Baptist Press
Diana Chandler, posted November 15, 2024 in Culture
PHILADELPHIA (BP) – The Bible protects against what the U.S. surgeon general has termed an “epidemic of loneliness” as harmful to health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, the American Bible Society (ABS) said in releasing its latest chapter of the 2024 State of the Bible.
Bible engagement, forgiveness and church attendance all offer individual antidotes to loneliness, decreasing the malady by more than 50 percent, ABS said.
Scripture engagement offers interaction with a God who loves “with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3) and a God whom the Psalmist in Psalm 139:3 said was familiar with all of his ways, the ABS said, and encourages church attendance that provides avenues for meaningful relationships.
Statistically, nearly 75 percent of all Americans report moderate to high levels of loneliness that not only lead to poor health outcomes, but also cost employers an estimated $154 billion annually in absences attributed to stress created by loneliness, the surgeon general said in 2023, and cost $6.7 annually in excess Medicare spending among socially isolated older adults.
But when the Bible enters the equation, only 11 percent of Scripture-engaged respondents reported high levels of loneliness, compared to 22 percent of those considered Bible-disengaged, with Scripture engagement defined as those who score 100 or higher on a scale judging the frequency of Bible readership and its impact on and centrality to a reader’s daily life.
Among churchgoers, only 12 percent of those who attend church weekly report high levels of loneliness, compared to 25 percent of those who never attend.
Regarding forgiveness, 16 percent of those strongly able and somewhat able to forgive reported high levels of loneliness, compared to 36 percent of those strongly unable to forgive, and 22 percent of those somewhat unable to forgive.
Otherwise, loneliness varied by generation and gender. In ABS research, 37 percent of Gen Z females reported high levels of loneliness, compared to 18 percent of Gen Z males; with 49 percent of Gen Z females reporting moderate levels of loneliness, compared to 59 percent of males of that generation. Only 14 percent of Gen Z females reported low levels of loneliness, compared to 23 percent of Gen Z males. More Here