Recent data is telling a story of two trends. On one hand, Bible engagement is climbing after years of decline, driven by a surge among young adult men. On the other, belief in what the Bible says is fading amid a broader decline in religious identification in the U.S.
David Copeland, vice president of research at the Barna Group, said, “This year there’s been this encouraging, surprising increase in Bible readership—specifically among young people, and even more specifically among young men.”
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This new data from Barna, a Christian research organization, and Gloo, a faith-based technology platform, shows nearly half of Millennials and Gen Z now engage with Scripture weekly. Still, Copeland found that openness doesn’t always mean faith.
“The other thing we wrote about in this article is that although readership has spiked, the affirmation of biblical teachings has not,” he said.
This drop in biblical conviction mirrors a broader story. Gallup’s latest findings show a 17-point decline in Americans identifying as religious since 2015—the lowest faith levels ever recorded in the U.S., and there’s a major shift in who is engaging.
“Women, for a long time, have tended to go to church more often or engage with Scripture more often. What we’re seeing in some of these socio-political changes in the last 10 years, especially among young women, is a bit of a leaning away,” Copeland said.
He continued, “My interpretation is that men are starting to find relationship in these church settings at almost the same rate women are starting to back away and say, ‘I don’t see myself here anymore. I don’t see myself represented here anymore.'”
Researchers say this spiritual pattern of engagement without conviction mirrors a broader collapse in trust across other American institutions.
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