With over 5 billion copies sold, the Bible remains earth’s most-read book. But the world in which we read and engage with the Bible is rapidly changing. The steady rise of skepticism is creating a cultural atmosphere that is becoming unfriendly to claims of faith; the adoption of self-fulfillment as our culture’s ultimate measure of good is re-orienting moral authority; and the explosive growth of digital tools such as Bible apps, daily reading plans, study resources and online communities offer unprecedented access to the Scriptures.

In the last six years alone, we’ve seen unprecedented changes. Nearly a quarter of a century ago in 1991, 45 percent of American adults told Barna they read the Bible at least once a week. In 2009, 46 percent reported doing so. These percentages were remarkably consistent over the course of nearly two decades. But since 2009, Bible reading has become less widespread, especially among the youngest adults. As more and more Millennials join the ranks of adulthood, the national average continues to weaken. Today, about one-third of all American adults report reading the Bible once a week or more. The percentage is highest among Elders (49%) and lowest among Millennials (24%).

For more than 30 years, Barna has studied the Bible’s role in and influence on American society, painstakingly collecting the pieces of data we need to understand the big picture. And for the past six years, we have partnered with American Bible Society to add depth and detail to the picture, and to identify changes over time. Since 2011, Barna has conducted more than 14,000 interviews with American adults and teens on behalf of American Bible Society to create annual State of the Bible reports. The Bible in America, released in May 2016 to commemorate American Bible Society’s bicentennial, represents one of the largest sets of aggregate data Barna has ever collected on any single topic.

There are a number of hopeful signs for those who advocate for the Bible’s continuing importance and influence:

• Most Americans (including a majority of young adults) believe the Bible has been more influential on humanity than any other text.
• A majority (also including young adults) believes the Bible contains everything a person needs to know in order to live a meaningful life.
• Two-thirds of all Americans hold an orthodox view of the Bible, that it is the actual or inspired word of God.