Religious Survey Archive
Back in 2010, the Pew Forum did a survey about how much Americans know about religion. In a 32-question phone survey*, they asked people about Christianity & their bible, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Mormonism, atheism/agnosticism, and American legal issues about religion. They found that atheists/agnostics scored the highest average, even after controlling for education & other demographics like race & sex, and did particularly well on the legal questions, questions about non-Christian religions, and questions about the Bible specifically. One of the results that I find particularly amusing is that US Southerners scored worse than those from all other geographic regions on the religious knowledge questions, even after controlling for the demographics
The Pew Survey is completed, however you can take a 15-question version of the survey at Pew's website. Your results do not affect the survey's conclusions and are not counted as data. But you can see how well you do compared to Americans in general and compared to several different demographics including religious groups. The 15 questions are taken directly from the 32 questions used in the original survey. http://features.pewforum.org/quiz/us-religious-knowledge/
You can also take another survey with all 32 questions, just to see how you'd do, but it's hosted by a Christian website and called Are You Smarter Than An Atheist? and provides no way for you to indicate what your religious affiliation is. Judging purely by the way other Christian groups have doctored online polls before, I suspect that they will take the results of their totally unscientific survey (which has atheists as well as people of other religions answering it) to show that "their" respondents (the presumption being that the respondents are all Christian) are smarter than the national average and/or the atheists who took the Pew survey. But I took the survey anyway, just to see how I'd do http://m.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0105/Are-you-smarter-than-an-atheist-A-religious-quiz/
I scored 30 out of 32 on the full survey (the highest average being from atheists at 20.9 correct out of 32) and 15 out of 15 on the smaller Pew survey (better than 99% of all other respondents - no religious affiliations given). I'm archiving the results behind the cut because I'm rather proud of my knowledge and understanding of religious issues. Don't click the cut if you want to take the surveys yourself and see what you actually know, because the answers are given. Also don't bother clicking the cut if you don't want to be inundated with survey data - it's a boring list of numbers and stats that I'm only archiving for my own records and most people are not going to care how well I did compared to other religions on each question.
Pew Survey
You answered 15 out of 15 questions correctly for a score of 100%
QUESTIONYOUR RESPONSECORRECT ANSWER% OF SURVEY RESPONDENTS ANSWERING CORRECTLY1. Which Bible figure is most closely associated with leading the exodus from Egypt?
MosesMoses72%2. What was Mother Teresa's religion?
CatholicCatholic823. Which of the following is NOT one of the Ten Commandments?
Do unto others as you would have them do unto youDo unto others as you would have them do unto you554. When does the Jewish Sabbath begin?
FridayFriday455. Is Ramadan…?
the Islamic holy monthThe Islamic holy month526. Which of the following best describes the Catholic teaching about the bread and wine used for Communion?
The bread and wine actuallybecomes the body and blood of Jesus Christ.The bread and wine actually becomes the body and blood of Jesus Christ.407. In which religion are Vishnu and Shiva central figures?
HinduismHinduism388. Which Bible figure is most closely associated with remaining obedient to God despite suffering?
JobJob399. What was Joseph Smith's religion?
MormonMormon5110. According to rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court, is a public school teacher permitted to lead a class in prayer, or not?
No, not permittedNo, not permitted8911. According to rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court, is a public school teacher permitted to read from the Bible as an example of literature, or not?
Yes, permittedYes, permitted2312. What religion do most people in Pakistan consider themselves?
MuslimMuslim6813. What was the name of the person whose writings and actions inspired the Protestant Reformation?
Martin LutherMartin Luther4614. Which of these religions aims at nirvana, the state of being free from suffering?
BuddhismBuddhism3615. Which one of these preachers participated in the period of religious activity known as the First Great Awakening?
Jonathan EdwardsJonathan Edwards11
This online quiz includes 15 of the 32 religious knowledge questions that made up the telephone survey. The order and context of the questions are not exactly the same in the online quiz and telephone survey. To ease the administration of the online quiz, the wording of some questions is slightly different from the wording used in the telephone survey. For the questions used in the telephone survey, see the survey questionnaire.
Your responses on the quiz do NOT affect the U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey's results.
Compare your score: Overall Population
Here's how you did on these 15 questions (excerpted from the larger U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey) compared with a nationally representative sample of 3,412 adults Read the Full Report
Your responses on the quiz do NOT affect the U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey's results.
