Many unbelievers say Bible written to control, study finds

One third of respondents to a survey said they trust the Bible as completely accurate, while about one-fifth said they believe the Bible was written to control people. The American Bible Society on Tuesday released the seventh chapter of its 2025 State of the Bible report, with the latest installment examining how respondents trust social institutions and interpersonal relationships. The responses show American adults are grappling with the purpose and meaning of Scripture, said the report’s editor-in-chief, John Plake.

What else did the chapter highlight? Out of eight social institutions included in the survey, respondents had the most trust in the family. Meanwhile, the media and the government were the least trusted institutions on the list. Religion ranked in the middle of the list, and members of the Boomer generation showed more trust in religion than the younger generations.

In terms of interpersonal relationships, nearly half of the respondents said they had experienced or witnessed some type of trauma in their lives that still affected them. Meanwhile, individuals who said they were able to forgive another person experienced higher levels of trust than those who did not.

The survey polled 2,656 American adults across all 50 states from Jan. 2-21 this year. Researchers in April began releasing one chapter of the study per month. The final chapters to be released this year will focus on generosity and behaviors toward friends and neighbors.

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s report about another chapter from the survey that examined generational church engagement.