Bible Illiteracy

foundit66 · 06-21-2009, 04:04 AM

Quote:

Polls show that the Bible remains the most popular book of all time, and almost all U.S. homes (93 percent) have at least one. Yet only half of U.S. adults can name a single Gospel, and most don't know that the first book of the Bible is Genesis. A 2000 survey showed that even 60 percent of those chapter-and-verse-quoting Evangelicals thought Jesus was born in Jerusalem rather than Bethlehem. Similarly, a 2004 survey of high school students found that 17 percent thought "the road to Damascus" was where Jesus was crucified and 22 percent thought Moses was either one of Jesus' 12 apostles or an Egyptian pharaoh or an angel. Half of high school seniors also thought Sodom and Gomorrah were married.

But before you pile on the slacker generation, consider that one in 10 of all Americans believe that Joan of Arc was Noah's wife, and 60 percent can't name five of the Ten Commandments. Capitol Hill is no beacon of biblical scholarship, either. Another Georgia Republican (and co-sponsor of Broun's bill), Lynn Westmoreland, in 2006 pushed a bill to require the display of the Ten Commandments in the House and Senate, but then won the dubious immortality of video by going on the "Colbert Report" without brushing up on his Decalogue. Which led to this memorable exchange:
Colbert: What are the Ten Commandments?
Westmoreland: What are all of them?
Colbert: Yes.
Westmoreland: You want me to name them all?
Colbert: Yes.
Westmoreland: Uhhh. Don't murder. Don't lie. Don't steal. Ummmmm. I can't name 'em all.

Why a Real 'Year of the Bible' Would Horrify Its Sponsors -- Politics Daily

Well. I guess I can't say I'm too shocked. A lot of times the bible thumpers turn out to be the most ignorant of the bible.

I can't tell you how many discussions I've had where the "Christian" involved didn't know that the Old Testament god ordered genocide, slavery, and endorsed marrying the female virgin "spoils of war" from the country you just slaughtered.
Not to mention knowing "God is against homosexuality" like a mantra, but not knowing a lot of the other archaic verses nearby which are similarly archaic (and modernly abandoned).

And the above are the easy questions...

ThoughtCriminal · 06-21-2009, 04:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by foundit66

Why a Real 'Year of the Bible' Would Horrify Its Sponsors -- Politics Daily

Well. I guess I can't say I'm too shocked. A lot of times the bible thumpers turn out to be the most ignorant of the bible.

I can't tell you how many discussions I've had where the "Christian" involved didn't know that the Old Testament god ordered genocide, slavery, and endorsed marrying the female virgin "spoils of war" from the country you just slaughtered.
Not to mention knowing "God is against homosexuality" like a mantra, but not knowing a lot of the other archaic verses nearby which are similarly archaic (and modernly abandoned).

And the above are the easy questions...

They don't know their own Bible. Frankly, unsupervised reading of your own holy book is dangerous is dangerous to your faith because there's nobody to steer you past the particularly crazy parts or to misdirect your attention from the contradictions or offer sophistries to explain away immorality. So, as a result, the highly religious are quite unlikely to haver a comprehensive knowedge of what they endorse as God's Truth.

Instead, they wait until someone picks out a quote for them that is handy.

TC