Latest / Challenges of Faith Radio Program / How did U do on today's Quiz? Ep 3457

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How did U do on today's Quiz? Ep 3457 · Challenges of Faith Radio Program

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  Speaker 1: And tell me, gracious God, as we come before your
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  Speaker 1: holy presence, we thank you for who you are and
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  Speaker 1: who you continue to be in each of our lives.
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  Speaker 1: As we enter today's message, we ask you to allow
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  Speaker 1: your Holy Spirit to speak to the believer of the
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  Speaker 1: household of faith. Have them to ponder, have them to think,
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  Speaker 1: have them to pray, have them to understand what's occurring
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  Speaker 1: in and around their lives. And out of it all,
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  Speaker 1: may Christ and only Christ be glorified. In Jesus' name
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  Speaker 1: we ask you and thank you.
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  Speaker 2: Amen.
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  Speaker 1: Welcome back to Challenges of Faith radio program. I'm Gary McCants.
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  Speaker 1: You know, today as you prepare to attend your place
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  Speaker 1: of worship, all I would ask is that you ponder
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  Speaker 1: today's message. Think about it. I know you are. Two
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  Speaker 1: in three church corps Bible literacy quiz. Lifeway Research laid
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  Speaker 1: it all out. It says students take exam in classroom.
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  Speaker 1: Bible literacy. Think about that. Bible literacy. Now, if it's
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  Speaker 1: students doing that, how about you? Or you? Or you?
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  Speaker 2: Or you?
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  Speaker 1: And maybe what's surprising, that's not surprising, is that those
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  Speaker 1: who attend, you know, your place of worship, the church,
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  Speaker 1: the most, you know, you go on every single moment
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  Speaker 1: of the day, and you're reading the Bible, score the
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  Speaker 1: highest on a Bible literacy quiz. You know, again, Aaron Earle,
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  Speaker 1: in this report, really laid it out. And the question
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  Speaker 1: you have to ask and answer where you attend, is
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  Speaker 1: the information true for your individual life and for your
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  Speaker 1: congregation or for you sitting in the pews? If, you know,
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  Speaker 1: churches or places of worship gave a pop quiz on
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  Speaker 1: the Bible today, why are you sitting there? Would it
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  Speaker 1: be accurate to say that most people in the pews
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  Speaker 1: would fail? Well, there were some believers of the household
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  Speaker 1: of faith who were attending their church, and they were
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  Speaker 1: asked some questions about just general Bible knowledge. And it
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  Speaker 1: was reported that the average respondent scored only 51. Round
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  Speaker 1: two and three, 65% earned an F. below 60, and
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  Speaker 1: almost 1 in 10, you know, 9% received a D.
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  Speaker 1: Between 60 and 69, and another 9% received a C.
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  Speaker 1: Between 70 and 79, and just 8% score a B, 80, 89,
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  Speaker 1: and 9% reached A status, which was 90 and higher.
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  Speaker 1: And it was said that, you know, the leaders of
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  Speaker 1: your place of worship or your place of worship often
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  Speaker 1: theorize that those attending, you know, sitting in the pews
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  Speaker 1: don't know their Bibles, but have typically lacked objective proof.
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  Speaker 1: And that's what Scott McDonald, who's the executive director of
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  Speaker 1: Lifeway Research, laid out. He indicated that the study confirmed
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  Speaker 1: that most people sitting in the pews haven't learned or
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  Speaker 1: don't remember many things in the Bible and how it's organized.
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  Speaker 1: And again, the question today for you and you and
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  Speaker 1: you and you is how well do you score? Oh,
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  Speaker 1: you say you score pretty good? Well, you know that's
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  Speaker 1: great now. So you're ready to take that Bible literacy
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  Speaker 1: quiz right now. You sure? Oh, okay. You sure? All right. Well,
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  Speaker 1: rather than making something up, let's just go with the
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  Speaker 1: quiz that a lot of people were asked in this research.
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  Speaker 1: And it came out of eight categories of Bible literacy.
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  Speaker 1: You know, people of the Bible, which books of the
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  Speaker 1: Bible contain certain narratives and ordering specific biblical events and
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  Speaker 1: filling in the blanks of Bible verses, which major division
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  Speaker 1: suits the book of the Bible, or identifying whether a
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  Speaker 1: book belongs in the Old or New Testament, or was
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  Speaker 1: not a part of the Bible, and knowing where a
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  Speaker 1: phrase is included in the Bible, and, you know, just
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  Speaker 1: general Bible knowledge. And what was interesting is that the
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  Speaker 1: study measured Bible literacy using eight approaches with a handful
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  Speaker 1: of questions in each, so I know you read it.
