Researchers from an Indiana university announced on Wednesday that they have been awarded with over $500,000 in grant money, which will be used to study how Americans use the Bible in their everyday lives.

Lilly Endowment Inc., a private foundation based in Indianapolis that focuses on philanthropy in the areas of community development, education and religion, awarded the grant to researchers at the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis several weeks ago.
According to the center, the three-year research project is one of the first large-scale national studies of its kind.

“The Bible is by all accounts the most important book in American culture,” said Peter Thuesen, chair of the Department of Religious Studies at IUPUI, in an interview with The Christian Post on Thursday.

“It has been ever since Europeans colonized these shores, and it’s always been the biggest American bestseller in all the varied versions. And so what we’re interested in is how are people actually using the Bible.”

Thuesen is one of three principal investigators in “The Bible in American Life” study, alongside the center’s executive director and associate director, Philip Goff and Arthur Farnsley.

Previous research, Thuesen said, indicates that most Americans believe the Bible to be the Word of God, but beyond that little else is known.

How often do Americans read their Bibles? Do they read it at all? Who, or what, helps them to understand it? Is it common for children today to memorize Bible passages? How do the Scriptures impact daily decision-making in the lives of Americans? How does electronic media impact the approach to the Bible in a society that emphasizes the use of technology? These are just some questions they hope to begin to address, though the answers won’t come all at once.

“There’s only so much of that we can get at in a limited set of survey questions, but what we hope this will do is open up the subject, at least, for increasingly more study,” Thuesen said.

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