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Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know--And Doesn't, by Stephen Prothero
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The United States is one of the most religious places on earth, but it is also a nation of shocking religious illiteracy.
- Only 10 percent of American teenagers can name all five major world religions and 15 percent cannot name any.
- Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe that the Bible holds the answers to all or most of life's basic questions, yet only half of American adults can name even one of the four gospels and most Americans cannot name the first book of the Bible.
Despite this lack of basic knowledge, politicians and pundits continue to root public policy arguments in religious rhetoric whose meanings are missed—or misinterpreted—by the vast majority of Americans.
"We have a major civic problem on our hands," says religion scholar Stephen Prothero. He makes the provocative case that to remedy this problem, we should return to teaching religion in the public schools. Alongside "reading, writing, and arithmetic," religion ought to become the "Fourth R" of American education.
Many believe that America's descent into religious illiteracy was the doing of activist judges and secularists hell-bent on banishing religion from the public square. Prothero reveals that this is a profound misunderstanding. "In one of the great ironies of American religious history," Prothero writes, "it was the nation's most fervent people of faith who steered us down the road to religious illiteracy. Just how that happened is one of the stories this book has to tell."
Prothero avoids the trap of religious relativism by addressing both the core tenets of the world's major religions and the real differences among them. Complete with a dictionary of the key beliefs, characters, and stories of Christianity, Islam, and other religions, Religious Literacy reveals what every American needs to know in order to confront the domestic and foreign challenges facing this country today.
- Sales Rank: #174399 in eBooks
- Published on: 2009-10-13
- Released on: 2009-10-13
- Format: Kindle eBook
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Prothero (American Jesus), chair of the religion department at Boston University, begins this valuable primer by noting that religious illiteracy is rampant in the United States, where most Americans, even Christians, cannot name even one of the four Gospels. Such ignorance is perilous because religion "is the most volatile constituent of culture" and, unfortunately, often "one of the greatest forces for evil" in the world, he writes. Prothero does more than diagnose the problem; he traces its surprising historic roots ("in one of the great ironies of…history, it was the nation's most fervent people of faith who steered Americans down the road to religious illiteracy") and prescribes concrete solutions that address religious education while preserving First Amendment boundaries about religion in the public square. Prothero also offers a dictionary of religious literacy and a quiz for readers to test their knowledge. This book is a must-read not only for educators, clergy and government officials, but for all adults in a culture where, as Prothero puts it, "faith without understanding is the standard" and "religious ignorance is bliss." (Mar.)
Copyright � Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* The author of I^ American Jesus (2003) opens this important book with a paradox. To wit, Americans are deeply religious I^ and profoundly ignorant about religion; that is, one of the most religious countries is also a nation of "religious illiterates." Prothero calls religious illiteracy dangerous because religion is one of the greatest forces for good--as well as evil--in the world. Nowadays, standing on shaky religious ground can be literally a matter of life and death. To cite two brief examples of America's religious illiteracy: only half of American adults can name one of the four Gospels, and 10 percent of Americans believe that Joan of Arc was Noah's wife. Prothero defines religious literacy--what it is, and what it is not. He also discusses the two great religious revivals in U.S. history, the Second Great Awakening of the nineteenth century and the postwar revival of the 1940s and 1950s. He argues both the constitutionality and the necessity of teaching--with an emphasis on spreading knowledge, not inculcating values--about religion in public schools and higher education. He suggests that every U.S. public high school should require a course on the Bible and another on the religions of the world. And he devotes an entire chapter to "a modest list" of a hundred or so religious terms that he deems essential, from I^ Abraham to I^ Zionism, to any American's religious knowledge. A must-read on its subject. June Sawyers
Copyright � American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
“This book is a must-read not only for educators, clergy and government officials, but for all adults.”
Most helpful customer reviews
205 of 227 people found the following review helpful.
Not Religion 101
By S. Porretta
I saw this book discussed on "The Jon Stewart Show" and thought the premise was interesting. I share in the author's concern about the increasing religious illiteracy of our nation. It doesn't mean that you have to be religious to appreciate the value that religion has contributed historically and culturally. As the author states, you just can't be an educated citizen without knowledge of religion, especially in times like these when religion is infusing our politics be it from the Religious Right or from dangerous misconceptions that we have about Islam. In order to be a good "world citizen," you really do need to know about religion. That is the author's premise in a nutshell.
