By Jim Denison
Do atheists and agnostics know more about Christianity than Christians? That’s what you would think if you scanned the headlines generated by a recent Pew Forum test on religious knowledge.
The Los Angeles Times headlined its story this way: “If you want to know about God, you might want to talk to an atheist.” NPR: “Atheists and agnostics know more about Bible than religious.” USA Today: “Unbelievers aced out the faithful when it comes to religious knowledge.” CNN: “It’s not evangelicals or Catholics who did best — it’s atheists and agnostics.”
Is it really true that non-believers know more about faith than believers?
Atheists and agnostics answered an average of 20.9 out of 32 questions correctly; evangelical Protestants scored 17.6; Catholics scored 16.0; mainline Protestants scored 15.8. So it would seem that people with no faith know more about faith than those who have it.
But the reports I’ve read on the survey are misleading. When I went to the Pew Forum’s website to read the study, I discovered that only 12 of their 32 questions on religion dealt with Christianity. Eleven related to world religions; others focused on religion in public life.
Contrary to public impression, evangelical Christians did better than atheists/agnostics on questions dealing with Christianity. But atheists and agnostics did much better than evangelicals on questions focusing on world religions, which makes sense as 70 percent of those who are affiliated with a religion say they seldom or never read about other religions. And atheists and agnostics did better with questions about the role of religion in public life. This is not surprising, since they would likely say that they deal with this issue more than believers.
So it turns out that non-believers don’t know more about Christianity than Christians. And there’s more to the story. People who attend worship services at least once a week and say that religion is very important in their lives did better than those with less commitment. People who were members of religious youth groups did better than average. And those who read the Bible at least once a week scored better.
Though Christians know more about their faith than non-Christians, churches and ministries unquestionably must do much more to educate believers about the basics of the faith, as well as the beliefs of other religions and the role of religion in public life.
Jesus’ Great Commission includes the imperative, “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:20). Spiritual leaders are called “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:12-13). How would God measure our effectiveness?
Understanding the beliefs of others is likewise vital to transformative ministry. Paul studied the religions he found in Athens and then used what he discovered as a bridge to the gospel (Acts 17:22-23). Early Christian leaders explained Greek philosophy in equipping believers to fulfill the Great Commission. Jesus called us the “light of the world” and the “salt of the earth” (Matt. 5:13-16), change agents who are called to take our faith into public life. The more we know about the beliefs of others, the more effective we will be in showing them why Christianity is relevant to their lives.
The role of religion in public life is a critical subject for believers as well. How else will we “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s” (Matt. 22:21)?
When I graduated from college, the man who gave the academic scholarship that enabled me to attend his university pulled me aside. He looked into my eyes and said something I’ve never forgotten: “The Holy Spirit has a strange affinity for the trained mind.” The more educated we are, the more usable we are.
Our Father invites us to “reason together” (Isa. 1:18). We are called to love God “with all your mind” (Matt. 22:37). Our Lord deserves excellence in all we do. Oswald Chambers’ motto should be ours: “My Utmost for His Highest.” Does he have yours?