How Americans Think, Feel, & Act - Part 1

What Americans Think…..

I’m not sure that most Americans are very bright about issues of faith. Americans talk a lot about religious issues, but know precious little about them.

Stephen Prothero’s, new book, Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know — and Doesn't offers some startling facts. Here are a few:

Of American high school seniors:

• 50% of high school seniors think Sodom and Gomorrah were married.
• 36% of high school seniors know Ramadan is the Islamic holy month; 17% said it was the Jewish day of atonement.
• Only 10% can name all five major world religions and 15% cannot name any.
  

Of all Americans:

• Nearly two-thirds believe that the Bible holds the answers to all or most of life’s basic questions.
• Only half can name even one of the four Gospels
• Fewer than half can identify Genesis as the first book of the Bible
• 60% can't name five of the Ten Commandments.
• Only one third know that Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount.
• Approximately 75% of adults mistakenly believe the Bible teaches that "God helps those who help themselves."
• More than 10% think that Noah's wife was Joan of Arc
• 60% of evangelicals answered yes when asked whether Jesus was born in Jerusalem (only 51% of Jews answered yes).

Perhaps the most startling finding is that, according to Prothero, evangelical Christians do not fare too much better than those of other faiths or no faith when it comes to knowledge of these issues.

Coming Soon:
What Americans Feel…..
How Americans Act…..