Do Adventists fall into this category?

[abelisle]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_rel_religious_literacy_poll

Most Americans are not knowledgeable about religion, including their own. Do we as Adventists really know what we believe? and I'm referring to most of our fellow brothers and sisters not so much the posters on this forum.

Alex

[SivartM]

I saw that and was really shocked. I answered all of the questions correctly. How can people not know these things?

I think that many Adventists would probably do well on the Christian/Jewish history questions, but much worse on questions regarding other religions.

[John317]

Probably not, but probably better than average when it comes to basic doctrines. SDAs used to be "the people of the book," because as individuals we were known as people who spent a lot time and effort on getting to know the Bible. Sadly, that's no longer the case for many SDAs.

Most SDAs don't understand the doctrines because the majority of SDA ministers almost never preach on many aspects of the church's teachings, and too many Adventist don't study on their own.

How would you propose to persuade SDAs to study and get to know their Bibles again as they once did?

[phkrause]

Probably not, but probably better than average when it comes to basic doctrines. SDAs used to be "the people of the book," because as individuals we were known as people who spent a lot time and effort on getting to know the Bible. Sadly, that's no longer the case for many SDAs.

Most SDAs don't understand the doctrines because the majority of SDA ministers almost never preach on many aspects of the church's teachings, and too many Adventist don't study on their own.

How would you propose to persuade SDAs to study and get to know their Bibles again as they once did?

John you make good points, but at the same time, at least from my experience, many don't want the doctrines preached. They want the Love of Jesus preached. And yes I think more and more don't study there Bibles either.

[SivartM]

Isn't the love of Jesus the most important doctrine? :\

[shelly]

I think alot of SDAs know what they believe, its just not the same thing that the church teaches. There is a big difference. I was in Sabbath school at my mother's church and the issue of drinking alcohol came up. About 50% of the class stated that they had a glass of wine every once in a while. They knew the position of the church, but they believed that the bible itself only preached against being drunk. They were not confused about what the church preached. They just didn't agree.

[phkrause]

Isn't the love of Jesus the most important doctrine? :\

I don't know Sivart! Is it? or me it is, but for others maybe not! To each there own. We need to let people be who they are and not tell them what they need to hear or what is most important.

[Bravus]

I got 14/15 in the online test (which was a subset of the full test the article reported on). I picked Finney rather than Edwards in the final question, which was about US history so I don't feel too bad about missing that one!

Knowledge doesn't get us saved, but what it does do is help to keep us from falling for deceptions.

[doug yowell]

I saw that and was really shocked. I answered all of the questions correctly. How can people not know these things?

Good question. I think Rip van Winkle would've done better. So much for the illusion that this generation is smarter than past generations.

[abelisle]

It seems that atheists and agnostics are best informed about religion according to this:

http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/laurilebo/3438/pew%3A_atheists_and_agnostics_best_informed_on_religion/

In my personal experience I disagree. After I retired, there was no one in the English Dept. who could teach my "Bible as/in Literature" class. The only faculty member who came close to having the necessary background was a physics teacher from Ghana who had a mother who was an Episcopalian pastor.

Maybe they're best informed about generalities dealing with societal aspects of religion and are more knowledgeable about other religions in general but many highly educated non-religious people know nothing about the Bible (at least the ones in the academic areas I was involved in).

What's your experience?

Alex

P.S. Here's another link to similar material:

http://www.pewforum.org/Other-Beliefs-and-Practices/U-S-Religious-Knowledge-Survey.aspx

[John317]

It seems that atheists and agnostics are best informed about religion according to this:

Maybe they're best informed about generalities dealing with societal aspects of religion and are more knowledgeable about other religions in general but many highly educated non-religious people know nothing about the Bible (at least the ones in the academic areas I was involved in).

What's your experience?

I agree with you. I used to be in a political organization that was atheistic. (I joined this organzation because of the anti-war movement.) But in that organization, I never met any atheists who knew the Bible. Most of the ones I talked to had only read parts of the Bible, and they usually only read it in order to pick it apart. Their familiarity with the Bible seemed to come mostly from reading books against the Bible rather than from personal study of the Bible itself.(I don't mean to imply here that I'm describing all or even most atheists. I'm only describing what I saw and heard.)

But that's why they score higher than the average person that considers themselves religious-- because atheists and agnostics are more likely to be the kind of person who is interested in the details of history and of belief systems. But knowing these kinds of elementary things doesn't mean they have a grasp of the deeper, spiritual aspects of a religion or faith.

The studies do show that Christians need to study their Bible's more. They don't show that atheists and agnostics know the religions or the religious texts very well-- they are just better informed than a lot of other people who seldom study. This fact should be an embarrassment to Christian churches.

[GreatLakesGramma]

I missed one, the one about nirvana. I wasn't sure whether it was Buddhism or Hinduism, though I knew it was one or the other. I finally decided to check Hinduism, which was incorrect. I've always been interested in what other religions and Christian denominations believe, and I read quite a bit about some of them in the past, but not so much in recent years.

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

I know a lot of pagans, atheists, and agnostics who know the Bible much better than Christians do. I think they tend to be more conscientious about what they believe, and do much more searching than the everyday Christian.

******************

The only question I missed on the survey was the one about it being legal for a teacher to read from the Bible as an example of literature. I didn't know that was legal.

[Paula]

I missed one... I put that Indonesia was predominantly a hindu nation. It is in fact, Muslim. However, I can't say I'm surprised that most Evangelicals and Catholics are "clueless". That has been my experience when speaking to them anytime the conversation gets a little bit doctrinally, deep. They know very little about the Bible, and even less about other faiths. This is especially true of "non-denominationlists" and folks from mega-churches, ala Calvary Chapel and others. Unfortunately many SDA's are falling into this trap as well!!