The Patmos Initiative

The Bible in seven global contexts. To find out more, register to join our community, the Patmos Forum, and download a copy of the official report.

An icon of a globe turning into an open book, in a circle surrounded by 7 coloured segments.

Welcome to The Patmos Initiative

We want to see a world where everyone encounters the Bible, explores its meaning and experiences its power to transform their lives and communities. We call this Bible Engagement.

Worldwide

Encounter the Bible

Lives changed

A critical moment

Today, most people with a smartphone can access the Bible, but are they engaging with it?

The Patmos Initiative aims to mobilise a global coalition for the next frontier of Bible translation: where the text is translated into human understanding, behaviour and attitudes. It’s a transformational shift that the Bible describes as writing in people’s ‘minds and hearts’ (see Hebrews 10.16). To make this a reality, we must first grasp what is in people’s minds and hearts across the world. That’s why we launched The Patmos World Bible Attitudes Survey.

A man walking outside and holding a Bible. He is wearing a white head wrap and robe.

The Patmos World Bible Attitudes Survey

The Patmos Survey, in partnership with Gallup, is the largest Bible engagement research project ever. It provides world-class data to establish a new understanding of how people relate to the Bible.

countries analysed

languages

people surveyed

Patmos – a shared imagination

The roots of this vision date back 2,000 years to the island of Patmos. It was here, the Bible tells us, that seven short letters were written to churches in seven distinct contexts, revealing a deeper insight into their spiritual condition.

The encouragement and challenges of those piercing insights continue to agitate the imagination of many communities to this day. Similarly, we hope that the missiological and audience insights from The Patmos Survey will shape a shared imagination and framework for mission. This shared framework will enable collaboration and innovation for generations to come, so that the whole world can encounter the Bible.