USA 2023 report, released Aug. 10, focused on Generation Z, born in 1997 or later. The annual survey found a higher share of Gen-Z respondents identified as agnostics, atheists or “nones” (34%) than the older generations, yet 58% of Gen-Z respondents identified as Christians.. Bible statsBible stats .Despite low-Scripture engagement, about half of Gen Z respondents agreed that “the message of the Bible has transformed my life.” This was 49% between ages 18 and 21, and 52% among those 22 to 26..Gen Z has the lowest frequency of Bible use among the five generations examined. Only 30% interact with the Bible on their own outside of a church service at least three times a year..The share of Bible users rises with age with 33% of millennials, 39% of Gen Xers, 46% of baby boomers and 48% of "Elders" fitting the definition..The study found that 60% of Gen-Zs were in the “Bible Disengaged” category on its Scripture Engagement Scale, which determines an individual’s placement based on their responses to questions about “the frequency of Bible use and the impact and centrality of its message.”.Just 30% of Gen Z falls into the “Movable Middle” category, which contains those who score between 70 and 99, while only 10% were in the “Scripture Engaged” category, reserved for respondents who score 100 or higher. This represents a slide from 14% in 2021 and 12% in 2022..Strangely, the younger group of Gen Z has higher levels of Bible use (34%) than the older group (27%), while nearly twice as many younger members of Gen Z (22%) reported seeing their Bible use increase over the past year than the older ones (12%)..Younger Gen Z members were less likely to be "Bible Disengaged" than older Gen Z respondents (55% vs. 65%)..Non-Christians constitute a majority of the older members of Gen Z (52%), while still being a minority (40%) of the younger group. Eighteen percent of younger Gen Z respondents are practicing Christians compared to just 8% of the older subgroup..In a statement, ABS Chief Ministry Insights Officer John Farquhar Plake described Gen Z as “a generation struggling to find their footing with faith.”.After noting that “scripture engagement rates for Gen Z have been on a steady decline over the past three years,” he expressed gratitude that “this generation still shows significant interest in the Bible and the message of Jesus.”.“Ministry leaders may be surprised to find how open Gen Z adults in their communities are to discussion about God’s Word,” he added. “And if the trends we’re seeing continue—it’s crucial to be having those conversations now.”.ABS surveyed 2,761 U.S. adults in January with a margin of error of +/-2.59 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
