Curious About the Bible, But Not Reading It
By Dom · · 10 min read
Maybe it was a podcast that quoted Jesus and stopped you mid-commute. Maybe a friend got through a hard year and said, quietly, that the Psalms helped. You found a Bible on the shelf, or you already had an app on your phone. You meant to start. You have not, yet.
If you searched “why don’t people read the Bible,” you may be half asking about other people and half asking about yourself. Here is the honest answer, from survey data rather than sermons, and a small way to move from curious to reading this week.
Key takeaways
- Curious but not reading is common. The American Bible Society found 56% of Americans curious about the Bible, Jesus or both in 2025, and 51% wish they read it more.
- The top reasons are ordinary. In Lifeway’s 2016 survey, 27% said they don’t prioritize it and 15% said they have no time. Only 10% said they disagree with what it says.
- Even churchgoers mostly are not daily readers. Lifeway’s 2025 survey found 31% of Protestant churchgoers read the Bible every day.
- The first step is small: one Gospel, one chapter a day, for a week, with a note on what surprised you. About nine minutes a day reads the Protestant Bible in a year.
You are not unusual: most curious people are not reading yet
Start with the reassurance, because the numbers support it. The American Bible Society’s State of the Bible 2025, a NORC survey of 2,656 US adults in January 2025, found that 56% of Americans are curious about the Bible, Jesus or both. Just over half, 51%, say they wish they read the Bible more.
ABS has a name for the people most like you: the Movable Middle, people who are open to the Bible but not deeply engaged with it. In that group, 82% are curious and 80% wish they read it more. The 2026 report puts the Movable Middle at 28% of the population, up 9 million people since 2024.
So the gap between interest and reading is not a private failing. It is one of the most common places a person can be. And it is not limited to people outside church. In Lifeway Research’s State of Discipleship study, an online survey of 2,130 Protestant churchgoers in March 2025, just 31% said they read the Bible every day. Most people who attend every month are not daily readers either.
The reasons people actually give
The pages that rank for this question tend to answer it with a list of heart problems. The surveys tell a plainer story. Lifeway Research asked 1,000 Americans in September 2016 what keeps them from reading the Bible more. The answers below are theirs. The right-hand column is ours: the one change that answers each reason for someone who is curious rather than committed.
| Reason given | Share | What actually helps |
|---|---|---|
| Don’t prioritize it | 27% | Give it a fixed slot, not a free one: the same time each day |
| Don’t have time | 15% | Size it honestly: about 9 minutes a day reads the Protestant Bible in a year |
| Have read it enough | 13% | Read a book you have never actually read straight through |
| Disagree with what it says | 10% | Read it to check, not to agree: the source, in context |
| Don’t read books | 9% | Read one chapter, or listen to it |
| Don’t see how it relates to me | 9% | Start in a Gospel, with Jesus Himself |
| Don’t have a copy | 6% | A free app or website is enough to begin |
Read down the shares and notice what is not there. Disagreement is a minority reason at 10%. The two biggest answers, priority and time, are about the shape of a day, not the state of a soul. The same survey found 35% of Americans never pick the Bible up on their own, even though 87% of households own one and 52% call it a good source for morals. People like the Bible. They just do not have a place for it.
What helps each reason, without a guilt trip
“It is not a priority” and “I have no time.” These two are usually the same problem. A thing with no fixed place in the day loses to whatever is louder. So do not try to want it more. Give it a slot: before you check your phone, with the first coffee, or at lunch. Then size it honestly. The Protestant Bible is 724,811 words. Spread over 365 days, that is 1,986 words a day, about nine minutes at 220 words a minute. How long it takes to read the Bible in a year shows the working for all three canons.
“I have read it enough.” Most of us have read pieces: a Christmas story, a wedding reading, a verse on a mug. Reading one whole book straight through is a different experience. Pick one you have never finished.
“I disagree with it.” That is allowed, and it is a good reason to read rather than a reason not to. ABS’s 2026 report found that 60% of people who agree the Bible “was written to control or manipulate other people” have read little or none of it. Whatever you conclude, conclude it from the text.
