Nearly all pastors, along with a majority of practicing Christians and U.S. adults in general, say they are concerned about artificial intelligence misinterpreting Scripture, but they are divided on the best response to the problem, according to new research from Barna. The research, conducted in partnership with Gloo for the State of the Church initiative, was based on data from two separate surveys. One survey of 1,514 U.S. adults was conducted online in November 2025.
The second survey of 442 U.S. Protestant pastors was conducted online in December 2025. Researchers found that more than nine in 10 pastors (94%) are concerned about AI misinterpreting Scripture, compared with 83% of practicing Christians and 74% of U.S. adults overall. When asked what AI should do when interpretations of Scripture genuinely differ, 60% of pastors said all major interpretations should be presented, along with an explanation of how they differ, without indicating which one is correct.
Only 26% of practicing Christians favor that approach. Another 26% of practicing Christians believes AI should indicate which interpretation is the “right” one, but only about one in 10 pastors agree. Practicing Christians were also found to be four times as likely as pastors to want AI to settle scriptural disagreements by presenting only the most widely agreed-upon interpretation. Nearly 20% of practicing Christians — and about twice as many pastors — believe contested Scripture shouldn’t be interpreted at all.
Daniel Copeland, Barna’s vice president of research, said the approach of pastors to scriptural interpretation reflects their role in inspiring critical thinking. “Their approach points to using AI as a tool to aid their learning, not to tell them what to think,” Copeland said. “Pastors seem to want people to use the tool but let it expand their understanding and push them to think for themselves.”