Less than half of practicing American Christians read the Bible, study says

The Bible is considered as the most printed and most sold book in 50 years but a new study has shown that less than half of American Christians take the time to read it.

Samuel Harrell, director of Project Ignition at the American Bible Society, revealed the results of a six-year assessment of the state of the Bible conducted by the Barna Group at the Movement Day Global Cities conference on Nov. 2, according to a report from The Christian Post.

"We have been having the honor of walking for a number of years with Barna Group and studying the state of the Bible in America. I know that you and I are feeling the change in the winds and the trends that are affecting us, so you probably had conversations about just what feels very real about the Bible in our culture," Harrell said.

The study shows that just 18 percent of Americans 18 years old and above read the Bible. Among practicing Christians, only 37 percent admit engaging with the Holy Scripture. Fourteen percent of Bible readers are male and 22 percent are female.

When broken down by age, millennials appear to be the least engaged with the Scripture with only 12 percent of them reading the Bible. The number is higher among older adults at 26 percent.

Harrell said that the study also revealed that only 38 percent of Americans considered themselves to be friendly with the Bible. As many as 62 percent have said that they want to read the Bible more.

Harrell admitted that there are challenges especially when it comes to millennials.

"Millennials, they are reading you and me. Millennials are looking at us, millennials are saying, hey, one fourth of millennials are skeptics. There are those who are indicating that not only do they not believe the Bible, but they categorize the Bible as just another book or fairytale," he said, adding that some millennials consider the Bible as a dangerous book.

Harrell said that millennials are more likely to immerse themselves in the Bible when they see its impact on the lives of others.

The American Bible Society is making use of modern technology and social media to counter the rise of skepticism against the Bible. It has developed a Bible-based online game for teens and has taken ownership of .bible, a top-level domain.