Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash.
What would you do if you were a university student with a month’s break from the chaos of classes?
Courtney Shockley, a student at College of William and Mary in Virginia, had this opportunity in January and decided to binge read the Bible with a friend. Separately, but simultaneously, the pair read chronologically through Scripture with a Proverb and some Psalms sprinkled in each day.
Their goal was to get a glimpse of the overarching themes of the Bible, and they found just that as their reading brought to life Scripture’s narrative of creation, fall, and God’s pursuit of his people. “This really put so many sermons and small group studies into perspective,” Shockley said.
A new report by the American Bible Society shows that Shockley and her friend are not alone in their hunger for the Bible and desire to immerse themselves in it. The ABS’s State of the Bible report indicates people in Gen Z (birth years 1997-2012) have increased their Bible usage in the last year.
According to the report, more than one-fifth of Gen Z adults (aged 18-27) say they’ve increased their Bible use this year, and 54% of Gen Z report that the Bible has changed their lives. This is up from 50% reporting the same in 2023, which is statistically within the margin of error for ABS’s research.
While there is still much to learn about Gen Z, John Plake, ABS’s chief program officer and editor-in-chief of the State of the Bible series, is encouraged when he looks at the statistics. “We see just over half of them in our data, but every year as more of them become adults and participate in this survey, we notice consistently there is an increase in their Bible engagement,” Plake said.
The study catches this age cohort as they’re emerging into adulthood and deciding whether to make their faith their own. “I think they’re in a hopeful place,” Plake said.
Compared with the Millennial generation, members of Gen Z have higher levels of Scripture engagement and are more likely to say the Bible has transformed their life, Plake said.
The study catches this age cohort as they’re emerging into adulthood and deciding whether to make their faith their own.
While some people have the idea that younger generations may be hostile to the Word of God, Plake said that their research reveals many in this generation are open to talking about their faith and the Bible. Because of a shift to a more secularized society, Plake said Gen Z doesn’t seem to be as acquainted with the Bible as people in previous generations, but many seem to want to know more.
“They’re interested in hearing about it because they are spiritual people and they are interested in knowing how Scripture can guide and direct them and help them make the choices that are ahead of them,” Plake said.
Chelsea Kelly is an RUF campus staff member at College of William and Mary. After hearing the stats from the recent State of the Bible survey, she said the findings seem to align with what she’s seeing on campus and in the lives of students like Shockley. From young adults who have little to no experience with the Bible, to others who have grown up in devout Christian homes, Kelly sees many desire to engage with the Bible.
Those who come from a religious background often love digging into the minor prophets and other parts of the Bible they aren’t as familiar with. She’s says others, newer to the faith, are drawn to the narrative passages of Scripture and in particular the Gospels, where they can read the accounts of Jesus for themselves.
The post-secondary education period can be a time when young people grapple with their spiritual questions and decide whether their faith is their own. For those who turn to Scripture, Kelly sees a solidifying effect. “If they actually start reading the Bible, that’s when their faith starts to really deepen,” she said.
Kelly personally loves helping students get into the Word for themselves. She remembers reading through Ephesians with one student. Suddenly a lightbulb came on for the young woman. “It’s not about what I’m supposed to do,” the student told her. “It’s so much about grace.”
“Yeah, that’s it!” Kelly responded.
Kelly believes that when students glean truth from the Bible themselves, it sinks in more, but she also is aware of the heavy workload that students are carrying. She tries to help them view Scripture as a place of rest rather than something on a checklist they need to do,
Cyril Chavis is an RUF Campus Minister at Howard University in Washington, D.C. In 2023 he published a book, “The Bible Explained: A College Student’s Guide to Understanding Their Faith.” He said he wrote the book because he saw that students had a hunger to learn spiritual things, but they didn’t have a lot of Bible knowledge.
As much as the lack of knowledge can be disheartening, the hunger encourages him. “They want to read the Word and they see [how] engaging the Bible is a starting point for engaging Christianity,” Chavis said.
Chavis typically advises those with little prior Bible knowledge to read through Genesis 1-3 and then the gospel of Mark because it’s the shortest. “You can get through it in an hour and a half,” he’ll tell them.
Once they start, it feeds their curiosity.
As a campus minister, Chavis has come to realize the benefit of reading through even familiar passages of Scripture as he preaches. He encourages students to read along with him and ask any questions they might have. “I think the church needs to connect the Bible to the actual questions that Gen Z is asking,” he said.
He prays that the Lord and the church will meet those seeking in Gen Z in their hunger.
Students like Shockley can testify to the benefits. “One of my favorite things about reading through the entire Bible in this way was reading and seeing how God is in constant pursuit of us. God constantly seeks relationship with his people – seeking to reveal himself to us,” Shockley said. “When things seem hopeless or it feels like we are forgotten by God – we need to trust that He is seeking us, working in us to turn our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh.”