Biblical illiteracy is at a crisis level in the U.S. This is easily true for those outside the church, but it is an increasingly accurate description for those who attend church regularly. Some who have grown up in church have little understanding of the church's book. The American Bible Society's (ABS) 2022 State of the Bible report indicates that 21% of people who regularly read the Bible stopped doing so in 2011. That's 17.7 million people. An additional 44% of "Bible positive" individuals also stopped reading the Bible - a 28.7 million persons drop.
What is generating the dramatic change in Bible engagement? What can change it? Listen to the initial episode of our ILLUMINATE Podcast to learn more.
There's also good news. The REVEAL Spiritual Life Survey was one of the most comprehensive studies of practices that contribute to Christian maturity. It asked the question of what leads to people live morally, serve more, give more, and worship more? The study found, “Nothing else even comes close to having the same impact as the Bible when it comes to spiritual growth.” Not church services. Not small groups. Not serving opportunities. Nothing helps people grow spiritually more than regularly reading or listening to the Word of God.
That's not the only good news. That same ABS report showing the dramatic drop also found that Gen Z is more curious about the Bible than ever. More good news. The Institute for Bible Reading also reports that 62% of Americans want to read God’s Word more and 87% of churchgoers want to understand it more.
My wife and I have served with Wycliffe Bible Translators for 24 years. We have worked with 250 different language groups to bring the Word of God to them in their mother tongue. We work hard to ensure that newly translated Bibles have the maximum spiritual impact. Scripture engagement is central to everything we do.
The ILLUMINATE Podcast and Blog is dedicated to wiping out Biblical illiteracy in this generation. Check out our launch episode to learn more.
BLOGPOSTS will provide practical insights into Biblical literacy and Scripture engagement based on the latest research.
PODCASTS will feature interviews with pastors who are seeing positive Scripture engagement within their congregations.
DEEP DIVE is premium content that provides the ideas behind the ideas. Always with an eye toward the practical, we will dig into how various disciplines can increase our understanding and practice of Scripture engagement. We will interact with perspectives from cognitive linguistics, sociolinguistics, anthropology, missiology, relevance theory, Skopos theory, orality studies, media studies, ethnodoxology, and more.
In the initial episode of our podcast, I take some time to bust a few myths related to Biblical literacy. As a preview, in busting the first myth, I explain that this is NOT a one-size-fits-all approach to Scripture engagement. Different people need different approaches based on their personality types, backgrounds, learning styles, and other elements. The ILLUMINATE blog and podcast will provide lots of small things that improve Scripture engagement. Join us on an Emmaus Road journey where God can open the Scriptures so our hearts will burn within us again.