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  Speaker 1: Because important examples were selected from the Bible for the
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  Speaker 1: questions rather than obscure characters or events. And the goal
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  Speaker 1: was not to trick anybody, just like now, but to
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  Speaker 1: understand their recall or your recall of what you've read
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  Speaker 1: and been taught. You have learned, have you not? But
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  Speaker 1: the good question, I don't know if it's good, have
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  Speaker 1: your pastor taught it? Because we look at the people
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  Speaker 1: of the Bible section, you know, the people who were
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  Speaker 1: provided the quiz were most likely to correctly identify Moses
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  Speaker 1: as the person who received the Ten Commandments from God.
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  Speaker 1: But what do you say? Well, in that quiz, 94%
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  Speaker 1: were correct versus 5% incorrect. And the people sitting in
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  Speaker 1: the pews, like you, or what could be behind the pulpit,
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  Speaker 1: were most confused over who the first king of Israel was.
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  Speaker 1: Did you know who it was? Because in that survey,
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  Speaker 1: 45% was correct versus 46% who were incorrect. And out
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  Speaker 1: of the five options, Saul, the correct answer, was the
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  Speaker 1: top answer. 45% but 32% said David was, and 11%
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  Speaker 1: said Herod, 2% Ahab, and 1% Aaron, and 9% not sure.
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  Speaker 1: And then the people sitting in the pews are most
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  Speaker 1: likely to know the great flood is in the book
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  Speaker 1: of Genesis. But let me ask you, is it? You know,
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  Speaker 1: 64% said it was. Only around a third, 35%, knew
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  Speaker 1: the anointing of the first king of Israel happened in,
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  Speaker 1: what chapter did it happen in? What book did it
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  Speaker 1: happen in? In 1 Samuel, around 3 in 10, 29%
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  Speaker 1: guessed 1 Kings and a quarter, 24%, they weren't sure,
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  Speaker 1: are you? And only 11% corrected the order of the
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  Speaker 1: events of it. Who was the lady that judged Israel
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  Speaker 1: before I respond? You finished? Deborah. Who killed.
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  Speaker 2: Goliath?
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  Speaker 1: David. Who was swallowed by a big fish? Jonah. And
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  Speaker 1: who delivered Israel? What female delivered Israel?
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  Speaker 2: Esther.
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  Speaker 1: And guess what? The people sitting in the pews were
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  Speaker 1: most likely 27% to correctly order the New Testament events of,
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  Speaker 1: whose song was it of thanksgiving? Mary. Who held a
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  Speaker 1: conversation with our Savior about rebirth? Nicodemus. Who denied our
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  Speaker 1: Savior during his arrest? Peter. Was anyone else that Peter
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  Speaker 1: denied during the arrest in Jerusalem? I'm giving you a hint.
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  Speaker 1: You finished? Paul. And guess what? Four in five, 80%
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  Speaker 1: Christian church courts can correctly fill in the blank when
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  Speaker 1: What is left out of John 3, verse 16? Believes.
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  Speaker 1: And just 28% knew that in Micah 6, verse 8,
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  Speaker 1: that the Lord requires mankind to act justly and to
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  Speaker 1: love faithfulness and to walk humbly with your God. Did
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  Speaker 1: you know that? Did you?
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  Speaker 2: Only 56% knew that Mark fits in the gospel, while
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  Speaker 2: 34% guess another major section of the Bible.
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  Speaker 1: And 9% are not sure. And on the other hand,
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  Speaker 1: 29% correctly place 1 Samuel in history. Most, 54%, put
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  Speaker 1: it in a different section, including major prophets. 16%, minor prophets.
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  Speaker 1: 9% or gospel, 6%. And around 1 in 6, 17%
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  Speaker 1: are not sure. Three in four believers of the household
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  Speaker 1: of faith attending your place of worship sit in the pews.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe it's you, maybe it's your pastor. Correctly placed 1
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  Speaker 1: Corinthians in the New Testament. 74% in Psalms, 73% in
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  Speaker 1: the Old Testament. Most, 55% miss Philemon's New Testament location
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  Speaker 1: with 29% guessing it's in the Old Testament and 26%
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  Speaker 1: saying it's not in the book of the Bible. And
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  Speaker 1: it also can be pronounced Philemon. There was 2 in 3,
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  Speaker 1: 67% that wrongly identified Hezekiah as a biblical book. Half,
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  Speaker 1: which was 51%, do the same behavior. And 44% wrongly
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  Speaker 1: believe the Gospel of Thomas is in the Bible. Where's
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  Speaker 1: the Gospel of Thomas at? So think about it. In
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  Speaker 1: general Bible knowledge, How many of you know what the
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  Speaker 1: Passover represented? 74% knew that Passover is the feast that
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  Speaker 1: celebrates God's saving, the firstborn of Israel from death. And
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  Speaker 1: then when given a list of six potential miracles and
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  Speaker 1: asked which one the Gospels do not record, Jesus performing, well,
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  Speaker 1: before I continue, Do you know what they are? Are
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  Speaker 1: you sure? You sure?
