Read the Bible, and you’ll have less debt. Well, maybe. It depends on which survey you read.

A new survey drawn from a select group of 1,020 people who read Christianity Today and are staff or leaders in their churches, found that people who read the Bible every day have less mortgage payments, car payments and unpaid credit card bills, says Brian Kluth, author of 40 Day Journey to a More Generous Life and director of the research.

His survey also shows that people who read the Bible four to seven days a week are more than twice as likely to give 10% or more of their income to churches.

“It doesn’t matter what happens in the economy because if you believe giving is a priority in your life, you just do it,” he says. His theory is that Bible readers may be more disciplined and that kind of focus “ultimately leads to discipline in other areas of life.”

Still, that’s a pretty narrow crowd (and it doesn’t explain why other disciplined people, like athletes, aren’t necessarily less in debt or more generous in donating to church.)

A Barna Group poll conducted in January 2010 found that only 44% of adults ages 18 and older read their Bibles outside of church. And a 2007 study by Barna found that only 5% of adults tithe, or donate more than 10% of their income.

Read More: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2010/07/bible-debt-money/1