Posted on 04/30/2008 5:58:37 AM PDT by NYer
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Americans are among the world's most 'Bible-literate' people and Spaniards, French and Italians are among the most ignorant about what the "good book" says, according to a new study released on Monday.
A poll carried out in nine countries -- the United States, Britain, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Russia, Italy, Spain and Poland -- also showed Americans were most willing to donate money to spread the message of the Bible.
The poll for the Catholic Biblical Federation interviewed Christians and non-Christians ahead of a synod of Roman Catholic Bishops on the Bible due to be held at the Vatican in October.
Most respondents in the poll, which was presented at the Vatican, were Christian. Except for in the United States, Britain and Russia, most of the Christians respondents were Catholic.
Asked if they had read a phrase from the Bible in the past 12 months, 75 percents of American respondents said yes, while between 20 percent and 38 percent of respondents in the other eight countries said yes.
The lowest were Spain with 20 percent, France with 21 percent, Italy with 27 percent, and Germany with 28 percent.
Results were similar when respondents were asked if they had read a book with a religious theme in the past 12 months. Fifty-eight percent of Americans said yes. Poland was second with 50 percent and the other countries came in between 22 and 35 percent.
The poll, taken by the GFK-Eurisko research group, showed Americans prayed the most (87 percent) and the French the least (49 percent).
Americans, Britons, Dutch, Germans, Spaniards, Poles and Russian tended to pray "with my own words" whereas Italians and French tended to recite prayers they had memorized.
Germany and the Netherlands had the highest percentage of respondents who said they believed the Bible was not divinely inspired but just "an ancient book made up of legends, historical facts and teachings written by man".
The majority of respondents in all countries believed it was either the direct word of God or inspired by God.
Americans were the largest group who said they had a Bible at home (93 percent) and the French were the lowest (48 percent).
The French were the most opposed to teaching the Bible in schools whereas the Americans were split about evenly.
Poland had the highest percentage of those who said they attended religious services regularly (91 percent), followed by the United States with 77 percent and Russia with 75 percent.
For more on religion, see the FaithWorld blog at blogs.reuters.com/faithworld))
Conversely, 94% of homeschooled kids keep their faith all the way through college.
... Yep ... 4 kids, Christian Schools ... We tried public schools, we're done with that non-sense ...
However, the whole family is very involved in a Bible-believing church, which seems to be more important than schooling ... at least to me.
I am a convert to Catholicism from the Baptist faith. I’ve seen the other side. Please don’t tell me I don’t know how to deal with differing viewpoints; I’ve experienced many of them and found a good number of them to be faulty. I’ve found the truth and the fullness of faith in the Catholic church. If you have a problem with that, well, then, I’m sorry.
It never ceases to amaze me how non-Catholics seem to think they know the faith better than Catholics, and seem to think that linking to a non-Catholic site to refute a point is going to win us over. We’re called to task when WE provide websites that are Catholic and told that these somehow are insufficient. We expect the same level of fairness from you. I don’t need to read a website that tells me I’m going to hell because I’m Catholic.
Remember that what unites us is greater than what divides us. God bless you.
Good Post!! I was baptized Southern Baptist. I occasionally now attend Methodist, read the Bible daily as well as thank God for countless blessings. We are all yet Christians. How similar were the original 7 churches? I guarantee there were differences, but all had Jesus Christ at the center.
because they are not in the parts you read.
Lurking’
hey Tex
cute come back
but since NONE of the faithful had bibles prior to the 1500s
what do you think you son would be singing, without a bible??
seriously, how could you have your sola sciptura without the Scriptura?
what did all you protestants, splinter groups, sects and schismatics do before 1500???
Lurking’
ThasswhutI’msayin’
point me to the chapter & verse so that I CAN read them.
Amen to that!
Lurking’
Lurking’
ah, an “extra-biblical” work
Obviously, you are not Roman Catholic.
I rest my case.
Lurking’
whatever sect, schismatic or splinter group you belong to - you are certainly way too young to remember - but if you went back and got your grandpa’s Bible you would find the “extra biblical” as you put it Apocrypha.
You will be surprised to know that until the 1930s most “protestant” bibles included the deuterocanonical parts of the bible you call “extra-biblical”.
I guess it's only “extra-biblical” for you - not your forefathers.
Lurking’
Hahaha.
I think that the secularism and anti-Christian viewpoints in academia as well as in our entertainment makes us much better Catholic/Christians, at least those of us that survive with our faith intact. We study, pray and learn because of it.
An item like this should have us reinforcing our Christian beliefs, rather than attacking each other for our faith traditions.
Does God love this person more than that person because of their style of devotion?
No problem. That’s why I ended my post with a smiley face. I live in the South and there are often people here who don’t have a lot of experience with Catholics....and I understand this. ;-)
Doesn’t surprise me that Poland was up there, even before reading I knew Poland would be close with America. The Polish know the true evil of Communism and Atheism and the true love of God. I have always said if I couldn’t live in America I would choose Poland. (Most people laugh at me or give me blank stares.)
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