State of the Bible 2025
Small group Bible study
Surprising News About the Bible - Bible Use Increased in 2025!
You may have noticed the increasing popularity and success of faith-based movies and series like “The Chosen” and the “House of David.” I recently read that a new series called “The Faithful,” which traces the lives of Sarah and Hagar in Genesis, will be released by Fox Entertainment Studios early next year. Spiritual interest in the Bible is also seen in the State of the Bible Report by the American Bible Society, which reports that Bible use has increased in 2025, especially among Millennials. They report that Americans are curious about the Bible and Jesus.
Each year the American Bible Society publishes their State of the Bible Report. In their 2025 report, they note that the number of “Bible Users” has increased from 38% in 2024 to 41% in 2025, which means that 10 million more American adults are reading their Bible outside of church at a minimum of three times a year. I’m originally from Australia, and with our population around 27 million, the increased number of Bible users in the US is the equivalent of one third of Australians becoming “Bible Users” in one year! They also report that “Bible Use” among Millennials increased from 30% in 2024 to 39% in 2025. Another category called “Scripture Engagement” (which is a deeper measure of Bible engagement than Bible Users) also experienced growth among Gen Z and Millennials.
And there’s more.
Just over half of Americans say they wish they read the Bible more, and more than half of Americans are curious about the Bible, Jesus, or both.
Pause to reflect on these latest findings—more than half of Americans are curious about the Bible, Jesus, or both.
This fits with what we heard at the end of last year—that Bible sales were up 22% in 2024, as noted in the Wall Street Journal.
Barna has been tracing the state of the church for years, and their recent results are summarized in the 2025 article, “New Research: Belief in Jesus Rises, Fueled by Younger Adults.” This article is worth reading, but the comments by the CEO of Barna, David Kinnaman, capture the essence of our cultural moment: “Undeniably, there is renewed interest in Jesus . . . Many people have predicted the growing irrelevance of Christianity, however, this data shows that spiritual trends have a dynamism and can, indeed, change. This is the clearest trend we’ve seen in more than a decade pointing to spiritual renewal—and it’s the first time Barna has recorded such spiritual interest being led by younger generations.”
Casket Empty is currently working on a Bible curriculum for students that can be used by youth groups and college students—more about this later, but these reports underscore the increased interest in the Bible by younger generations, and this is surely encouraging.
This also presents us with a challenge.
The need for solid biblical teaching is highlighted in a 2025 report by Dr. George Barna and the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, which examines trends in American beliefs about God, truth, sin, and salvation. The following results underscore the critical need for solid biblical teaching and the opportunity before us:
55% of born-again Christians say they worship the God of the Bible, while 25% admit to not worshipping Jesus at all.
31% of born-again Christians say they worship Jesus but not God.
21% either worship spiritual entities beyond God and Jesus or claim not to worship any deity at all.
The article notes that there’s an increasing trend toward syncretism, with these sobering comments by Barna: “We’re witnessing the widespread influence of postmodern thought,” he said, “where individuals feel empowered to define their own truth and construct personalized belief systems that blend teachings from contradictory worldviews.”
That’s why solid biblical teaching is so important. People are interested in the Bible, but it requires the church to give special attention to biblical preaching and teaching so that people can understand the Christian faith and the centrality of the gospel. Our goal at Casket Empty is to help people learn the Bible and equip them to teach it to others.
I hope you are encouraged by the increased interest in the Bible.
The Old and New Testament Casket Empty Bible Studies will increase biblical literacy in your church, and get people excited about the Bible. People learn the story of the Bible using the visual timelines and maps, so that people often say, “Finally, I understand the Bible!”
May the Lord bless your teaching of the Scriptures.
Carol Kaminski