Study finds sharp drop, but still a slim majority, in Americans who view Bible as inspired
Nearly a fourth see it as ‘just another book,’ with most of those seeing it as harmful
A slim majority of U.S. adults see the Christian Bible as inspired by God, and about a fourth view it as “just another book,” according to the latest data published by the American Bible Society1 in its State of the Bible USA 2025 report.
The ABS is releasing data on its 2025 report, based on surveys done in January, in monthly segments, with this month’s data focusing on the trust that Americans have in the Bible as well as various institutions including religion.
In general, said John F. Plake, who has analyzed the data as the ABS chief innovation offer, the numbers show that Americans have a complex relationship with the Bible. He said:
Our latest survey finds a mixture of belief and questioning in the American public. It’s true that nearly one in five Americans think the Bible was written to control and manipulate, but twice that many trust the Bible as “totally accurate in all the principles it presents.” The numbers show a nation grappling with Scripture — and its meaning for our lives.
The survey divided attitudes toward the Bible into five categories, with the results as follows, listed here in order of high trust in the Bible to none at all:
14%: The Bible is the actual word of God and should be taken literally, word for word.
23%: The Bible is the inspired word of God and has no errors, although some verses are meant to be symbolic rather than literal.
14%: The Bible is the inspired word of God but has some factual or historic errors.
10%: The Bible was not inspired by God but tells how the writers of the Bible understood the ways and principles of God.
24%: But Bible is just another book of teachings written by people that contains stories and advice.
That leaves 15 percent listed as agreeing with “none of these.”
So the total of the first three answers, which show varies types of belief in the divine inspiration of the Bible, is 51 percent. That compares with 34 percent, or about a third, who don’t see the Bible as inspired.
The figure that may be of most concern to the ABS is that of the one-fourth who see the Bible as “just another book,“ three-fourths of them, or 18 percent of those surveyed, agree with the statement that “the Bible was written to control or manipulate other people.”
As the chart below shows, the trend over the past two decades has been a declining number of people who see the Bible as inspired. The ratio of Americans agreeing with one of the first three statements has declined from about two-thirds (68 percent) in 2007 to about half (51 percent) today. And those who agree with the last two, viewing the Bible as not inspired, has increased from about one-fifth (22 percent) to about one-third (34 percent)2.
The numbers released this month also included figures on trust in various institutions. Trust in the institution of family ranks the highest at 55 percent, while trust in media and government come in last, with only 5 and 6 percent of respondents, respectively, reporting high or very high trust.
Trust in religion as an institution falls between those extremes, with 29 percent of American adults reporting high or very high levels of trust.
The American Bible Society is an interdenominational organization that has the goal, along with its affiliates worldwide, of making the Bible available to all persons so that they can discover “the powerful hope of Scripture and the promise of new life through Jesus Christ.”
The numbers for this year were derived from 2,656 online interviews with American adults in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The interviews were collected from Jan. 2 to Jan. 21.