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  Speaker 2: Okay.
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  Speaker 1: Well, half, which is 52%, missed that Jesus did not
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  Speaker 1: turn stones to bread, including 21% who instead say healing
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  Speaker 1: an ear that had been cut off, and 20% who
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  Speaker 1: say feeding the 4,000 are not miracles of Jesus. Say what?
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  Speaker 1: And three in four church scores, 74% know vengeance is mine,
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  Speaker 1: I will repay, says the Lord, is in the Bible.
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  Speaker 1: And only half, 51%, rightly say God shall help those
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  Speaker 1: who help themselves is not in Scripture. Haven't you heard
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  Speaker 1: that all your life, that God helps those who help themselves?
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  Speaker 1: If that was the case, why would you need God?
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  Speaker 1: It's not in the scripture. But you already knew that,
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  Speaker 1: didn't you? I know you did. You did, didn't you?
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  Speaker 1: And you also knew that sin and abuse are more
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  Speaker 1: adept at recognizing whether the statements are or not from
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  Speaker 1: the Bible and which people spit specific biblical events. Because
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  Speaker 1: your pastor is teaching you, but apart from that, you're
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  Speaker 1: independently researching and studying for yourself. You are, aren't you?
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  Speaker 1: During that research, it also indicated that those attending the
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  Speaker 1: place of worship, maybe they should struggle the most with
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  Speaker 1: memorizing Bible verses and understanding the major divisions of the
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  Speaker 1: Bible and then putting biblical events in order that they occurred.
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  Speaker 1: If you talk about America, or your country, your country,
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  Speaker 1: your country, those of you who listen to Challenges of
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  Speaker 1: Faith radio program from abroad, but if you look at
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  Speaker 1: the United States and you correlate it along the word
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  Speaker 1: of God, how many of you know that the United
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  Speaker 1: States is not mentioned in biblical prophecy? And when you
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  Speaker 1: look at the prophetic events, how many of you are
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  Speaker 1: looking at what's occurring That's fitting into the timetable of
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  Speaker 1: God for the return of Jesus Christ. Are you paying attention?
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  Speaker 1: Is your pastor paying attention? Are they teaching you? Are
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  Speaker 1: you learning? How about biblical habits? Around 1 in 5,
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  Speaker 1: 21% say they read the Bible personally every day. And
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  Speaker 1: another quarter, 24% say they do so a few times
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  Speaker 1: a week. Around 1 in 10, 9% read scripture weekly,
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  Speaker 1: and 14% say they read it a few times a month.
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  Speaker 1: And 8% read once a month, and another 22% said
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  Speaker 1: in a few say they rarely or never read the Bible.
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  Speaker 1: What's your excuse? What's your excuse? I remember... Being blessed
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  Speaker 1: to present a message at a place of worship with
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  Speaker 1: older people. I'm speaking of older people. Where if you
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  Speaker 1: went and you saw the headstones in the cemeteries, you
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  Speaker 1: would see 1700s and 1800s. And I remember saying, always
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  Speaker 1: take your Bible to your place of worship and read
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  Speaker 1: for you because that pastor can tell you anything, mislead
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  Speaker 1: you and deceive you, misinterpret, water down, compromise the Word.
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  Speaker 1: with that particular place of worship and with that particular
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  Speaker 1: individuals who were sitting in the pews, I learned humbly, respectfully,
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  Speaker 1: that the individuals could not read or write. But what's
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  Speaker 1: your excuse? In a typical week, 56% of those sitting
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  Speaker 1: in the Few say that a pastor's sermon is an
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  Speaker 1: approach they use to learn the Bible. Almost 2 in 5,
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  Speaker 1: 38% include reading devotional material. 3 in 10 point to
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  Speaker 1: reading Bible passages or chapters without stopping. 30% are studying
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  Speaker 1: verses on a topic theme or question. 30% and more
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  Speaker 1: than a quarter say in a typical week they learn
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  Speaker 1: scripture by slowly studying verse by verse through Bible passages.
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  Speaker 1: And 28% were listening to sermons from other churches, 27%.
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  Speaker 1: And fewer say they listen to podcasts about the Bible, 23%.
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  Speaker 1: Or read articles about the Bible, 19%. And then 1
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  Speaker 1: in 10, 9% say they don't do any of these
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  Speaker 1: in a typical week. There was an individual who happened
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  Speaker 1: to be white. He approached an individual who happened to
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  Speaker 1: be black. And he was trying to give the individual
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  Speaker 1: who happened to be black a religious tract, T-R-A-C-T. The
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  Speaker 1: individual who happened to be black said, no, thank you.
