The document discusses biblical literacy and spiritual maturity among Christians in the United States. It finds that while most households own multiple Bibles, few Americans read it regularly or have strong biblical knowledge. Many Christians see themselves as only somewhat or not very spiritually mature. As a result, 70% of young adults who attended church regularly in high school stop attending between ages 18-22, and born again Christians have the same divorce rate as non-Christians. The document suggests a link between biblical illiteracy, lack of spiritual maturity and these negative outcomes.

3. All
Scripture
is
breathed
out
by
God
and
profitable
for
teaching,
for
reproof,
for
correc9on,
and
for
training
in
righteousness,
that
the
man
of
God
may
be
complete,
equipped
for
every
good
work.
2
Timothy
3:16-­‐17
(ESV)

4. For
the
word
of
God
is
living
and
ac9ve,
sharper
than
any
two-­‐edged
sword,
piercing
to
the
division
of
soul
and
of
spirit,
of
joints
and
of
marrow,
and
discerning
the
thoughts
and
inten9ons
of
the
heart.
Hebrews
4:12
(ESV)

5. “Everyone
then
who
hears
these
words
of
mine
and
does
them
will
be
like
a
wise
man
who
built
his
house
on
the
rock.
And
the
rain
fell,
and
the
floods
came,
and
the
winds
blew
and
beat
on
that
house,
but
it
did
not
fall,
because
it
had
been
founded
on
the
rock.
And
everyone
who
hears
these
words
of
mine
and
does
not
do
them
will
be
like
a
foolish
man
who
built
his
house
on
the
sand.
And
the
rain
fell,
and
the
floods
came,
and
the
winds
blew
and
beat
against
that
house,
and
it
fell,
and
great
was
the
fall
of
it.”
Ma>hew
7:24-­‐27
(ESV)

6. Approx
Rank
Author
Book
Pub
Date
Sales
1
Various
Holy
Bible
1451-­‐55
6
Billion
+
2
Mao
Tse-­‐Tung
Quota9ons
from
Chairman
Mao
1966
900,000,000
3
Noah
Webster
American
Spelling
Book
1783
100,000,000
4
Mark
C.
Young
Guiness
Book
of
World
Records
1955
90,000,000
+
5
Misc
Editors
World
Almanac
1868
73,500,000
6
William
McGuffey
The
McGuffey
Readers
1836
60,000,000
Common
Sense
Book
of
Baby
7
Benjamin
Spock
1946
50,000,000
+
and
Child
Care
8
Elbert
Hubbard
A
Message
to
Garcia
1899
40,000,000
+
9
Charles
Sheldon
In
His
Steps
(WWJD?)
1896
30.000,000
+
10
Jacqueline
Susann
Valley
of
the
Dolls
1966
30,000,000
+

7. Annual
State
of
the
Bible
2012
survey
• 85
percent
of
U.S.
households
own
a
Bible
• Ave
number
of
Bibles
per
household
is
4.3

8. "Americans
revere
the
Bible
but,
by
and
large,
they
don't
read
it.”
-­‐George
Gallup
Jr

9. Biblical
Literacy
• Only
half
of
U.S.
adults
could
name
one
of
the
four
Gospels.
• Fewer
than
half
could
iden9fy
Genesis
as
the
Bible's
first
book.

10. Next
Genera9on
• 2004
Gallup
found
just
37
percent
of
teenagers
can
recognize
a
quota9on
from
the
Sermon
on
the
Mount
when
given
four
choices.
• And
we
are
not
surprised
that
only
44
percent
of
born-­‐again
teenagers
could
do
the
same.

11. How
Do
Chris9ans
See
Themselves?
• Study
by
the
Barna
Group
asked
American
Chris9ans
to
rate
their
spiritual
maturity
based
on
ac9vi9es
such
as
worship,
service,
and
evangelism.
• 25
percent
called
themselves
not
too
mature
or
not
at
all
mature.

12. • What’s
the
fruit
of
our
Biblical
illiteracy
and
overall
spiritual
immaturity?

13. The
Dropout
Rate
Among
those
who
alended
a
Protestant
church
twice
a
month
or
more
for
at
least
a
year
in
high
school:
70
percent
of
young
adults
ages
23-­‐30
stopped
a@ending
church
regularly
for
at
least
a
year
between
ages
18-­‐22
23 - 30 Year Olds
30%
Stayed
in
Church
70% Those
who
stayed
in
church
alended
Dropped
Out
with
varying
levels
of
frequency
S3.
Did
you
stop
alending
church
regularly
for
at
least
a
year
between
the
ages
of
18
and
22?
Base:
A>ended
a
Protestant
church
for
at
least
a
year
in
high
school.
18-­‐30
year
olds
(n=1,557),
23-­‐30
year
olds
(n=732)
Note:
This
study
includes
18-­‐30
year
olds.
The
dropout
rate
for
18-­‐30
year
olds,
including
18-­‐22
year
olds
who
may
s9ll
drop
out,
is
65%
13

14. Divorce
Rate:
• All
born
again
Chris9ans
-­‐
32
%
• Non-­‐born
again
adults
–
33
%

15. “Everyone
then
who
hears
these
words
of
mine
and
does
them
will
be
like
a
wise
man
who
built
his
house
on
the
rock.
And
the
rain
fell,
and
the
floods
came,
and
the
winds
blew
and
beat
on
that
house,
but
it
did
not
fall,
because
it
had
been
founded
on
the
rock.
And
everyone
who
hears
these
words
of
mine
and
does
not
do
them
will
be
like
a
foolish
man
who
built
his
house
on
the
sand.
And
the
rain
fell,
and
the
floods
came,
and
the
winds
blew
and
beat
against
that
house,
and
it
fell,
and
great
was
the
fall
of
it.”
Ma>hew
7:24-­‐27
(ESV)