A new survey of Americans' knowledge of religion found that atheists, agnostics, Jews and Mormons outperformed Protestants and Roman Catholics in answering questions about major religions, while many respondents could not correctly give the most basic tenets of their own faiths.

Forty-five percent of Roman Catholics who participated in the study didn't know that, according to church teaching, the bread and wine used in Holy Communion is not just a symbol, but becomes the body and blood of Christ.

More than half of Protestants could not identify Martin Luther as the person who inspired the Protestant Reformation. And about four in 10 Jews did not know that Maimonides, one of the greatest rabbis and intellectuals in history, was Jewish.

The survey released Tuesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life aimed to test a broad range of religious knowledge, including understanding of the Bible, core teachings of different faiths and major figures in religious history. The U.S. is one of the most religious countries in the developed world, especially compared to largely secular Western Europe, but faith leaders and educators have long lamented that Americans still know relatively little about religion.

Respondents to the survey were asked 32 questions with a range of difficulty, including whether they could name the Islamic holy book and the first book of the Bible, or say what century the Mormon religion was founded. On average, participants in the survey answered correctly overall for half of the survey questions.

Atheists and agnostics scored highest, with an average of 21 correct answers, while Jews and Mormons followed with about 20 accurate responses. Protestants overall averaged 16 correct answers, while Catholics followed with a score of about 15.

Not surprisingly, those who said they attended worship at least once a week and considered religion important in their lives often performed better on the overall survey. However, level of education was the best predictor of religious knowledge. The top-performing groups on the survey still came out ahead even when controlling for how much schooling they had completed.

On questions about Christianity, Mormons scored the highest, with an average of about eight correct answers out of 12, followed by white evangelicals, with an average of just over seven correct answers. Jews, along with atheists and agnostics, knew the most about other faiths, such as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism. Less than half of Americans know that the Dalai Lama is Buddhist, and less than four in 10 know that Vishnu and Shiva are part of Hinduism.

The study also found that many Americans don't understand constitutional restrictions on religion in public schools. While a majority know that public school teachers cannot lead classes in prayer, less than a quarter know that the U.S. Supreme Court has clearly stated that teachers can read from the Bible as an example of literature.

"Many Americans think the constitutional restrictions on religion in public schools are tighter than they really are," Pew researchers wrote.

The survey of 3,412 people, conducted between May and June of this year, had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, while the margins of error for individual religious groups was higher.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_rel_religious_literacy_poll#mwpphu-container

The complete stydy findings: http://pewforum.org/Other-Beliefs-and-Practices/U-S-Religious-Knowledge-Survey.aspx

Discuss!

I blame church being so unbelievably boring. The bible is a boring read, church is a chore... there has to be a better way to brain wash people.

The Church should pay Bioware to make RPGs telling bible stories. They might even get new recruits going that route.

No surprise there, Athiests knowing the most about religions makes complete sense to me.

the more you know about religion, the less you want to know about religion

True; but only true if you are intellectually deficient.

its an expression...it means that when you find out more about it, you dont like what you find out and wish that you didnt know it...geez...

I think its the fact that American culture has belittled religion. I ask my friends which faith they belong too. Most say I believe theirs a God so I'm Christian. Or my family is Catholic so I am too. These people do not actually educate themselves in their faiths. Its pretty bad and our western culture just teaches people that if they believe in God wow they must be Christian.

Athiests probubly know more about their beliefs and the beliefs of others as most of them are converts. Almost every Athiest I've met started out with a religious belief but through brain washing they were converted to Athiesm. But that means they first had to find holes in their own faiths so they in turn learn alot about both their faith and others.

Like for example how many people think Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses are Christian. People in North America just don't educate themselves in religion as much as they should. If everyone started to go to church or temple or where ever their religious sites are. Then I think we would have a much more enlightened world.

Also this poll, what are the figures? How many people of each faith were interviewed? Were more Catholics and Christian's , Jews interviewed then the Athiests. I mean sure Athiests love to brag about their superior brain power but in reality I highly doubt they could school Christians and Catholics as much as they did.

I have to disagree with this, honestly as a Athiest I my not believe in the faith aspect of world religions but you do have to recognize the importance of the myth to our culture and the development of our minds.

lol thats funny, no offence but I've taken Biology in University (A few years ago but still) I also go to church 3-4 times a week. I have read many theology books. I have read the Quran , Torrah and many Buddhist and Sikh holy scriptures and I feel more compelled to my own faith then ever.

It depends on what you look for. If your constantly looking for every little hole in logic then your bound to find some. In the same way I have found countless holes in Macro Evolution. The more I learn about it the more I feel stupified.

It works the same way for me as you, I'm looking for holes in your belief your looking for holes in mine. The more you look the more holes you'll find. And Vice Versa

Check my initial post. The second link leads directly to the site of the organisation which conducted the study. On the right of the page you'll find "in this report" written in a red case. There you'll find links to all the details, including the full report and I pressume all the answers to your questions are in there.