Compare your score: Religious Affiliation
For an analysis of the link between religious affiliation and religious knowledge, see the full report.
The graph above shows how you did on these 15 questions (excerpted from the larger U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey) compared with a nationally representative sample of 3,412 adults.
Your responses on the quiz do NOT affect the U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey's results.
Compare your score: Worship Service Attendance
For an analysis of the link between religious commitment (a measure that includes worship service attendance) and religious knowledge, see the full report.
The graph above shows how you did on these 15 questions (excerpted from the larger U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey) compared with a nationally representative sample of 3,412 adults.
Your responses on the quiz do NOT affect the U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey's results.
Compare your score: Gender
For an analysis of the link between gender and religious knowledge, see the full report.
The graph above shows how you did on these 15 questions (excerpted from the larger U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey) compared with a nationally representative sample of 3,412 adults.
Your responses on the quiz do NOT affect the U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey's results.
Compare your score: Education
For an analysis of the link between education and religious knowledge, see the full report.
The graph above shows how you did on these 15 questions (excerpted from the larger U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey) compared with a nationally representative sample of 3,412 adults.
Your responses on the quiz do NOT affect the U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey's results.
Compare your score, question-by-question: Religious Group
Here's how you did, question by question, compared to the % of people of different religious groups who answered each question correctly.
QUESTION
1. Which Bible figure is most closely associated with leading the exodus from Egypt?
- Job
- Elijah
- Moses
- Abraham
728068737148929087672. What was Mother Teresa's religion?
- Catholic
- Jewish
- Buddhist
- Mormon
- Hindu
828683668883898489773. Which of the following is NOT one of the Ten Commandments?
- Do not commit adultery
- Do unto others as you would have them do unto you
- Do not steal
- Keep the Sabbath holy
556749496345816262464. When does the Jewish Sabbath begin?
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
454741434833559456455. Is Ramadan…?
- The Hindu festival of lights
- A Jewish day of atonement
- The Islamic holy month
525153395536519075526. Which of the following best describes the Catholic teaching about the bread and wine used for Communion?
- The bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Jesus Christ.
- The bread and wine are symbols of the body and blood of Jesus Christ.
404036255947403341307. In which religion are Vishnu and Shiva central figures?
- Islam
- Hinduism
- Taoism
383140233423486272488. Which Bible figure is most closely associated with remaining obedient to God despite suffering?
- Job
- Elijah
- Moses
- Abraham
395834512619704742279. What was Joseph Smith's religion?
- Catholic
- Jewish
- Buddhist
- Mormon
- Hindu
5164552553259368714510. According to rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court, is a public school teacher permitted to lead a class in prayer, or not?
- Yes, permitted
- No, not permitted
8993908391838991958711. According to rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court, is a public school teacher permitted to read from the Bible as an example of literature, or not?
- Yes, permitted
- No, not permitted
2326211618162542402512. What religion do most people in Pakistan consider themselves?
- Buddhist
- Hindu
- Muslim
- Christian
6869636168557584897213. What was the name of the person whose writings and actions inspired the Protestant Reformation?
- Martin Luther
- Thomas Aquinas
- John Wesley
4652464047346170683714. Which of these religions aims at nirvana, the state of being free from suffering?
- Islam
- Buddhism
- Hinduism
3629362139273749624615. Which one of these preachers participated in the period of religious activity known as the First Great Awakening?
- Jonathan Edwards
- Charles Finney
- Billy Graham
111510107101012810
This online quiz includes 15 of the 32 religious knowledge questions that made up the telephone survey. The order and context of the questions are not exactly the same in the online quiz and telephone survey. To ease the administration of the online quiz, the wording of some questions is slightly different from the wording used in the telephone survey. For the questions used in the telephone survey, see the survey questionnaire.
Your responses on the quiz do NOT affect the U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey's results.
Are you smarter than an atheist? A religious quiz
Quiz results
How did you do? Would you like t try again?
30 Correct
2 Wrong
You answered 30 of 32 questions correctly for a total score of 94%.
