Wycliffe USA launches second #WhyBible campaign to fight against biblical illiteracy

The Wycliffe Bible Translators have launched the second annual #WhyBible social media campaign to counter the rising scriptural illiteracy among today's youths.

In an interview with The Christian Post on Friday, Scott Everhart, senior director of marketing at Wycliffe Bible Translators, said that the campaign was created as a way to fight against a growing trend in American Christianity that does not take the Bible seriously.

"In 2016, the Barna Group reported that much of the Christian community does not regularly read the Bible. According to that data, one in three millennials do not believe the Bible was divinely inspired," Everhart said.

"Just over 20 percent of Christians are involved in a Bible study and around a third openly and regularly discuss the Bible with their friends and family," he continued.

Last year's campaign was focused on connecting people across ages and communities to share their experiences with the Bible. Everhart said he believes that the month-long observance of #WhyBible will be larger this year, with the inclusion of many ministries and international perspectives.

"Many of the leaders and organizations who partnered with us in 2016 witnessed the impact of these discussions and are enthusiastically joining us again this year, and have encouraged more people to do so as well," he said.

"Unlike 2016, the 2017 campaign will include voices from the across the Americas, Austraila, Africa and Europe. We hope and pray this momentum continues as #WhyBible repeats every September," he added.

He said that one of Wycliffe's goals in launching the campaign was to release an e-book titled "In Your Own Words," which would tell the real-life stories of people who had been impacted by the Bible.

Everhart told The Christian Post last year that he got the idea for the campaign from a millennial member of the Wycliffe Bible Translators team who noted that he was seeing fewer people his own age attending church.

The State of the Bible surveys by the Barna group have shown for years that the percentage of Americans who view the Bible with skepticism continues to rise, especially among young people.

A study conducted by Barna in May last year revealed that the percentage of people who believe that the Bible is actually harmful to people's lives have been increasing, along with the percentage those who believe that self-fulfillment, rather than God, is the ultimate measure of moral good.

However, the survey found that most Americans still believe that the Bible is an influential book, and that it contains everything a person needs to know in order to live a meaningful life.

Everhart contended at the time that the ultimate proof that the Bible still matters to people's lives can be seen in the life changes that occur in people who have been exposed to God's word.