Bible knowledge fails with an average score of 51
A Lifeway Research survey of 2,012 U.S. churchgoers found that 65% don't make it past the basics.
Lifeway Research tested the Bible knowledge of 2,012 people who attend a church in the United States between August 12 and 29, 2026. The average score was 51 out of 100. Two out of three failed.
Nobody loves God less for scoring a 51. What the number does show is how much open Scripture there is in a normal week. And for anyone who has been in church for years and feels like they "already know" the stories, the conversation gets uncomfortable and useful at the same time.
What we recognize and what slips past us
The test covered eight areas: characters, books, order of events, verses to complete, divisions of the text, phrases that sound biblical, and general culture.
«A single verse comforts, but it can also be misunderstood.»
Ninety-four percent identify Moses as the one who received the Ten Commandments. But only 45% correctly say that Saul was the first king of Israel; 32% answered David.
Phrases that sound like Scripture but aren't in it also show up. Fifty-one percent do know that "God helps those who help themselves" is not a verse; the other half aren't sure. Sixty-seven percent believe Ezekias is a book of the Bible, and 44% think the Gospel of Thomas is in it.
Something curious happens with verses. Eighty percent complete John 3:16 with the word "believes." Only 28% get Micah 6:8 right. And just 11% manage to put four biblical events in order. We do better on the details than on the full map.
The app in your pocket doesn't replace the open text
Twenty-one percent read the Bible every day; 22% read it rarely or never. The difference on the exam is huge: those who open it daily average 66; those who almost never do, 36. According to Lifeway Research's analysis, reading it every day is the factor that raises the score the most, by almost 14 points.
Men and women score nearly the same (52% and 51%), and there are no differences by ethnicity.
Having the text on your phone helps you look things up. It doesn't help you know it. Respondents say that 56% of their encounters with Scripture happen alone and 44% in a group or at church. The Sunday sermon remains the most-used way to learn, at 56%, and one in ten does none of these activities in a typical week.
Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, summed it up this way: "Most churchgoers have not learned or don't remember many things from the Bible" (Sígueme translation). The challenge, he said, is twofold: understanding each passage and placing it in the whole story.
That's the point. A single verse comforts, but it can also be misunderstood. "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16, ESV). All of it, not just the part I like.
One chapter this week
You don't need a three-year plan or a theology degree. You need to open the text and let it read you. The Bereans did it daily: "examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so" (Acts 17:11, ESV). That's the habit, and it is learned in community, by asking without shame.
This week you can do two concrete things: read one whole chapter, not a loose fragment, and bring a question to your pastor or your small group. What is hardest for you when reading the Bible: getting started, understanding, or remembering what you read?
