James Bielo was quoted in a story in the Huffington Post news blog about a study that examined the social consequences of frequent Bible reading.

Bielo was asked to comment on a recent study by Baylor University researchers that reading the Bible often leads American Christians become more concerned about issues of poverty, conservation and civil liberties

Bielo, author of two ethnographic studies of Evangelical Christians, said Franzen's findings "are not terribly surprising."

As individuals read the Bible, often in the context of other influences such as a local group or their spouse or children or a study guide, "Frequently, I think, people come to a new position, or find some nuance in what they already thought," he told Huffington Post writer David Briggs.

In his own ethnographic work with evangelicals, Bielo found that most considered religion and science to be compatible. "Ultimately, they would say all truth is God's truth," he said in the article..