Religious Literacy

When reading about the Afghanistan war, many people begin to conflate all Muslims with the radicals that we hear about on a daily basis. But what about this wonderful woman and her family and friends, who use Islam as a rich resource to promote peace?

Dividing us broadly into Christian, Hindu or Muslim might make for neat chapter headings in comparative religion books, but in a globalized, pluralistic world, the brand names don't say enough about the actual spiritual lives of individuals.

But what this irreligious, apathetic stance toward religion and the religious doesn't account for is the fact that we live in a world where many people do think and do care about religion -- a lot.

The only way the Bible can be a sexual rulebook is if no one reads it. Unprotected Texts seeks to offer a comprehensive, accessible discussion of the Bible in its entirety.

How important is it to know that Jonathan Edwards was an 18th-century revivalist? The survey's focus on factoids obscures a central challenge of the 21st century: negotiating the absolute conflict of multiple religious absolutes.

The real headline coming out of this week's survey on God in America should be that our knowledge of religion is not as bad as other subjects, and is arguably stronger.

And how do you compare with the average American? Here's your chance to find out. Take this short, 15-question quiz, and see how you do in comparison...

For all of the talk of America being a "Christian Nation" and being founded on "religious principles," many Americans are as misinformed about religion as they are about history, basic science and geography.

Washington, D.C. -- Atheists and agnostics, Jews and Mormons are among the highest-scoring groups on a new survey of religious knowledge. They outperf...

A new survey of Americans' knowledge of religion found that atheists, agnostics, Jews and Mormons outperformed Protestants and Roman Catholics in answ...

At the present juncture of history, Western Christianity is suffering from a bad case of spiritual amnesia. Even those who claim to be devout or conservative often know little about the history of their faith traditions.

Every religious leader -- Rabbi, Imam, or Priest -- must be required to know a second religious language.

Speaking as someone who, well, had the conversion experience 14 years ago that I recounted in my last post, we Christians too often fail in these ten ways.