The recording of the New Testament, You’ve Got the Time, was released in time for Lent when some 30,000 people joined in listening to it over 40 days.

It was made in collaboration with the Riding Lights Theatre Company and brings together 31 stage actors, including The Bill’s Russell Boulter as Luke and the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Israel Oyelumade.

Bible Society spokesperson Andy Bissex said: “As part of the King James Bible’s 400th anniversary, we want to help Christians engage with the Bible.

“Bible reading is at an all-time low because people aren’t confident about reading the Bible. It can be hard to read, but we all grow up listening to stories, so this is a great way to hear the greatest story ever told.”

People were encouraged to listen their way through the New Testament over the forty days of Lent, but now it is hoped that churches across the country will take up the listening scheme during the rest of the year.

Bissex is excited by the number of people who have already listened to the audio Bible but says he wants that figure to rise from tens of thousands to millions.

“We really hope this will be an easy way for people to access the Bible. Listening to the New Testament fills the dead time in the day. You can listen to what God has to say to you while driving your car, walking the dog or going to the gym,” he said.

Eric Sparkes listened to the audio Bible over Lent together with his wife, Gillian. The retired civil servant from Swindon said listening to You’ve Got the Time had inspired them to start praying together.

“It absolutely brought the Bible to life for us,” he said.

“It has brought us closer together. We didn’t share Bible reading and prayer before. Now we pray together.”

Geoff Rhodes, a retired scientist also living in Swindon, had a positive experience too when he listened to the New Testament over Lent.

“I’ve been reading the Bible since my late teens. But the actors put a lot more emphasis into it than you would get in a church service or reading it yourself,” he said.

“It made the Bible come alive in a way that it didn’t before. I’ve already been recommending it to other people.”

Although You’ve Got the Time is free to download, Bible Society is encouraging users to make a donation to support its work in bringing the Bible to people in the developing world.

Bissex said: “The church is growing phenomenally around the world. Some 15,000 people become Christians every day in China alone. Yet Bibles are expensive and only half the world’s languages have scriptures.

“By giving, people will be enabling others to access the Bible, either through the printed word, through audio Bibles or literacy schemes helping people to read using the Bible.”