Those who discover as non-religious experience a lower level of human flourishing than most of the people, while practicing Christians enjoy essentially the most flourishing, in keeping with a recent report.
The latest installment of the State of the Bible USA 2024 report, released by the American Bible Society on Thursday, focuses on “Nones and Nominals.” The title of the seventh chapter of the report refers back to the religiously unaffiliated and people who discover as a member of a non secular group but don’t attend religious services at the very least once a month.
The latest batch of research, based on 2,506 responses to a survey collected between Jan. 4 through 23, accommodates information in regards to the demographic characteristics of the religiously unaffiliated. The recent chapter begins by sharing data finding that the non-religious share of the population increased from 23% in 2021 to 26% in 2022. It has remained regular at barely greater than one-fourth of the U.S. population since then.
The research also compared the scores of the so-called “nones” on the Human Flourishing Index to the scores of the general public at large. The Human Flourishing Index, created by Harvard University, measures a person’s level of human flourishing on a scale of 0 to 10 based on their responses to questions on their happiness and life satisfaction, mental and physical health, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, in addition to close social relationships.
Overall, the “nones” have a mean rating of 6.5 on the Human Flourishing Index in comparison with the typical rating of 6.9 for all Americans. The difference between the extent of flourishing for “nones” and the general public as an entire is most pronounced within the “meaning and purpose” domain. “Nones” have a mean rating of 6.3 on this area in comparison with 7.0 for all Americans.
Smaller differences between the “nones” and all Americans were measured in the opposite domains. In each the “happiness & life satisfaction” domain in addition to the “physical & mental health” domain, “nones” received a mean rating of 6.3, while the American public as an entire had a mean rating of 6.8. On the “character & virtue” domain, “nones” have a mean rating of 6.9 in comparison with 7.3 for all Americans.
Very little difference was measured in the typical rating of “nones” (6.7) and all Americans (6.9) on the “close social relationships” domain.
The research broke non-practicing Christians into three subcategories and located that “practicing Christians” who attend church services at the very least once a month discover as Christian and describe their faith as “strongly essential to them” rating higher than all three groups of “nones.”
The term “non-Christian” refers back to the “nones” in addition to those that practice a non-Christian religion, the phrase “nominals” applies to those that discover as Christian but don’t attend church services at the very least once a month, and the word “casuals” is used for individuals who go to church at the very least once a month but don’t consider their faith very essential to them.
Across the Human Flourishing Index and its subcategories, “practicing Christians” rating the best, followed by “casuals,” “nominals” and “non-Christians.” Overall, “practicing Christians” have a mean rating of seven.6 on the Human Flourishing Index, followed by “casuals” (7.3), “nominals” (6.8) and “non-Christians” (6.6).
“Practicing Christians” even have a mean rating of seven.6 within the “close social relationships” domain, while “casuals” (7.0), “nominals” (6.8) and “non-Christians (6.7) have lower average scores. While all categories have a mean rating of at the very least 7.0 within the “character & virtue” domain, the 7.8 average rating amongst “practicing Christians” is higher than that of “casuals” (7.5), “nominals” (7.1) and “non-Christians” (7.0).
When it involves “meaning & purpose,” the 7.9 average rating amongst “practicing Christians” is significantly higher than the typical scores of “causals” (7.4), “nominals” (6.8) and “non-Christians” (6.5). “Practicing Christians” actually tie “causals” with a mean rating of seven.2 within the “physical & mental health” domain, coming in ahead of “nominals” (6.6) and “non-Christians (6.4).
“Practicing Christians” have a mean rating of seven.6 within the “happiness & life satisfaction” domain, followed by “casuals” (7.3), “nominals” (6.7) and “non-Christians” (6.4).
In a statement reacting to the research, American Bible Society Chief Innovation Officer and State of the Bible Editor-in-Chief John Farquhar Plake acknowledged that, “On measures of human flourishing, Nones rating decidedly lower than Practicing Christians in every category.”
“Could the church help them flourish by drawing them right into a deeper reference to Jesus, the Bible, and the church community?” he asked.
While “nones” don’t discover as religious, that doesn’t suggest they’ve necessarily shut themselves off from the message of the Bible and Christianity. The State of the Bible report reveals that 7% of “nones” use the Bible at the very least 3-4 times a yr outside a church setting, while 3% consider that “the Bible is completely accurate in all the principles it presents” and 10% report making “a private commitment to Jesus Christ that remains to be essential of their life today.”
“One quarter of all Americans are unaffiliated with any religion. In our research, we call them ‘Nones.’ It’s tempting to think they’re unreachable, but one-tenth of Nones say they’ve made a commitment to Jesus that is still essential to them,” Plake said. “They’re not coming to church — that is clear — but possibly the church could come to them.”
Two additional chapters of the State of the Bible 2024 USA report are expected to return out in November and December, and the finished product is predicted to have nine chapters.
