A website has surveyed 37 million Bible references to rank verses by popularity, and found away of using the rankings to make searching for verses easier.
Sydney, Australia, October 22, 2007 - The most popular scriptures have been revealed after an internet survey of 37 million Bible references. The survey results rank every Bible verse by popularity and are published on the TopVerses.com website.
A new search was created from the rankings to find Bible verses more quickly. Instead of starting from Genesis, the ranked search shows popular verses first. 87 of the top 100 verses are in the New Testament, and these can now be found without looking through the Old Testament first. Top Verses ran the survey in August 2007 by counting how often every Bible verse is referenced in web pages across the internet. The 31,101 verses were ranked by the results. As well as listing top verses overall, the site uses the results to rank Bible books and chapters. The most popular verse was John 3:16, with over twice the score of its nearest rival, John 1:1. Although John was the most popular Gospel, it was only sixth overall, with Ephesians taking first place. Shorter books scored better, and Malachi was the first Old Testament book at 19th, with 5 verses in the top 1,000.
The benefit of a ranked search is demonstrated by typing "world" to find John 3:16.
Starting from Genesis, 96 verses match before John 3:16. Simply ranking the results places John 3:16 first, and saves 9 pages of wrong hits.
Church leaders have already praised the new site. Pastor Jason Hubbart from Every Nation Church, Sydney said, "Top Verses will be my new search engine when preparing sermons and for my own personal Bible study. You no longer have to search through a hundred verses to find the one you have in mind. Most of the time, I find it on the first page."
The man behind the not-for-profit site, Peter B. Chapman, spoke of the impact it was having on the internet community. "Putting the most popular verses first makes the
Bible much more accessible. All sorts of people are visiting the site and seeing the Bible in a new way. I love finding old favourites in Psalms. You can see the top 10 Proverbs by simply clicking on Proverbs."
Top Verses can be visited at www.topverses.com.
Background
The Top Verses website (www.topverses.com) was launched in October 2007 as a not-for-profit service to make the more Bible accessible. Over 37m Bible references were analysed to determine the verse rankings. These are published on the website
and used in a ranked search which finds the most popular verses first. Top Verses is funded by private donations and the sale of Bible based resources.
The website was founded by Peter B. Chapman to make scripture more accessible to a media-aware generation. Mr. Chapman earned his B.Bus. from the University of Technology at Sydney and M.Sc. from Edinburgh University. He has worked internationally in the IT industry for over a decade and is actively involved in the local church.
Results Top 10 Verses
Verses are taken from the NIV
1. 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.
2. John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
3. John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me".
4. Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
5. Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
6. Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.
7. Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
8. Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
9. 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.
10. Romans 10:9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Top 10 Books _ Ephesians
_ James
_ Titus
_ 1 John
_ 2 Peter
_ John
_ Philippians
_ Colossians
_ Romans
_ 1 Peter
Top 10 Chapters _ 2 Peter 1
_ Psalm 1
_ John 2
_ James 4
_ Romans 12
_ Isaiah 53
_ John 3
_ Romans 1
_ James 1
_ Acts 1
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