"Are you smarter than an atheist?"

57 percent of Protestants can name the Bible’s four gospels.

I found that fact in the Christian Science Monitor's article "In US, atheists know religion better than believers.  Is that bad?"   I read the article after taking their quiz on religious knowledge, "Are you smarter than an atheist?"  (Hat tip to Nicola of Back to Books for pointing me to this.)

Really?  Only a littler better than half of Protestants know the names of the gospels?   The basis of the article is this:

Atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons are among the highest-scoring groups in a 32-question survey of religious knowledge 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.

The article is fairly short; read the whole thing.  I disagree with the people who say "academic" knowledge about one's religion is not important.  I don't think everyone has to be a Biblical scholar but understanding the basics of one's own religion, and others too, is important.  How can we talk intelligently about our beliefs if we don't know much about them?   And why do people who reject faith know more about it than believers? 

Of course we don't use a quiz like this as a marker for faith. I think it just shows a lack of curiosity.  Learning about other religions is interesting to me and I don't fear that I'll learn something that will make me question my own Christian beliefs.  I don't worry about that with my kids, either.  I think the more we know, the better. 

Take the quiz.  It's only 32 questions, nearly all multiple choice.  Some are related to prayer in schools in the US.  I had to guess on a couple of questions, and there were some I knew the answers to but have no idea why. I'm going to have my kids take it too.  I don't expect them to do well.  There are some questions about Mormonism and Judaism that will probably stump them.  I'll be interested to see if they can correctly answer the questions about prayer in school. 

What do you think?  Is intellectual knowledge unimportant?  Can we have a strong faith if we don't know much about it?  

Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.   - Matthew 22:36-38

They'll know we are Christians by our... tags?

From this morning's news:

Florida's 'I Believe' plates hit roadblock

I didn't know anyone was coming up with religious vanity plates. Now there's a conflict in Florida over the proposed plate there - the usual church and state separation argument. If a license plate has a cross on it, and the words "I believe," is the state endorsing Christianity?

I don't really have an opinion on that. I'm not a legal scholar.

But then, I wouldn't buy a vanity plate for any reason. I could just donate the $25 right to the charity the plate supports, and cut out the middle man. I don't need to proclaim my faith with my license plate.

Looks like this might get ugly:

Supporters countered that not approving it could also result in a lawsuit.

That makes me laugh, though it should make me sad and angry. Imagine that - Christians fighting for the right to force the state to create a symbol for their cars so they can show off to everyone what good Christians they are? Didn't Jesus have a few words for people like that?
This is not acting in a Biblical manner. It does not glorify God. And it makes Christians look like goofballs. Contentious goofballs.

Not a big fan of contemporary Christian music, but Steven Curtis Chapman rocks out a little and this song seems appropriate:

Well I got myself a T-shirt that says what I believe
I got letters on my bracelet to serve as my ID
I got the necklace and the key chain
And almost everything a good Christian needs, yeah
I got the little Bible magnets on my refrigerator door
And a welcome mat to bless you
before you walk across my floor
I got a Jesus bumper sticker
And the outline of a fish stuck on my car
And even though this stuff's all well and good, yeah
I cannot help but ask myself ...

What about the change
What about the difference
What about the grace
What about forgiveness
What about a life that's showing
I'm undergoing the change, yeah
I'm undergoing the change

- From "The Change" by Steven Curtis Chapman, based on 2 Corinthians 5:17 and 3:18:

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

My advice: Get a bumper sticker. Or 10 of 'em - plaster them all over the car! We have the legal right to do that.

And get a Bible. Then read it.

Give the rest of the $25 to the poor, via your church or some other organization.

Problem solved.