Thursday, April 21, 2011

Bible more popular than Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber on Facebook

The Bible page on Facebook now has more than 6.7 million fans – more than the pages of Manchester United and celebrities like Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga.

According to figures published this week by allfacebook.com, The Bible Facebook page has 6.7 million fans.

The Bible’s Facebook page is managed by Jane Pleace, of United Bible Societies. 

She said nearly one million of the page’s fans were writing comments on the wall and re-post Bible verses on their own personal pages each week.

“With their help, United Bible Societies has shared Scripture over 239 million times on Facebook in the last month alone. It’s wonderful to see people leaving comments saying how they’ve been touched by a particular Bible passage we’ve posted on our page.”

Pleace is excited that so many people are using the social media platform to access the world’s bestselling book.

“As many churches grapple how to get people to read the Bible, United Bible Societies is helping nearly seven million people read the Bible daily, using the social networking site Facebook.”

What’s more, just over half of the Bible page fans (51%) are under 25-years-old.

“Young people come to the Bible page with questions about the Christian faith. They ask deeply thoughtful, intelligent and searching questions about the teachings in the Bible,” says Pleace.

“We have the opportunity to address each question individually. We pray for these young people and we’ve been blessed to see some of them come to faith.”

It is not only Christians who are coming to The Bible page, but atheists and Muslims too. 

They are welcome too, says Pleace.

“We love to debate with people who hold different viewpoints,” she said. “We try to demonstrate God’s love for all people in our responses by showing a genuine interest in everyone.

“I’m proud of all the volunteers who respond to provoking questions with good humour and a generous spirit.

“For some people, this is their only contact with Christians, so it’s important that they know we are a loving and accepting community.”

Visit The Bible page at: www.facebook.com/TheBible