‘Unprecedented’ research shows worldwide majority believes in God

Originally published in Christian Today

“Unprecedented” research into attitudes into faith, belief and God, was revealed this week and indicated that for most people worldwide, God is a reality.

Over a period of three years, 90 000 people in 85 countries were questioned in depth about their views on the Bible and faith as part of the research conducted by Gallup on behalf of the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS) and United Bible Societies (UBS).

“The Patmos Initiative”, as the research is called, divided the world into seven “clusters” or mission contexts.

Cluster 1, for example, included places like the Sahel or Pakistan, and was defined as “a majority-Muslim context with economic barriers to Bible engagement and a low-resourced Christian minority”.

By contrast, Cluster 2 includes countries in central eastern Europe that have “a declining Christian majority with low religious importance and a growing secular minority”.

The UK was among the countries in Cluster 5 – secular Western contexts – where even in these regions, 62% believe in God.

The research found that in five of the seven clusters most people said that religion is important to their daily life. A majority of people in all clusters believe in God or a higher power.

The initiative highlighted that in parts of the world, knowledge of the Bible and Christianity remains staggeringly low. 

In some parts of Asia, particularly southeast Asia and India, as many as three quarters of people know nothing at all about the Bible. Over half of people in such places do not even know the Bible exists. In parts of Asia, for example, over 56% of people have never heard of the Bible. 

The research also suggested that over a quarter of the world’s Christian population still do not own a Bible in a language they can understand.

However, the study also revealed broad support for children to know Bible stories, with over two thirds (70%) of all respondents globally agreeing that this was a good thing. One in 10 non-Christians (11%) were interested in learning more about the Bible –equating to some 250 million people. 

Bible use among Christians was found to be highest in places where they are a minority, for instance Muslim majority countries, and lowest in the secular West.

Shockingly, nearly a third of Christians worldwide do not see the Bible as relevant to them personally, although again, this is more pronounced in the West. Less than half (42%) of all Christian respondents said they use the Bible on a weekly basis. 

Richard Powney, project lead for The Patmos Initiative, said: “The data challenges many prevailing narratives about the decline of religion globally … In five of the seven global contexts we studied, the majority of people still consider religion an important part of their daily lives.”

Dirk Gevers, Secretary General of United Bible Societies said: “The findings of The Patmos Initiative provide the most accurate and comprehensive picture yet of how people truly engage with Scripture. They represent both a source of encouragement and a call to action for Christians around the world.

“Our hope is that The Patmos Initiative will inspire a renewed and widespread commitment to advancing both Bible availability and meaningful engagement.”

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