American Bible Society Report Links Faith Engagement to Forgiveness

The American Bible Society has released the sixth chapter of its “State of the Bible: USA 2026” report, which explores how Americans navigate forgiveness toward themselves, others, and their perception of divine grace. Based on a survey of 2,649 U.S. adults conducted in January, the findings suggest that individuals with higher levels of faith engagement are more likely to both offer and receive forgiveness.

The data indicates that “practicing Christians”—defined as those who attend church monthly and prioritize their faith—report the least difficulty in forgiving themselves and others. In contrast, “casual Christians,” who attend church monthly but do not strongly emphasize the importance of their faith, reported the highest levels of struggle with self-forgiveness at 38%. Additionally, 19% of casual Christians expressed doubt that God could forgive them for certain actions, compared to only 3% of practicing Christians.

John Farquhar Plake, editor-in-chief of the report, noted that these findings align with the biblical emphasis on forgiveness. While 81% of all respondents believe divine forgiveness is possible for their actions, the study highlights a significant divide in interpersonal forgiveness, with 40% of respondents admitting they continue to think negatively of those who have mistreated them.