Poll: Americans value the Bible but don't read it much

Poll: Americans value the Bible but don't read it much


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SALT LAKE CITY — More than half of Americans think the Bible has too little influence on American culture, which they see as being in moral decline. Yet only one in five reads the Bible on a regular basis, according to a new survey.

"State of the Bible in 2013" shows 77 percent of the respondents think the nation's morality is headed downhill, and almost a third said moral decline is a result of people not reading the Bible.

Survey highlights

  • 88% of respondents said they own a Bible
  • 80% think the Bible is sacred
  • 61% wish they read the Bible more
  • The average household has 4.4 Bibles

#poll

The majority (57 percent) of respondents said they read their Bibles four times a year or less. Only 26 percent of Americans said they read their Bible on a regular basis (four or more times a week).

Age also appeared to be a factor. Younger people seem to be moving away from the Bible. A majority (57 percent) of those ages 18-28 read their Bibles less than three times a year, if at all, the survey showed.

The Barna Group conducted the study for American Bible Society, using 1,005 telephone interviews and 1,078 online surveys. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

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