This month marks BibleGateway.com’s 25th anniversary. The online Bible resource is the most visited Christian website in the world and has been a help and encouragement to people around the globe. The easily navigated website enables quick searches of over 200 versions of the Bible in over 70 languages, as well as helpful study resources for personal study or sermon preparation.
Each year, the list of convenient features on the site continues to grow as developers seek to find new ways to make the Bible and biblical teaching wholly accessible to a worldwide audience.
According to Bible Gateway, the website has been viewed over 14 billion times since 1993. As part of their 25th anniversary news release, Bible Gateway, located in Grand Rapids Michigan, recently revealed its #1 keyword search as well as the #1 Bible verse searched on their website.
Top Keyword Search
According to Bible Gateway, the #1 keyword search on their website is “love.” The nine highest searches after “love” are as follows: faith, peace, hope, joy, prayer, Holy Spirit, grace, healing, and forgiveness.
Top Bible Verse Search
The Bible verse searched for most often on the website is John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” The next 4 most searched verses are as follows:
#2: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future'” (Jeremiah 29:11).
#3: “I can do all this through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).
#4: “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).
#5: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
How It Began
Bible Gateway found its beginning in 1993 when the Internet–specifically the World Wide Web–was taking off in homes and classrooms around the country. The website began as an internal computer resource for students at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. But developers could never have imagined how far-reaching the resource would become.
Today the site’s impact spans the globe, with people from more than 200 countries using the site every day to read, study, and even listen to God’s Word in their own language. According to Bible Gateway, the top 10 countries who search the website are–in this order:
1. United States
2. United Kingdom
3. Canada
4. Mexico
5. Philippines
6. Colombia
7. Australia
8. South Africa
9. Brazil
10. India
Also, according to the website, the country that spends the least amount of time on the site is Sudan, a Muslim dominated country in northeast Africa.
What This Means
Without reading too much into statistical data based on a single website, here are a few takeaways:
It is interesting to note that “love” is the most searched keyword since love is supposed to define the Christian life above every other characterization. John 13:35 says, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
It is also interesting to draw the line between the most-searched keyword–love–and the most searched verse–For God so loved the world. This would seem to indicate that our world is hungry for more information about Christian love–what it means and to whom it applies.
Either non-believers are researching love (which means believers have a responsibility and opportunity to love), or believers are researching love (which means they have a responsibility and opportunity to obey what they are learning).
The fact that the website reports millions of visitors coming to the site to set up personal accounts that enable them to read, search, study, hear, compare, and share the Bible in more than 200 versions and over 70 languages indicates that Christianity and the Bible are still entirely relevant and are still finding a new and growing audience around the world.
According to the recently released news release from Bible Gateway, “Our mission statement is ‘To honor Christ by equipping people to read and understand the Bible, wherever they are,'” said Rachel Barach, who is the general manager. “What an honor and privilege to be able to serve so many people around the world during the last quarter-century, doing just that.”
~ Christian Patriot Daily
