The American Bible Society (ABS) released the third chapter of its 15th annual State of the Bible report on June 12, highlighting a strong link between active Christian faith and human flourishing. The findings suggest that practices such as regular Bible engagement and church participation are associated with significantly higher levels of personal well-being.
According to a press release accompanying the chapter, individuals who reported a connection with God “exhibit greater human flourishing levels,” pointing to the positive impact of spiritual life on overall health and satisfaction.
Human flourishing is defined in the report as “a state of thriving and well-being where all aspects of a person’s life are good.”
"The study of Human Flourishing, developed at Harvard [University], has been part of our own survey for several years now," states John Farquhar Plake, Chief Innovation Officer at ABS and editor-in-chief of the State of the Bible series.
"This year we saw an encouraging uptick in flourishing overall and found high flourishing levels among Scripture Engaged Gen Z and Millennials. These findings further support our research into the positive relationship between Bible engagement and holistic well-being."
Plake has previously spoken of a surprising uptake in Bible engagement among young men as part of the research, during an exclusive interview with Christian Daily International: “We were incredibly encouraged,” he said, at the time.
In the third chapter, a high level of human flourishing was found in 43 percent of Americans feeling that God is active in their lives. This is compared to 41 percent who experienced low flourishing after sharing that they did not agree about God’s involvement in their lives.
Higher human flourishing is also linked to regularly practising the Christian faith, including ongoing monthly church attendance “among Christians who highly value their faith.”
Increased Bible reading frequency is also linked to “greater flourishing, with daily readers scoring 7.9 compared to 6.8 for those who never read the Bible.”
A highlight in the third chapter is the positive effect of the Christian faith on young people.
“The Boomer+ generation [ages 61 to 79] exhibits the highest average human flourishing score at 7.5, significantly surpassing other generations,” stated the report. “Gen Z [13-28 year olds], in contrast, scores the lowest at 6.8. Only 26% of Gen Z individuals reported high human flourishing scores compared to 45% of Boomers.”
However, both Gen Z and Millennials [ages 29-45] actively engaged with Scripture are flourishing, together averaging a score of 8.1.
Questions from Harvard’s Human Flourishing Index were used in the State of the Bible study, which involves six key areas: Happiness & Life Satisfaction, Mental & Physical Health, Meaning & Purpose, Character & Virtue, Close Social Relationships, and Financial & Material Stability.
The findings stemmed from a nationally representative survey performed for American Bible Society by researchers at the University of Chicago. The data came from 2,656 online interviews with American adults in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, between January 2–21, 2025.
