Bible Conflicted

'I'm not sure what I think about it, to be honest. Convince me.'

People like me grew up with some knowledge of the Bible, but it’s not something that figures in our day-to-day lives. For us, the Bible is interesting in parts, though it’s complicated and contradictory. There are bits we just don’t feel comfortable with. Most of us have read at least half of it, and we’re confident that we know what we’re talking about. 

We tend to believe in God or a higher power, though tend to describe him as a ‘universal Spirit, life force or energy’. Under half of us say we’re Christians – the rest includes people of other faiths – and those tend not to go to church very often. At times some of us can be quite negative about Christianity and the Bible and we certainly don’t accept it unquestioningly. But we do think Christianity has a role in serving the poor and vulnerable. 

There’s a part of us that thinks, ‘There must be something more than this’, but we can’t quite put our finger on what that is. We’re spiritual but not religious. We think it’s important to make a difference in the world, though don’t always believe we can. Just over half of us think our lives are meaningful. 

We’re five per cent of the population. We lean left politically. We’d say we’re struggling with our place in the world but are hopeful for the future.