The Bible “answers all or most of the basic questions of life” for roughly two-thirds of Americans, according to a recent survey.
“Do you believe that the Bible answers all or most of the basic questions of life, or not?” asked an October 2000 Gallup Poll of 1,024 adults.
A majority (65 percent) responded they believe it does.
Yet 28 percent of that number reported they rarely or never read the Bible.
Bible-reading has decreased overall from 73 percent in the 1980s to 59 percent today.
“Those who report the highest levels of interest in the Bible include women and people from the southern part of the United States,” read the poll release.
Women are more likely to read the Bible than men while nonwhites are more likely than whites. And older adults are more likely to read the Bible than younger people, according to the release.
The poll was conducted via telephone Oct. 6-9. The margin of error is plus or minus three percentage points.
Cliff Vaughn is BCE’s project coordinator.