A popular song we teach our children in Sunday school.  But is it true?  The science is pointing that way!

 

The American Bible Society’s 2025 State of the Bible report used Harvard’s Human Flourishing Index, which defines flourishing as “the relative attainment of a state in which all aspects of a person’s life are good, including the contexts in which that person lives.”  The index covers six domains: happiness and life satisfaction, mental and physical health, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, close social relationships, and financial and material stability.

For the first time, these U.S. data could be set against results from 22 countries in the Harvard‑led Global Flourishing Study, allowing a comparison of how Americans are doing relative to the rest of the world.

 

Where the U.S. fits globally

On the Global Flourishing Index, the United States ranks 15th out of 22 countries, behind Indonesia, Mexico, the Philippines, Israel and Nigeria, which occupy the top spots. When financial wealth is factored in, the U.S. moves up slightly to 12th place, but it still lags behind several less affluent nations on overall flourishing.  Higher‑scoring countries tend to emphasise belonging to something larger than oneself, whereas lower‑scoring nations like the U.S., Germany, Sweden, Austria and the U.K. are more individualistic and focused on personal achievement.  In that context, many Americans report feeling disconnected, lonely, dissatisfied and lacking purpose, despite living in a wealthy country.

 

How Scripture, church and prayer relate to flourishing

Within the U.S., the report finds a consistent pattern: active Christian faith and Bible engagement are associated with higher flourishing scores. Key findings include:

– Practising Christians average 7.9 on the 0–10 flourishing scale, compared with 6.8 for non‑Christians.
– Daily Bible users and those classified as “Scripture‑engaged” also average 7.9, while people who never use the Bible and are not Scripture‑engaged average 6.8.
– Prayer matters too: 39 percent of those who prayed in the past week report high flourishing, compared with 25 percent among those who had not prayed.
– Forty‑three percent of Americans who strongly believe God is active in their lives report high flourishing, whereas 41 percent of those who disagree that God is active fall into the low‑flourishing group.

Taken together, the picture is that regular Scripture engagement, participation in a “vibrant Christian community,” and an actively lived faith travel together with higher holistic wellbeing. The report does not claim that Bible use mechanically causes flourishing, but it presents these gaps as meaningful evidence of a positive relationship between faith practices and how people’s lives are going overall.

 

Generational patterns: trouble and hope

Generational differences in flourishing are striking.  Overall, Baby Boomers show the highest average flourishing scores at 7.5, significantly above other generations.  At the other end, Gen Z has the lowest average flourishing at 6.8 when considered as a whole, mirroring broader concerns about young adults’ mental health, loneliness and sense of purpose. Yet the report also notes a hopeful twist: Gen Z and Millennials who are actively engaged in Scripture have an average flourishing score of 8.1, higher even than the Boomer average.  In other words, the generational flourishing gap appears to narrow—and even reverse—among younger adults who combine their faith with regular Bible engagement.  This suggests that for younger cohorts, an integrated, lived‑out Christian faith may be one important pathway to resilience and wellbeing in a challenging cultural moment.

 

The State of the Bible findings underline that flourishing is not only about income or national wealth, which helps explain why the U.S. can be rich yet rank just 15th on the flourishing index. Social connection, a sense of belonging, shared purpose and spiritual practices all appear to play a significant role, as seen in the higher flourishing of more communally oriented societies and of actively practising Christians within the U.S.

 

For churches, several implications emerge from this data:
– Investing in genuine Christian community may be just as important as teaching content, because people who feel part of “something much bigger than themselves” tend to flourish more.
– Encouraging regular Scripture engagement and prayer is not only a spiritual discipline but also appears to be linked with better mental, relational and existential wellbeing.
– Paying special attention to Gen Z and Millennials, and helping them connect Scripture to daily life, could be a strategic way to support a generation with relatively low average flourishing.