Thirty out of 50 students surveyed at Multnomah Bible College have read the entire Bible at least once. Twenty students have read an estimated 70 to 90 percent.

A poll, conducted on the MBC campus, asked, "Have you read the entire Bible?" Fifty randomly selected students participated in the poll: 15 freshmen, nine sophomores, 11 juniors and 15 seniors. Twenty-eight students were men, and 22 were women.

Of the 30 students who had read the entire Bible at least one time, 10 individuals had read the Bible randomly--either on their own or as a class requirement. Twenty students had read the Bible systematically, reading the entire Bible in one year.

Senior Rebecca Estrada said, "I have read the whole Bible at least once, some books more than others because of the specific classes that require it."

Each senior polled said he or she has read the Bible at least once, compared to three out of 15 freshmen.

The trend shows that seniors have read more of the Bible as a result of Multnomah classes such as Pentateuch, History and Poetry, Prophets, Gospels, Acts through Philemon and Hebrews through Revelation.

Each senior, however, indicated that reading the entire Bible correlated with his or her growing relationship with the Lord.

Junior Kenny Chmiel has read the Bible 17 times in his 20 years as a Christian.

Seniors were not the only group who have read the entire Bible. Seven out of 11 juniors polled said they had read the entire Bible at least once.

Kevin Lewis, a junior, said, "Starting four years ago, I made a commitment to read the Bible once each year, in addition to the required reading for each class. As a result, I learn new and interesting insights each time I read the Word."

Fifteen out of the 20 students who said they had read at least 70 percent of the Bible said the section they skipped was the minor prophets: Hosea through Malachi.

Sophomore Sherina Staton, 21, said, "I have read the entire Bible. Unless you are really motivated, the [minor] prophets will keep you from finishing!"

Three of the nine freshmen polled had read through the Bible in its entirety.

One freshman said, "I didn't realizehow much of the Bible you could read until I was forced to! Seriously, I have not read the entire Bible, but the classes I'm taking now challenge me to read more."

The poll, conducted on Oct. 25, revealed that some students had read the entire Bible as many as 17 times; however, all respondents had read specific sections two or three times.