Is the exodus from Egypt a New Testament or Old Testament event? What about the crossing of the Jordan, the healing of a man born blind, a miraculous escape from prison, or the healing of Naaman’s leprosy? It’s hard to believe, but according to a new study, 1 in 10 “American Protestant Churchgoers” (11%) can’t answer those sorts of questions.
The survey asked this question, “Of all the stories found in the Old Testament of the Bible, which one is your favorite?” (As a side note, I don’t believe we should use stories when talking about the Bible as story means “fairytale; not true” in our culture today. So I’ll use “biblical accounts” throughout this blog). Of those surveyed, 11% answered with an account from the New Testament, not the Old. Another 10% either couldn’t identify a single account from the Old Testament or had no favorite passage. Biblical illiteracy is rampant.
Interestingly—and not surprisingly given our research—the second-most-popular account is Noah and the ark (marginally surpassed by the exodus and Moses), and when combined, 32% of favorite accounts were from Genesis.
The study also looked into churchgoer’s confidence in their ability to quote, summarize, or accurately recall various accounts—and the results were dismal. For most of the accounts they asked respondents about, around 25% of respondents said they could only provide a quick overview of each account (some, like Noah’s ark, had higher degrees of confidence than others).
Now that might not seem too bad—after all, 24% of churchgoers claim they can recite all of Daniel and the lion’s den from memory, and 39% think they could accurately summarize it, and numbers for other popular accounts were in that ballpark. But the study also had a control—and that’s where it gets worrisome.
The study asked respondents about the story of Romulus and Remus. Now note that I said story this time. And that’s because this is a mythological account from the ancient Romans to explain how Rome and the Roman civilization were founded—by twin brothers, fathered by the god Mars and cared for briefly by a wolf and a woodpecker. One brother later kills the other, among other atrocities. It’s certainly not real history and is nowhere found or mentioned in the Bible. So what did survey respondents say when they were asked about the story of Romulus and Remus?
Only 39% recognized this story is not part of the Bible. Only 4 in 10 churchgoers! The others believed it was in the Bible but that they “couldn’t tell any of it” (33%), an astonishing 16% said they could “give a quick overview,” 6% said they could recall most of it, and 1% even said they could recite it from memory! It’s shocking that 6 in 10 churchgoers were unable to recognize that a Roman myth isn’t in the Bible. And, for me, that calls into question the honesty of their answers regarding other biblical accounts!
Biblical illiteracy is at astonishingly high levels in the church. So many Christians don’t know their Bibles because they aren’t reading them, and they aren’t receiving biblical teaching from all of God’s Word in their churches. They know a few fuzzy basics and that’s about it—and that’s dangerous because it’s God’s Word that changes hearts and minds, that is powerful, and that is our weapon in this spiritual battle we’re in. Without God’s Word, Christians are weaponless and largely defenseless, unable to effectively live for Christ.
And we have no excuse. We have more access to God’s Word in print, audio, digital, and even video formats than ever before. Think about the many people groups who don’t yet even have any of the Bible in their language. We have more access to good Bible teaching, study helps, and resources. And yet Christians are apathetic, their Bibles are dusty, and their children are left to glean their worldview from the culture with a moral lesson thrown in during Sunday school each week. It’s a far cry from the commands throughout Scripture that God’s Word be constantly on our lips and in our hearts and minds.
