AMANDA REPORTS: Survey Finds Strong Personal Identity Linked With Regular Bible Reading
(624 WORD READ) — Bible readers score highly on strong personal identity, with younger generations increasingly relying on the Bible for direction, according to an American Bible Society (ABS) survey.
Respondents in a State of the Bible survey on “Identity” by the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, based-ABS in its “State of the Bible: USA 2025” research, were queried on how much they agree with knowing who they are, having a good sense about what is important to them, and knowing what they believe or value.
Reading your Bible strengthens your self-understanding (Photo by Alexandra Fuller on Unsplash)
The striking similarity among the survey questions involves a consistent relationship between increased Bible use and stronger personal identity. While stronger personal identity is reported as building with age, the survey suggests it also is associated with increased Bible engagement.
While younger generations, especially Gen Z men, experience higher difficulty with personal identity, more of them are turning to the Bible for direction about life decisions.
The report indicates that younger generations turning to the Bible for guidance on life decisions are also turning away from lifestyle choices they deem risks to their personal identity and goals for the future.
The highest among generations, Gen Zers at 79 percent, agree that they “study the Bible to know God, the truth, and to find direction for my life.” The survey notes:
“In recent years, the State of the Bible report has regularly included chapters on generations, and sometimes specifically Generation Z, because that’s the group everyone was worried about. One of the key issues for that group is identity.
This year, we have sharpened our focus to that very issue, examining how a sense of personal identity affects people in every generation and how it is affected by various spiritual factors.”
Along with maturity that comes with age, marital status affects personal identity strength, whereas Identity scores were highest among the divorced, then married, and finally those who never married.
Since divorce is considered a process that shatters one’s personal identity, it is considered a process that people emerge from with more understanding of who they are, what they believe and why. While the survey does not delve into reasons why people do not marry, overall the rate of personal identity strength lies with those who have married.
The report further highlights stable relationships leading to strong personal identity such as a healthy marriage, family or work environment, for example, that assist to quell stress and loneliness. On the loneliness scale, women with a strong personal identity responded as experiencing more loneliness than men with a strong personal identity.
Additionally, participation in a religious group combined with Bible engagement were revealed as contributors to building strong personal identity:
“The simple statistic of Bible Use has a remarkable connection to identity. People who read the Bible at least once a week are more likely to have strong Identity scores,” ABS said.
Daily Bible readers turned out to have a significantly strong personal identity at 69 percent. Those with a strong personal identity agree strongly or very strongly at 64 percent with the statement “I exist to know, love, and serve God” with 91 percent agreeing at any level.
Other highest levels matched a strong personal identity with knowing and using spiritual gifts to fulfill God’s purposes, willingness to risk everything that is important to oneself for Jesus Christ, and allowing others to hold oneself accountable.
The ABS report indicates that while questions about faith and personal identity begin at a young age, people ask them throughout life. Using levels of agreement, responses revealed that each generation questions, places importance on what the content of their religious beliefs mean to them, and plans for the future based on those beliefs.