A fascinating new graphic circulating on social media in recent days showed that young men are gravitating toward the Bible.
The post from Townhall.com shared on Monday called attention to a survey, originally conducted by the faith-focused Barna Group and published in November 2025, that quantified a remarkable increase in weekly Bible reading among young men, defined as Millennials and Generation Z males.
Of note, Barna published the survey’s results approximately eight weeks after the assassination of Christian conservative figurehead Charlie Kirk.
David Kinnaman, CEO of the Barna Group, summarized the findings.
“2025 is showing a major rebound of Bible reading, along with a surge in usage among younger generations,” Kinnaman said.
Indeed, the chart painted an incredible and encouraging picture.
For instance, 54 percent of Gen Z males and 57 percent of Millennial males reported reading the Bible weekly. Those numbers surged by a mind-boggling 20 and 21 points, respectively, from 2024 to 2025.
By comparison, 43 percent of Gen X males and a dismal 28 percent of Boomer males reported weekly Bible readings. But even those numbers rose by 15 and 8 points, respectively, from 2024 to 2025.
Among females, weekly Bible reading also surged, though the overall numbers lagged behind males in every generation except Boomers.
In 2024, only 27 percent of Gen Z females reported weekly Bible reading. But that number increased to 46 percent in 2025. Year-to-year increases also occurred among Millennial females (33 percent to 43 percent), Gen X females (30 percent to 40 percent) and Boomer females (24 percent to 33 percent).
BREAKING — For the first time in a decade, over HALF of GenZ Males AND Millennial Males are reading the bible weekly.
Bible sales are SKYROCKETED in every single demographic in 2025.
Incredible.🙏 pic.twitter.com/yNQ87zMcyS
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 16, 2026
“These findings are unexpected,” Kinnaman said of the difference between the sexes. “Women generally have been more religiously active than men. But now, younger men emerge as the most frequent Bible readers.”
Kinnaman added that similar surges, though not as dramatic, occurred during COVID.
One could imagine any number of explanations for this heartening development.
Young men, for instance, undoubtedly feel alienated from a society whose cultural gatekeepers chide them for “toxic masculinity.” On the other hand, that same secular society relentlessly promises women fulfillment in careers rather than motherhood. It’s no wonder that young men have started looking for truth elsewhere.
Furthermore, the more material success one enjoys, the less likely it seems that one will dwell on spiritual matters. Boomers, for instance, perhaps the most fortunate generation in human history, may not see the same need for the Bible as their parents, who survived the Depression and World War II.
But those explanations, however plausible, apply to developments over a much longer period of time. They cannot account for the one-year surges in weekly Bible reading that Barna’s survey revealed.
For that, in all likelihood, we must turn to factors like the Kirk assassination.
Few public figures in recent history have had their fingers on the pulses of young people, particularly young men, more than Kirk did. Those young men undoubtedly will remember Kirk’s murder as one of the defining traumas of their lives.
Moreover, the assassination unleashed palpable demonic energy. No doubt those young people felt it — so they turned to the only source that could help them make sense of it.
Whatever the explanation, this trend is encouraging, and we pray it continues.
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