If churches gave pop quizzes on the Bible this Sunday, most people in the pews would fail.
Lifeway Research asked more than 2,000 American Christian churchgoers dozens of questions about general Bible knowledge. The average respondent scored 51. Around 2 in 3 (65%) earn an F, below 60. Almost 1 in 10 (9%) receive a D, between 60 and 69. Another 9% receive a C, between 70 and 79. Just 8% score a B, 80 to 89, and 9% reach A status, 90 and higher.
“Church leaders often theorize that churchgoers don’t know their Bibles but have typically lacked objective proof,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “This study confirms most Christian churchgoers haven’t learned or don’t remember many things in the Bible and how it is organized.”
Bible quiz categories
The study asked dozens of questions across eight categories of Bible literacy: people of the Bible, which books of the Bible contain certain narratives, ordering specific biblical events, filling in the blanks of Bible verses, which major division suits the book of the Bible, identifying whether a book belongs in the Old or New Testament or is not part of the Bible, knowing whether a phrase is included in the Bible and general Bible knowledge.
“This study measures Bible literacy using eight approaches, with a handful of questions in each. Significant examples were selected from the Bible for the questions rather than obscure characters or events. The goal was not to trick anyone but to understand their recall of what they have read and been taught,” said McConnell.
In the people of the Bible section, respondents were most likely to correctly identify Moses as the person who received the Ten Commandments from God (94% correct v. 5% incorrect). Churchgoers were most confused over who the first king of Israel was (45% correct v. 46% incorrect). Out of the five options, Saul, the correct answer, was the top answer (45%), but 32% say David, 11% Herod, 2% Ahab, 1% Aaron and 9% not sure.
Christian churchgoers are most likely to know the great flood is in the book of Genesis (64%). Only around a third (35%) know the anointing of the first king of Israel happens in 1 Samuel. Around 3 in 10 (29%) guess 1 Kings, and a quarter (24%) aren’t sure.
Only 11% correctly order the events of Deborah judging Israel, David killing Goliath, Jonah being swallowed by a big fish and Esther delivering Israel. Churchgoers are most likely (27%) to correctly order the New Testament events of Mary’s song of thanksgiving, Nicodemus’ conversation about rebirth, Peter’s denial of Jesus and Paul’s arrest in Jerusalem.
Four in 5 (80%) Christian churchgoers can correctly fill in the blank when “believes” is left out of John 3:16. Just 28%, however, know Micah 6:8 says the Lord requires mankind to “act justly, and to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.”
Most (56%) know Mark fits in the Gospels, while 34% guess another major section of the Bible and 9% aren’t sure. On the other hand, 29% correctly place 1 Samuel in history. Most (54%) put it in a different section, including major prophets (16%), minor prophets (9%) or Gospels (6%). Around 1 in 6 (17%) aren’t sure.
Three in 4 Christian churchgoers correctly place 1 Corinthians in the New Testament (74%) and Psalms (73%) in the Old Testament. Most (55%) miss Philemon’s New Testament location, with 29% guessing it’s in the Old Testament and 26% saying it’s not a book in the Bible. Two in 3 (67%) wrongly identify Hezekiah as a biblical book. Half (51%) do the same for Haggar, and 44% wrongly believe the Gospel of Thomas is in the Bible.
In general Bible knowledge, 74% know Passover is the feast that celebrates God saving the firstborn of Israel from death. When given a list of six potential miracles and asked which one the Gospels do not record Jesus performing, half (52%) miss that Jesus did not turn stones to bread, including 21% who instead say healing an ear that had been cut off and 20% who say feeding the 4,000 are not miracles of Jesus.
Three in 4 churchgoers (74%) know “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord” is in the Bible. Only half (51%) rightly say “God shall help those who help themselves” is not in Scripture.
“Christian churchgoers are more adept at recognizing whether statements are or are not from the Bible and which people fit specific biblical events. Churchgoers struggle the most with memorizing Bible verses, understanding the major divisions of the Bible and putting biblical events in the order they occurred,” said McConnell.
