Reading the Bible during the pandemic has given Christians hope in God and their future, a survey by the Bible Society has found.
In the poll, carried out by Christian Research, some 42% said that reading their Bible had given them an increased sense of hope in God during the crisis, a figure that rose to around half (49%) of 45- to 54-year-olds, reports Christian Today.
Over a quarter (28%) said it had increased their confidence in the future, while nearly two thirds (63%) said that reading the Bible had enabled their confidence to remain the same instead of dipping.
Just under a quarter (23%) credited the Bible with increasing their mental wellbeing, rising to nearly half (47%) of 24- to 34-year-olds.
A third of 16- to 24-year-olds said that reading the Bible had helped them to feel less lonely.
Twenty-three per cent of those surveyed said that the Bible had increased their mental wellbeing, rising to 47 per cent among 24 to 34-year-olds.
Over a third (35%) of respondents reported reading their Bibles more during the pandemic, with the biggest rise occurring among 25- to 34-year-olds (53%).
The survey discovered that Christians are also reading their Bible more often than before, with half saying they are reading it daily and a quarter ‘multiple times a day’.
Over a quarter (27%) of 25- to 34-year-olds and around a third (32%) of 35 to 44-year-olds reported turning to the Bible several times a day.
Over half (59%) said that they now watched more Bible-related videos or had started watching them.
