Bible Reading Linked To Greater Generosity And Love
Reading the Bible makes Christians and others more generous with their time, talents and money, and encourages acts of brotherly love, the American Bible Society said in its latest release from the 15th annual State of the Bible.
The impact of Scripture reading was seen as strongest among practicing Christians, but was also evidenced among casual and nominal Christians as well as non-believers, ABS said Nov. 6 in releasing the study’s eighth chapter.
“The correlation between Scripture engagement and loving behavior and generosity is undeniable. The more people engage with Scripture, the more likely they are to give of their time, talents and treasures and to act lovingly toward their neighbors,” said John Plake, ABS chief innovation officer and State of the Bible editor-in-chief. “Our thoughts, behaviors, and words reflect what we consume and what fills our hearts and minds. It’s only logical that when we fill our minds with Scripture — the greatest love story ever told – an outpouring of love will follow.”
Among practicing Christians, 55 percent strongly agreed that reading Scripture in the month prior to the survey had made them more loving towards their neighbor, researchers said.
But among the small group of non-Christians who read the Bible in the month preceding the survey, 39 percent perceived such an impact, as well as 37 percent of casual Christians and 33 percent of nominal Christians.
Similar patterns were seen regarding who gives of their time, talents and financial resources. Among practicing Christians, 49 percent strongly agreed that because they read the Bible in the preceding month, they were more generous in giving of their time, talents and resources. That was also the consensus among 32 percent of non-Christians, and 24 percent each among nominal and casual Christians.
“These data points reaffirm what we’ve been saying for seven chapters already: The Bible has impact. And it is positive impact,” researchers wrote. “These findings also confirm that those who are more committed in their faith are more likely to experience the Bible’s impact in these areas.”
In the survey conducted Jan. 2-21, researchers asked about various behaviors considered pro-social, including welcoming immigrants to a survey participant’s community, befriending people of other races and religions, caring for the environment and advocating for the oppressed. Charitable giving includes gifts in 2024, delineating those given to churches, other religious organizations and non-religious groups, ABS said.
Over the past four years, respondents have become less keen on all areas of pro-social behavior included in the query, researchers said. For example in 2025, welcoming immigrants was important to 33 percent of respondents, down from 37 percent in 2022.
Befriending people of other races was important to 42 percent this year, down from 47 percent in 2022. Similarly, befriending people of other religions was important to 36 percent of respondents, down from 41 percent in 2022. Caring for the environment, 51 percent, down from 54 percent; and advocating for the oppressed, 37 percent, down from 43 percent.
But those who engage with Scripture rate such pro-social behaviors as more important, with percentages increasing in several pro-social categories, researchers said. Among the scripture-engaged, 38 percent said it’s important to welcome immigrants, 54 percent rate it important to befriend people of other races, 45 percent said it’s important to befriend people of other religions, and 45 percent said it’s important to advocate for the oppressed, all higher than the 2022 percentages of 35 percent, 42 percent, 34 percent and 40 percent, respectively. On caring for the environment, 53 percent of Scripture-engaged individuals said it’s important this year, down from 56 percent in 2022.
“Scripture Engaged people show the highest levels of agreement on most of these pro-social issues, with the greatest differences occurring on the questions of befriending people of other races or religions,” researchers wrote. “Only on the environmental question do the Scripture Engaged fall behind the Bible Disengaged in strong or very strong agreement.”
Among other key findings:
— Nearly nine in 10 Scripture-engaged individuals, 86 percent, gave to charity in 2024, compared to 51 percent of the Bible-disengaged who gave to charity.
— Among donors, Scripture-engaged gave a median of $2,000 in 2024, compared to $500 among the Bible-disengaged.
— Practicing Christians gave 70 percent of their charitable gifts to church, compared to the 60 percent portion that casual Christians gave to church, 27 percent that nominal Christians gave, and 20 percent that non-Christians gave.
ABS describes practicing Christians as those who attend church at least once monthly — whether online or in person — and consider their faith very important to them. Non-Christians, comprising 36 percent of the American public, include those of other faiths including Jews, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons, and others the ABS said “do not claim Christianity.”
Both nominals, Christians who don’t attend church at least once monthly, and casuals, Christians who attend church but say their faith isn’t very important to them, are considered non-practicing Christians.
The State of the Bible is based on a nationally representative online survey of 2,656 adults in all 50 states and D.C., conducted for ABS by NORC at the University of Chicago, using its AmeriSpeak panel.
ABS will release one last State of the Bible chapter this year in December, summarizing 2025 findings and previewing the 2026 study.
Download the free State of the Bible and access related resources at StateoftheBible.org.
This article has been republished courtesy of Baptist Press.
Diana Chandler is Baptist Press’ senior writer.