Bible reading increases in Norway

That is what Helene Fagervik says to the Norwegian newspaper Dagen. “Bible reading among Norwegians went up during the pandemic”, says Fagervik, who works in the Norwegian Bible Society and is the department head for Bible use in Norway. The organisation continuously conducts activity measurements on their website bibel.no.

Fagervik explains that part of the reason for this may be that the Bible Society posted more content online during and after the pandemic in step with the rest of society. “We threw ourselves on the digital wave and have certainly experienced an upswing”.

According to the Bible Society, in 2021, 750,000 unique users have read the Bible on bibel.no. “And they stay in there longer. The figures from the last year show that people stay on the website almost one minute longer than before”, Fagervik says.

Podcasts

Since August 2019, the Bible Society has daily published “Daily Bible words” as reading aloud on their website and various streaming platforms. “The response has been very good. Now it is sound and podcasts that apply throughout society, so it has been important for us to get on the field”, Fagervik adds.

In total, the project has had 300,000 listeners. Coming Monday, 9 May, the Bible society will release episode number 1,000, Fagervik: “It is only a few minutes of reading today’s bible text aloud, but it is very well heard. If we are a little late in posting an episode one day, we have received feedback from listeners who call for the episode”.

Annually, the Bible Society sells between 50,000 and 60,000 physical Bibles. This number has remained stable.