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to watch you. I'm going to watch you,
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  Speaker 1: not what you give me. Those sitting in the pews,
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  Speaker 1: maybe that's you, give a variety of reasons for engaging
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  Speaker 1: with the Bible. Most say they don't They do so
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  Speaker 1: to help them know and relate to God, 62%. And
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  Speaker 1: to understand more of the Bible, 58%. To encourage yourself, 58%.
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  Speaker 1: And to understand more of God's revelation, 54%. And to
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  Speaker 1: show you how to lead a life pleasing to God, 53%.
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  Speaker 1: And to give you advice for life, 51%. But there
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  Speaker 1: are fewer that say they engage with Scripture to prepare
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  Speaker 1: for a group Bible study, 18%. Or another reason, 2%.
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  Speaker 1: and just 3% of you are not sure. And the
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  Speaker 1: average person sitting in the pews, say 56% of their
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  Speaker 1: interactions with the Bible are by themselves, and the remaining
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  Speaker 1: 44% is in a group or church setting. The Bible
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  Speaker 1: is God's revelation of himself to mankind, and most churchgoers
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  Speaker 1: embrace that as a reason to engage with the Bible.
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  Speaker 1: said McConnell. He also indicated that this study pointed church
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  Speaker 1: leaders to the need for continuing to cast a vision
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  Speaker 1: for why Bible reading and Bible study matters. It also
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  Speaker 1: shows the importance of both helping people understand individual Bible
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  Speaker 1: passages and explaining the overall narrative that these episodes fit
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  Speaker 1: with them. And then I had a chance to look
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  Speaker 1: at the demographic differences. That men and women have statistically
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  Speaker 1: similar scores on the Bible knowledge quiz. That they each
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  Speaker 1: answer roughly half of the questions correctly on average, 52%.
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  Speaker 1: 52% men, 51% women. And there are no statistical differences
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  Speaker 1: by cultures. He said by age 30 to 49 years old,
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  Speaker 1: score higher on average than those 50 to 64%. 54%
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  Speaker 1: versus 48%, and that those sitting in the pews, 30%
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  Speaker 1: to 49%, 16% and 18% to 29%, 11% are most
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  Speaker 1: likely to score an A, while those 50% to 64%
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  Speaker 1: are most likely to fail. Wow, 71%. And then you
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  Speaker 1: had the belief systems that you're sitting in the pews,
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  Speaker 1: or maybe behind a pulpit, are most likely than those
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  Speaker 1: who accept such doctrines to fail the quiz, 73% versus 58%.
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  Speaker 1: And that the average churchgoer with doctrinal beliefs answers 55% correctly,
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  Speaker 1: while those without such beliefs average 47% correct. And on average,
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  Speaker 1: those attending congregations that teach doctrine and sound doctrine answers
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  Speaker 1: 53% correctly, Black Protestants, 51%. Catholics, 49%. And mainline Protestants,
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  Speaker 1: 48% correctly. And then it laid it out, and unsurprisingly,
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  Speaker 1: those who attend the place of worship and read the
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  Speaker 1: Bible the most score the highest on a Bible literacy quiz.
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  Speaker 1: And those who attend four times a month or more
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  Speaker 1: have the highest average score, which is 55%. compared with
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  Speaker 1: those attending three times a month, 48%, twice a month, 46%,
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  Speaker 1: and then once a month, 44%. And then they indicated
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  Speaker 1: that those who are attending the place of worship and
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  Speaker 1: sending the pews who read the Bible every day, 66%
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  Speaker 1: score higher on average than those who say they rarely
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  Speaker 1: or never read Scripture, 36%. And that daily Bible readers
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  Speaker 1: are the most likely to score an A, 19%, or
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  Speaker 1: a B, 17%, and among the most likely to earn
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  Speaker 1: a C, 14%. And those who read their Bible once
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  Speaker 1: a month, 84%, and those who rarely or never read it, 91%,
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  Speaker 1: are the most likely to fail the quiz. And again,
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  Speaker 1: I come back to you today. Yes, you. Have you
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  Speaker 1: taken the quiz? Do you know the answers? You sure?
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  Speaker 1: How are you following the scriptures? Study to show thyself
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  Speaker 1: approved unto God. It didn't say unto your pastor. It
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  Speaker 1: didn't say your mom. It didn't say your priest. It
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  Speaker 1: didn't say your human teacher. It didn't say your friends,
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  Speaker 1: your family, your neighbors, the people, but God. Do you
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  Speaker 1: even know the scripture where you can find it? But
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  Speaker 1: most importantly, how did you do today? On the quiz.