“I am not a reader” and “I do not see how it relates.” One chapter is short, and you can listen to it on a walk. And if relevance is the question, start where Christianity itself starts: with Jesus, in a Gospel. If the Bible has felt like a wall of old words, why the Bible is so hard to read explains what is going on and what to do about it.
Curiosity is allowed: come and see
You do not have to settle what you believe before you open the book. The Gospels are full of people who came with questions.
When Philip told his friend Nathanael that he had found the one Moses and the prophets wrote about, from the small town of Nazareth, Nathanael was not impressed. “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Philip did not argue. “Come and see,” he said (John 1:46, NIV). That is still the invitation. Not to agree first, but to look.
Luke praises a group of readers in Berea who “received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11, NIV). They did not take a teacher’s word for it. They checked the text, daily. Careful questions brought to the page are welcome there.
Jesus also described what happens to interest that never finds a home. In the parable of the sower, some seed falls among thorns: people who hear, “but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures” (Luke 8:14, NIV). Read gently, that is not a verdict on you. It is a description of how curiosity gets crowded out when it has no daily place to land, which is exactly what the survey numbers show.
Your first week: one Gospel, one chapter a day
Here is a plan small enough to survive a busy week.
- Pick one Gospel. Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. If you cannot choose, which Gospel to read first will settle it in a minute.
- Read one chapter a day, starting at chapter 1. No more, even on a good day. You are building a place in the day, not a word count.
- Keep one note per chapter: the thing that surprised you. A line is enough. Surprise is a better guide than duty for a curious reader.
- Write down your questions instead of stopping at them. Some answer themselves a few chapters later. The rest are good things to ask a friend who reads, or a pastor.
- Stop after seven days and look back. Read your notes. Then decide, freely, whether to keep going.
When the week is done, the next question is where to go after a Gospel. Where to start reading the Bible lays out a first-year order that holds up once the habit has a foothold.
For a lot of curious readers, week two is where it stalls, because every morning starts with a choice: which book, which chapter, where was I? BlessUp takes that choice away. Every day, your reading is already waiting where you left off, part of a plan that runs Genesis to Revelation in a year, about nine minutes at a time, and the apps you pick stay closed until you read it. See how a daily reading is set up
When you miss a day
You will. Everyone does, including the 31% of churchgoers who call themselves daily readers. What matters is what you do the morning after.
Do not try to catch up by reading two chapters. Do not start the plan over. Read today’s chapter and carry on. A missed day is a missed day, not a verdict on whether this is for you. What to do when you miss a day goes further into why picking up beats starting over.
It may help to know that people who read regularly feel the gap too. In the same Lifeway study, 62% of Protestant churchgoers said they desperately miss time with God when they go several days without reading. Missing it is a sign the reading has started to matter, not a sign you have failed at it.
Curiosity is a good place to start from. It is how Nathanael started. Come and see, one chapter at a time. And if questions come up that a book cannot answer, the people in a local church are usually glad to talk; the BlessUp church finder can show you some near you.
Frequently asked questions
Why don't people read the Bible?
Mostly for ordinary reasons. In a 2016 Lifeway Research survey of 1,000 Americans, 27% said they don't prioritize it, 15% said they have no time and 13% said they have read it enough. Only 10% said they disagree with what it says. Interest is high: the American Bible Society found 56% of Americans curious about the Bible, Jesus or both in 2025.
Is it okay to read the Bible if I'm not sure what I believe?
Yes. The Bible itself welcomes questions. When Nathanael doubted, Philip simply said "Come and see" (John 1:46), and the Bereans examined the Scriptures every day to see if what they were taught was true (Acts 17:11). You do not need to settle your beliefs first. Read, note what surprises you, and bring your questions.
Where should a beginner start reading the Bible?
Start with one Gospel, Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, and read one chapter a day from chapter 1. The Gospels tell the life of Jesus directly, so they answer the question of how the Bible relates to you faster than starting at Genesis. After a Gospel, move on to a wider first-year reading order.
How long does it take to read the Bible every day?
One chapter takes a few minutes. Reading the whole Protestant Bible in a year takes about nine minutes a day: 724,811 words over 365 days is 1,986 words a day at 220 words a minute. The Catholic and Orthodox canons are longer, at about 10.3 and 10.9 minutes a day.
Small daily readings, cover to cover. That is the whole plan.
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