A new Barna study came out that revealed quite a lot of interesting things about current teenage culture in regards to faith. One intersting insight is that teens prefer hard copies to the bible to their digital counterparts.
Teens Still Prefer to use a Hard Copy Bible in a Digital Age
When teens read the Bible, they are increasingly doing so digitally, but overall still prefer the old-fashioned hard copy version of the Bible. Among those considered Bible readers (read the Bible at least 3-4 times a year), the most common interactions with the Bible include hearing it read in a worship service or Mass (87%), reading on their own from a print version of the Bible (70%), or attending a small group Bible study (50%). When it comes to interaction with digital formats of the Bible, 46 percent of teens have used their cell phone or smartphone to search for Bible verses or Bible content, and about one third say they have downloaded or used a Bible app on a smartphone (33%) or used the Internet to read Bible content (35%). With the explosive growth of digital technology and mobile devices, usage of all of these digital formats has increased since 2015, with the most drastic being an increase in 13 percentage points in those that engaged with Scripture via their smartphone or cell phone (33% to 46%). One out of six teens (16%) report listening to an audio version of the Bible, and the same proportion (16%) listened to a podcast of Bible teaching.
I use YouVersion often but when I am studying or having my personal worship time…I still need a good solid bible to write in, underline and of course snap gratuitous instagrams of.
If you are interested in the rest of the study you can find it here.
Sean Rheaume 