New York Deemed Not Terribly Bible-Minded

  |  February 7, 2014

america bible map

We’re not sure how we missed this when Hudson Valley Magazine reported on this a few weeks ago, but hey, better late than never. Anyway, according to a study by the American Bible Society and the research company Barna, New York doesn’t read the Bible much. In fact, our state capital Albany ranked the second least Bible-minded city in America, with Buffalo coming in at number 95, NYC at 89, Syracuse at 86, and Rochester at 83. Now, the perimeters of the study are a bit unclear (perhaps the Torah doesn’t count, even though it includes the first five books of the Christian Bible; no surprise that the American Bible Society is going strictly with the Old and New Testaments together in the same book), HV Mag states, “The data is based on the number of people living in certain cities who reported regularly reading the sacred text on their own, as well as their personal belief in its accuracy.” Not surprisingly, the south took most of the top spots in the study. HV Mag tied this study into its year-long feature, Religion in the Hudson Valley. Even if you’re not particularly religious, the feature is a fascinating look into the history of the area’s various religious denominations, Judeo-Christian and otherwise.

About Kandy Harris

Kandy is a writer and musician/music teacher living in Saugerties, NY.

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