Now, having said this, the book is not exactly what I expected. It is divided into three parts, outlining what we used to know about religion starting from Colonial times, how we gradually inadvertently became increasingly illiterate about the subject, and the author's ideal proposal of how to get back our knowledge, which is a very ambitious proposal indeed. I enjoyed the first chapter or so where he discusses the extent to which Americans are illiterate about religion by citing startling statistical examples of misconceptions in the general public and humorous mistakes that students make in identifying Bible characters and stories. I also enjoyed the mini quiz that you can take to see just how illiterate you are.
However, with a title like the one this book has, I expected to be told outright just what it is we need to know about religion as is relevant to our times. I did not find this in the book except for the last chapter which is a dictionary of religious terms that the author believes are essential for us to know in our modern world. If only the entire book had been a discussion about this, I would have been more satisfied. It is more a history lesson about what we used to know and how we have lost that knowledge, but doesn't tell you really what you do need to know. So I found the title misleading.
The author does state clearly that the book is not a text on "Religion 101," but I wish it had been. Granted, I never read any reviews or even the description on the book beforehand - I just went on the title alone. But if only he had, for example, broken up the book into sections about topics that are relevant in the here and now, such as what Americans need to know about Islam (its holy book, major characters, teachings, and divisions). And another chapter on Christianity as far as divisions between Protestants and Catholics, about what different Protestant denominations believe, about morality and values, etc. All of these things are covered in the dictionary at the end of the book, but not so much in depth. This would have been different than just a "Religion 101" book because it would have dealt with religious topics and terms relevant to the here and now - indeed, it would have been an early 21st century primer on what we really need to know about religion to be educated world citizens in this day and age. That is what I had been expecting and I was disappointed that it was not.
45 of 47 people found the following review helpful.
Clearing the Confusion on Prothero's Superb and Timely Manifesto on Education about Religion
By David Crumm
Looking over the online reviews of Stephen Prothero's superb book, "Religious Literacy," it's obvious that many readers were drawn to the book as a primer on world religions -- which Stephen could have written. He's chair of the religion department at Boston University and well qualified to write such a book.
But, in fact, there are a whole lot of terrific overviews. Search for books by Huston Smith or (even though Stephen Prothero often takes issue with themes in her works) Karen Armstrong or find a terrific book like "Talking With God: Portrait of a World at Prayer" -- or "How to Be a Perfect Stranger" or "The Atlas of Religion." The list goes on and on of wonderful books that provide precisely that kind of overview experience. It's true that scholars debate among themselves on details -- Stephen and Karen would disagree on some points, for instance. But this field is well planted.
What we've got here is a 150-page overview of how Americans reached this point of almost defiant ignorance about religion -- not anyone reading this review, I'm sure. You're reading this review because you know how important it is for us all to understand the impact of faith on the world -- for good and sometimes, tragically, for ill.
Then, Prothero adds a terrific 85-page "Dictionary of Religious Literacy," which is perfect for parents, students, teachers, clergy -- and professionals in almost any field who meet the public regularly. This is the kind of book you want to have handy on your shelf to pull down and flip to this concise Dictionary section.
Then, he's got his widely shared quiz on religion, suggestions for further reading -- and a whole lot of "Notes" that can guide you deeper into exploring the many issues he raises.
Understood for what it is, the book is very, very important. Most Americans I've encountered myself -- as a journalist covering the impact of religion for nearly a quarter of a century -- tend to think that religion is something that has been excluded from public education -- and we're, generally, disturbed by that fact. Well, in this book, Prothero eloquently explains why we got to this point -- what can be done (and a whole lot can be done fairly easily!) -- and why we all should care.
Excellent book. One of those books, in this era, that ranks as a "must own" volume for me and for many readers I've talked with since the book appeared.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Four Stars
By Beth Spitzer
Good explanations of the World's religions
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