Biblical habits
Around 1 in 5 (21%) say they read the Bible personally every day, and another quarter (24%) do so a few times a week. Around 1 in 10 (9%) read Scripture weekly, 14% say they read it a few times a month and 8% read once a month. Another 22% of Christian churchgoers say they rarely or never read the Bible.
In a typical week, 56% of Christian churchgoers say their pastor’s sermon is an approach they use to learn the Bible. Almost 2 in 5 (38%) include reading devotional material. Three in 10 point to reading Bible passages or chapters without stopping (30%) or studying verses on a topic, theme or question (30%).
More than a quarter say in a typical week they learn Scripture by slowly studying verse by verse through Bible passages (28%) or listening to sermons from other churches (27%). Fewer say they listen to podcasts about the Bible (23%) or read articles about the Bible (19%). One in 10 (9%) say they don’t do any of these in a typical week.
Churchgoers give a variety of reasons for engaging with the Bible. Most say they do so to help them know and relate to God (62%), to understand more of the Bible (58%), to encourage them (58%), to understand more of God’s revelation (54%), to show them how to lead a life pleasing to God (53%) and to give them advice for life (51%). Fewer say they engage with Scripture to prepare for a group Bible study (18%) or another reason (2%). Just 3% aren’t sure.
The average Christian churchgoer says 56% of their interactions with the Bible are by themselves and the remaining 44% is in a group or church setting.
“The Bible is God’s revelation of Himself to mankind and most churchgoers embrace that as a reason to engage with the Bible,” said McConnell. “This study points church leaders to the need for continuing to cast a vision for why Bible reading and Bible study matter. It also shows the importance of both helping people understand individual Bible passages and explaining the overall narrative that these episodes fit within.”
Demographic differences
Men and women had statistically similar scores on the Bible knowledge quiz. They each answer roughly half of the questions correctly on average (52% men, 51% women). There are also no statistical differences by ethnicity.
By age, 30- to 49-year-olds score higher on average than those 50-64 (54% v. 48%). Christian churchgoers 30-49 (16%) and 18-29 (11%) are most likely to score an A, while those 50-64 are most likely to fail (71%).
Christian churchgoers without evangelical beliefs are more likely than those who accept such doctrines to fail the quiz (73% v. 58%). The average churchgoer with evangelical beliefs answers 55% correctly, while those without such beliefs average 47% correct.
On average, those attending evangelical congregations answer 53% correctly, Black Protestants 51%, Catholics 49% and mainline Protestants answer 48% correctly.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, those who attend church the most and read the Bible the most score the highest on a Bible literacy quiz.
Those who attend four times a month or more have the highest average score (55%) compared with those attending three times a month (48%), twice a month (46%) and once a month (44%).
Christian churchgoers who read their Bible every day (66%) score higher on average than those who say they rarely or never read Scripture (36%). Daily Bible readers are the most likely to score an A (19%) or a B (17%) and among the most likely to earn a C (14%). Those who read their Bible once a month (84%) and those who rarely or never read it (91%) are the most likely to fail the quiz.
Score predictors
Several factors influence how much higher or lower a Christian churchgoer will score on the Bible quiz. Those likely to increase a score the most are reading the Bible every day (+13.8 points) and having a graduate degree (+10.7). Other positive factors include reading the Bible a few times a week (+7.7), saying they engage with the Bible to help them know and relate to God (+5.4) and reading devotional material (+4.8).
Other factors are likely to lead to a decreased score, including rarely or never reading the Bible (-6.2 points) and having a high school diploma or less formal education (-4.5).
“Bible literacy comes with both reading and studying the Bible — digging to understand each passage but also moving throughout the Bible regularly to aid in remembering it,” said McConnell. “Knowing the Bible involves the heart, mind and emotions. Bible literacy is impacted by a motivation to be in relationship with God, a desire to be encouraged by the Word and thoughtful exploration of its meaning.”
For more information, view the frequencies report, differences report and quiz score report and visit LifewayResearch.com. Test your biblical literacy at LifewayResearch.com/BibleLiteracyQuiz.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written and originally released by Lifeway Research.
