Hope in the Bible - Nov 2020

Date added: 09/05/18

Executive summary:

The survey shows that Christians are tending to read the Bible more and for longer during the pandemic and for those who do it is having a positive impact on their mental health, well being and hope in the future.

Many also found it helped with loneliness and amazingly 97% of respondents found that it had completely or partly met their reasons for engaging with the Bible.

There were multiple open-ended questions in this survey, and the answers provide a plethora of rich data. Among these were questions asking participants to include their favourite Bible verse in different situations. Below is an example of a popular choice from each category.

Introduction

The research was conducted online amongst 1123 members of the Resonate Research panel in November 2020.

The Resonate panel are all practising Christians, attending a church service and reading the Bible at least monthly.

Project results

Since the pandemic started just over one third (35%) had seen their engagement with the Bible increase c.f only 5% who had seen it decline.

This increased engagement was also reflected in the length of time spent with the Bible which had increased for 27%. Interestingly 54% of those who were engaging more were also discussing it more with others.

In what ways are you engaging newly or engaging more with the Bible since the pandemic started?The number who read the Bible everyday had increased from 68% to 75%.

Reading a printed edition	23%
Reading app	30%
Reading online	32%
Listening	39%
Discussing with others	37%
Watching videos	59%

Bible influence

Interestingly, 28% of people surveyed said that their confidence in the future has increased since the start of the pandemic based on their Bible reading, and 63% stated that it has remained the same (see pie chart below). With the constant bombardment of bleak Covid-19 statistics in the news, and the tough measures affecting many, it could have been unsurprising to see a significant decrease in people’s confidence in the future. But these results show that many of those who responded and have been engaging with the Bible during this time, have future confidence through the Bible.