Your results
1. When does the Jewish Sabbath begin?
Your response:Friday
Correct answer:Friday
2. What is Ramadan?
Your response:The Islamic holy month
Correct answer:The Islamic holy month
3. Do you happen to know which of these is the king of gods in ancient Greek mythology?
Your response:Zeus
Correct answer:Zeus
4. Which of these religions aims at nirvana, the state of being free from suffering?
Your response:Buddhism
Correct answer:Buddhism
5. In which religion are Vishnu and Shiva central figures?
Your response:Hinduism
Correct answer:Hinduism
6. What is an atheist?
Your response:Someone who does NOT believe in God
Correct answer:Someone who does NOT believe in God
7. What is an agnostic?
Your response:Someone who is unsure whether God exists
Correct answer:Someone who is unsure whether God exists
8. Where, according to the Bible, was Jesus born?
Your response:Bethlehem
Correct answer:Bethlehem
9. When was the Mormon religion founded?
Your response:Sometime after 1800
Correct answer:Sometime after 1800
10. The Book of Mormon tells the story of Jesus Christ appearing to people in what area of the world?
Your response:The Americas
Correct answer:The Americas
11. Which of the following best describes Catholic teaching about the bread and wine used for Communion?
Your response:The bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Jesus Christ
Correct answer:The bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Jesus Christ
12. Which of these religious groups traditionally teaches that salvation comes through faith alone?
Your response:Only Protestants
Correct answer:Only Protestants
13. Please tell me which of the following is NOT one of the Ten Commandments?
Your response:Do unto others as you would have them do unto you
Correct answer:Do unto others as you would have them do unto you
14. Which Bible figure is most closely associated with remaining obedient to God despite suffering?
Your response:Job
Correct answer:Job
15. Which Bible figure is most closely associated with leading the exodus from Egypt
Your response:Moses
Correct answer:Moses
16. Which Bible figure is most closely associated with willingness to sacrifice his son for God?
Your response:Abraham
Correct answer:Abraham
17. Would you tell me if Mother Teresa was ...
Your response:Catholic
Correct answer:Catholic
18. Would you tell me if the Dalai Lama is ...?
Your response:Buddhist
Correct answer:Buddhist
19. Would you tell me if Joseph Smith was ...?
Your response:Mormon
Correct answer:Mormon
20. Would you tell me if Maimonides was ... ?
Your response:Jewish
Correct answer:Jewish
21. Which of the following statements best describes what the U.S. Constitution (including amendments) says about religion?
Your response:The government shall neither establish a religion nor interfere with the practice of religion
Correct answer:The government shall neither establish a religion nor interfere with the practice of religion
22. According to rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court, is a public school teacher permitted to lead a class in prayer?
Your response:No
Correct answer:No
23. Do you happen to know what religion most people in India consider themselves?
Your response:Hindu
Correct answer:Hindu
24. According to rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court, is a public school teacher permitted to read from the Bible as an example of literature?
Your response:Yes
Correct answer:Yes
25. According to rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court, is a public school teacher permitted to offer a class comparing the world's religions?
Your response:Yes
Correct answer:Yes
26. Do you happen to know what religion most people in Indonesia consider themselves?
Your response:Buddhist
Correct answer:Muslim
27. Do you happen to know what religion most people in Pakistan consider themselves?
Your response:Muslim
Correct answer:Muslim
28. What was the name of the person whose writings and actions inspired the Protestant Reformation?
Your response:Martin Luther
Correct answer:Martin Luther
29. Which one of these preachers participated in the period of religious activity known as the First Great Awakening?
Your response:Charles Finney
Correct answer:Jonathan Edwards
30. Do you happen to know the name of the holy book of Islam?
Your response:Qur'an
Correct answer:Qur'an
31. What is the first book of the Bible?
Your response:Book of Genesis
Correct answer:Book of Genesis
32. Will you tell me the names of the first four books of the New Testament of the Bible, that is the Four Gospels?
Your response:Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
Correct answer:Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
*Technically, the phone survey was way more than 32 questions, but that's because it included demographic questions (i.e. age, race, religious affiliation, political party, how often they attend church, etc.) and a handful of "control" questions about non-religious stuff like what is the vice president's name and which party holds the House majority and whether lasers work via sound waves and whether antibiotics kill bacteria and what movement is Susan B. Anthony associated with and who wrote Moby Dick. But there were 32 questions on religious knowledge and the survey's goal was to determine who knew what about religion.