Atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons are among the highest-scoring groups in a 32-question survey of religious knowledge in 2011 by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. On average, Americans got 16 of the 32 questions correct. Atheists and agnostics got an average of 20.9 correct answers. Jews (20.5) and Mormons (20.3). Protestants got 16 correct answers on average, while Catholics got 14.7 questions right.
(CSM) Are you smarter than an atheist? A religious quiz
Posted in * Culture-Watch, Religion & Culture
FWIW, I got 94%. Missed two involving Eastern religions & on one of those should have known better. Very interesting article, will forward to others.
Got them all correct, but I’m not certain of what this is diagnostic of.
I got them all correct also. I find it rather sad that most people got only 16-20 of the 32.
I got them all right except question 12 which repeats the myth that for Catholics salvation is not by faith. I wrote a comment to that effect. Question 22 about a public school teacher leading prayer is also misleading. By that point in the quiz I realized the writers of the test were pretty ignorant and read the question as including “in the public school” and answered accordingly. But as I reminded the newspaper public school teachers have the same right to free exercise of religion that we all have. And with the quiz being published in the Christian Science Monitor I was surprised not to have any questions on Christian Science. I suspect the quiz came from the Mormons because there are several questions about that church and its history.
#4 I also missed 12 and I agree with you on that. I suppose the use of the word “traditionally” lets the person who concocted the quiz off the hook; that is the popular misconception.
I hesitated over #12; however, having heard too many “evangelicals” tell me (erroneously) that Catholics believe you have to work your way into heaven, it seems fair to say that “salvation by faith alone” is the mantra which self-distinguishes many Protestants from Catholics.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church is, I understand, the doctrinal affirmation of the Ordinariate. Paragraph 161 says, “Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent him for our salvation is necessry for obtaining that salvation. . . .” The footnote references St. Matthew 10:22, 24:13, Hebrews 11:6 – and Council of Trent DS 1532.