It’s official: it’s appeared in the secular media, so it must be so. Australian Christians are struggling to read their Bibles. Here are some of the less than encouraging statistics reported in a recent article in The Sydney Morning Herald:
It might be the greatest story ever told, but Bible literacy is slipping and not just among atheists. Devout churchgoers, especially Catholics, are losing touch with the scriptures of their faith, research shows.
Of those Australians who go to church, 21 per cent read their Bible daily, 14 per cent open it a few times a week and 6 per cent once a week.
But 24 per cent said they read their Bibles only occasionally, 18 per cent hardly ever and 17 per cent said they never read the Bible on their own as a private devotional activity, according to the research, which is based on the 2006 National Church Life Survey of 500,000 people who attended church from 22 denominations.1
How should we respond? We could certainly bemoan the possible consequences of such an alarming trend. We could probably put our finger on some of the changing social circumstances that have lead to such a terrible state of affairs. And if we actually bothered to read the Bible, we might be reminded that the sinful human heart would rather do anything than listen to the word of God.
What we need most of all is repentance and encouragement. So we thought it might be time to hear from those who are working at reading their Bibles regularly. What kinds of practical things are you doing to make Bible reading a part of your life? Where do you read your Bible? Are you using other resources to help you in your Bible reading? Have you struggled for a while and made a breakthrough recently under God? We’d love to hear about it.
Endnotes
1. http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/confession-fewer-know-their-bible/2008/09/09/1220857547474.html.↩
