American Bible Society today released the sixth chapter of its 16th annual State of the Bible report, which focuses on how Americans forgive themselves, forgive others, and experience forgiveness from God. The data details forgiveness across generations, gender and faith backgrounds, and the impact of forgiveness on well-being. The sixth chapter of State of the Bible: USA 2026 is now available to download at StateoftheBible.org.

“We see that those who are committed to their faith and to reading the Bible are more likely to give and experience forgiveness. This makes sense, given the centrality of forgiveness in the message of the Bible,” said Dr. John Farquhar Plake, American Bible Society’s Chief Innovation Officer and editor-in-chief of the State of the Bible series. “Our data also shows that while those who hold on to resentment are weighed down, forgiveness brings freedom. This opens an important conversation for the Church and its leaders to help equip our communities to both give and receive forgiveness.”

State of the Bible findings come from a nationally representative survey designed by American Bible Society and fielded by NORC at the University of Chicago, using their AmeriSpeak panel. Responses came from 2,649 online and phone interviews with American adults in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Data were collected from January 8–27, 2026.

Key findings analyzed in Chapter 6: Forgiveness

  • Between forgiving themselves, forgiving others, or receiving forgiveness from God, Americans struggle most to forgive others (40%). 29% have difficulty forgiving themselves, and only 10% struggle to receive God’s forgiveness (page 3).
    • 68% of those who believe God does not forgive them also report difficulty forgiving those who mistreat them (page 14).
  • People who can forgive easily experience higher levels of human flourishing and hope and lower levels of loneliness and stress (pages 9–12).
  • Three-fifths of those who report challenges believing in divine forgiveness are men (12%, compared to only 8% of women), indicating that nearly one in eight non-atheist men believe God will not forgive them for something they’ve done (pages 4–5).
    • Meanwhile, women (33%) face considerably more difficulty forgiving themselves than men (26%) (page 4).
  • Those in the Movable Middle struggle the most with divine forgiveness, with one in seven (14%) believing God will not forgive them for certain actions, which exceeds reports from the Bible Disengaged (10%) and almost triples the percentage of the Scripture Engaged (5%) (page 8).
    • 48% of people identified as Bible Disengaged report continuing to think poorly of those who have mistreated them, which is more than double the number of Scripture Engaged (21%) who report the same (page 7).

Continuing monthly through November 2026, two distinct chapters in this year’s State of the Bible series will be released. Upcoming chapter highlights include findings on the supernatural and contributory love and generosity.

To download the sixth chapter of State of the Bible 2026, visit StateoftheBible.org.

*State of the Bible includes definitions of Scripture Engagement, Bible Use (active and occasional users), Movable Middle, Nones, and other key terms on their website.