Americans have limited knowledge of religion, according to the Pew Forum Religious Knowledge Survey. The average respondent answered only 16 of 32 questions correctly, with just under half of Christians able to cite all four Gospels. Only eight test takers achieved a perfect score, while atheists, agnostics, Jews, and Mormons performed the best.
The Pew Forum Religious Knowledge Survey, conducted in 2010, found that Americans have somewhat limited knowledge of religion. The average respondent answered only 16 of the 32 questions correctly, which covered topics such as the Bible, Christianity, Judaism, Mormonism, world religions, religion in public life, atheism, and agnosticism. Just under half of Christian respondents could cite all four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). Mormons and white evangelical Protestants fared better on this question. More than 70 percent of those respondents knew the right answer. Only 17% of Jewish respondents answered the question about the Gospels correctly.
Who knows what to say about religion?
Of the 3,412 people who took the survey, only eight test takers achieved a perfect score.
At least 8 out of 10 Americans know that teachers aren’t allowed to lead public school classes in prayer, that an “atheist” is someone who doesn’t believe in God, and that Mother Teresa was a Catholic.
The three groups that performed best? Atheists and agnostics (an average of 20.9% correct), Jews (20.5%) and Mormons (20.3%).
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