In my last blog, we stated that 98% of the world’s population has some Scripture translated in a language they can understand. We also stated that the majority of the over 8 billion people on earth have a complete Bible, New Testament, or one of the four Gospels available in a language they can understand if they can get access to it.
The Bible Gap is the gap that exists between those Christians who have a Bible for their personal use, and those Christians who want a Bible or New Testament that is already available, but are prevented from receiving one. It is a devastating problem because there are over 700 million believers who are without a Bible. There are many more millions of Seekers, who if they had the opportunity to read or listen to God’s Word, would do so, but they are not being provided this opportunity.
The Bible Gap is not so much an availability problem, as it is an accessibility problem. It is very much a distribution problem. There are several factors that are creating this challenge. None of these problems are unsolvable. We just have to understand the challenges better and have the will to solve them.
Part of the problem, is that the majority of Christians located in the developed world, do not even know there is a problem facing our brothers and sisters in the less developed world. Before any problem can be corrected, we must be aware that we have a problem. Awareness of the Bible Gap and its seriousness is something that must be improved.
Since 1900, Christianity has experienced a major shift in the center of gravity from the North to the Southern hemisphere. The largest shift has occurred in Africa. In 1900, there were less than 10 million Christians in Africa. Today this number has grown to 734 million.i
Today, there are 2.6 billion Christians in the world, of whom 565 million live in Europe, 272 million live in North America, 615 million live in Latin America, 415 million live in Asia, and 734 million live in Africa.ii
These numbers represent the dramatic shift referenced above. In 1900, 82% of Christians lived in the Global North with only 18% living in the Global South. In 2020, these numbers almost reversed themselves. Now, 33% of Christians of the world live in the Global North, while 67% of Christians live in the Global South made up of Asia, Africa, and Latin America.iii
It is in the Global South nations where the Bible Gap is most prevalent. In the Global North nations of the United States and European nations, there is a different problem. The believers in these nations all have a Bible in a language and format that speaks to them. The problem is that they are not reading and studying the Scriptures like they should. The
Bible is being neglected by many. Thus, we have researchers pointing out Bible Illiteracy problems in the Global North nations.
However, in the Global South nations of Africa, Asia and Latin America, we have a much greater problem to address. This is what we call the Bible Gap. As a Christian who loves Jesus and wants to follow Him with all your heart, how would you like to have to live for God, without your Bible? How would you like to face trials and challenges of life without being able to turn to your Bible for strength and encouragement?
This is precisely where hundreds of millions of our brothers and sisters in Christ find themselves today. It is estimated that nearly 70% of the Christians in the Global South do not own a Bible for themselves.iv It is already translated in a language they can understand. However, they cannot get a copy for themselves due to persecution, cost, or distribution blocks in the supply chain. Some need a print version. Others need an audio or digital version of the Bible. All of God’s children deserve a copy of His Word.
This means that over 1 Billion Christians do not own a Bible of any kind in the Global South. Will you help close the Bible Gap? I encourage you to partner with the Digital Bible Society to help meet this need. We have over 150 partners spread throughout the Global South that can get this done on the ground. DBS will provide these partners the Bibles with your financial partnership. Call us or email us so that we can talk together about how to meet this need.
i Todd M. Johnson and Gina A. Zurlo, eds. World Christian Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, accessed January 2024), www.worldchristiandatabase.org
ii Status of Global Christianity, 2024, in the Context of 1900-2050 Fact Sheet
iii Video-Trends Shaping World Christianity-150 Years of Global Christian Trends, accessed September 2024, gordonconwell.edu.
iv Todd M. Johnson and Gina A. Zurlo. 2020. World Christian Encyclopedia, 3rd ed. (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press), 4.
Leave a Reply