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US Among Most Bible-Literate Nations

By Philip Pullella,
Reuters
Posted: 2008-04-28 22:03:48
Filed Under: Nation News, World News
VATICAN CITY (April 28) - Americans are among the world's most 'Bible-literate' people and Spaniards, French and Italians are among the most ignorant about what the "good book" says, according to a new study released on Monday.


A poll carried out in nine countries -- the United States, Britain, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Russia, Italy, Spain and Poland -- also showed Americans were most willing to donate money to spread the message of the Bible.

The poll for the Catholic Biblical Federation interviewed Christians and non-Christians ahead of a synod of Roman Catholic Bishops on the Bible due to be held at the Vatican in October.

Most respondents in the poll, which was presented at the Vatican, were Christian. Except for in the United States, Britain and Russia, most of the Christians respondents were Catholic.

Asked if they had read a phrase from the Bible in the past 12 months, 75 percents of American respondents said yes, while between 20 percent and 38 percent of respondents in the other eight countries said yes.

The lowest were Spain with 20 percent, France with 21 percent, Italy with 27 percent, and Germany with 28 percent.

Results were similar when respondents were asked if they had read a book with a religious theme in the past 12 months. Fifty-eight percent of Americans said yes. Poland was second with 50 percent and the other countries came in between 22 and 35 percent.

The poll, taken by the GFK-Eurisko research group, showed Americans prayed the most (87 percent) and the French the least (49 percent).

Americans, Britons, Dutch, Germans, Spaniards, Poles and Russian tended to pray "with my own words" whereas Italians and French tended to recite prayers they had memorized.

Germany and the Netherlands had the highest percentage of respondents who said they believed the Bible was not divinely inspired but just "an ancient book made up of legends, historical facts and teachings written by man."

The majority of respondents in all countries believed it was either the direct word of God or inspired by God.

Americans were the largest group who said they had a Bible at home (93 percent) and the French were the lowest (48 percent).

The French were the most opposed to teaching the Bible in schools whereas the Americans were split about evenly.

Poland had the highest percentage of those who said they attended religious services regularly (91 percent), followed by the United States with 77 percent and Russia with 75 percent.

Copyright 2008 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2008-04-28 18:07:33
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Recent Comments

1 - 10 of 1925
1925 comments

gnlizabeth 09:02:50 PM May 21 2008

I had to repost such a brilliant response to another post. This was milliec242 commenting on a post made by an ever so brainwashed jkentodlas.

milliec242 08:59:22 PM Apr 30 2008

As to stupid posts, your's are right at the top. According to your beliefs, your god most certainly does listen to the prayers of sinners, because according to your beliefs, everyone IS a sinner. You don't even know your own belief system. You're just pathetic, and stupid to boot.
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jkentodlas 05:07:22 PM Apr 30 2008 : HEY GNLIZABETH-GOD DOES NOT LISTEN TOO THE PRAYERS OF SINNERS(BOOK OF PSALMS)-YOU MUST BE DOING THE WILL OF GOD AND RIGHT WITH HIM FOR HIM TO HEAR AND ANSWER YOUR PRAYERS-AND IT MAY NOT BE THE ANSWER YOU EXPECT BUT THATS TOO BAD. PRAISE THE LORD-GET SAVED FIRST FRIEND BEFORE YOU MAKE ANY MORE STUPID REMARKS LIKE THE ONE YOU POSTED..

gnlizabeth 04:23:47 PM May 21 2008

jkentodlas,
Sorry but a Christian will not have the last post. The bible is bunch of stories thrown together by men, not god. There are so many contradictions within the book that make it unbelievable. Believe in god if you want but don't tell me to follow a book that says it's an abomination to wear clothes woven of two different material and it's an abomination to eat shell fish. There's only one quote that should be taken from that piece of s**t called the bible. "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." But people use the bible to justify slavery, repress women, and hate homosexuals. Rip the one page out that says love thy neighbor and burn the rest of the bible because it's all bulls**t.

jkentodlas 11:34:27 AM May 07 2008

AGAIN I SAY THAT A CHRISTIAN SHALL HAVE THE LAST POST ON THIS BOARD, NOT THE FOOLISH GOD-HATERS NOR THE SCRONERS OF HIS SACRED WORD.

jkentodlas 11:34:27 AM May 07 2008

AGAIN I SAY THAT A CHRISTIAN SHALL HAVE THE LAST POST ON THIS BOARD, NOT THE FOOLISH GOD-HATERS NOR THE SCRONERS OF HIS SACRED WORD. THE HOLY BIBLE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT BOOK A HUMAN BEING CAN READ AND OWN AND IT IS THE FINAL WORD ON MORALS -JUDGEMENT AND WISEDOM THANKS BE TOO GOD!!!

ereints 06:30:46 PM May 04 2008

B---------S-----------
And no, I am not an atheist. Your statement is B-----S-----

jkentodlas 04:15:30 PM May 04 2008

thank you Jesus-I'm glad a christian had the last word/ post on this board- thats the way it should be!

jkentodlas 12:39:17 AM May 03 2008

THE B-I-B-L-E,thats the book for me. I'll place my faith in the word of God,THE B-I-B-L-E, PRAISE THE LORD EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!

rwnamvet68 02:29:58 PM May 01 2008

For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
but whomever listens to me will live in safety
and be at ease, without fear of harm."

Rev 8:11 "Wormwood" . Listen to him and you will be without fear of harm....

rwnamvet68 02:24:44 PM May 01 2008

cnttrkgd 10:47:49 PM Apr 30 2008 "How long will you simple ones love your simple ways?

Well, we have about 4 and a half years left. Dec 2012 approaches rapidly.
Why? Google - Nibiru - Wormwood - Planet X or Planet of the crossing.

rwnamvet68 02:17:36 PM May 01 2008

bobsherihelm 02:27:10 AM May 01 2008

Sorry but Continental Plate Tectonics is NOT a theory. It is a Geological Fact. Any Geologist that states otherwise is to busy studying their prostate to see the physical proof of this Fact. I live in California and can feel the physical proof of this fact on a daily biases. Your ‘so called’ Geophysicists needs a little more schooling.

rwnamvet68 02:10:16 PM May 01 2008

cnttrkgd 09:32:23 AM May 01 2008 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness

Ah the 'Wrathe of God'. Got that from your Bible I suppose. Do you believe in your Bible? Well dig it out and go to Jeremiah 25:32 and 48:8. Then go to Rev. 8:11. The historical backup is the Egyptian Bronsbook 1589 BCE. Find out what your God has in store for you in the very near future. Find out what NASA is hiding and what your Government does NOT want you to know…..YET.

www.returnofplanet-x.com
Believing it is not my concern, but getting the word out by any means….IS.
Draw your own conclusion.

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