American Bible Society today released the sixth chapter of the 12th annual State of the Bible report, which highlights cultural trends in the U.S. regarding spirituality and Scripture engagement. Today’s release shows that Generation Z reports the most openness to sharing their faith and that nearly a third of Americans are regularly talking about the transforming message of the Bible. The first six chapters are available to download at StateoftheBible.org.

“When people talk about the life-changing message found in the Bible, lives are transformed. Our research shows that spiritual conversations are taking place outside of the church, and people are largely feeling prepared to engage with their neighbors. This is good news for the world, and it leaves us with a great challenge of ensuring all believers are equipped to share their faith. Specifically, we found that those in our youngest generation who are actively reading Scripture are leading the way in demonstrating openness to evangelize; we must creatively and effectively prepare them to continue doing so,” said John Farquhar Plake, PhD and Director of Ministry Intelligence for American Bible Society.

The State of the Bible 2022 findings come from a survey in January 2022 conducted by American Bible Society in collaboration with NORC at the University of Chicago, which produced 2,598 online or telephone responses from American adults in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Key findings analyzed in Chapter 6: Sharing the Faith

• Nearly 9 out of 10 Scripture Engaged Americans desire to share their faith with others and just over half in the Movable Middle desire the same (page 133). A strong majority (82%) of those who wanted to share their faith felt prepared to do so (page 146).
• The more often people go to church, the more likely they are to want to share their faith with others (page 136).
• Generation Z leads all others in actually speaking about their faith with others and is most likely (58%) to have had spiritual conversations with three or more non-church connections in the past year (page 139).
• Nearly three in five (59%) people agree that the message of the Bible has transformed their life, and more than half (53%) agreed they regularly talk about its message (pages 141–142).

Between October and December 2022, American Bible Society will release three new chapters in the State of the Bible 2022 story—including reports on the tools and technology people are using to engage with the Bible and the influence of the Bible on philanthropy.

To download the first six chapters of the State of the Bible 2022 ebook, visit StateoftheBible.org.

*Scripture engagement is defined as consistent interaction with the Bible that shapes a person’s choices and transforms their relationships with God, self, and others. For descriptions on how Scripture engagement was measured and reported, please see page 33 of the ebook available for download at StateoftheBible.org.