One Third of Americans Say Bible is Literally True (Full Version)

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selfbnd411 -> One Third of Americans Say Bible is Literally True (5/25/2007 10:08:23 AM)

Interesting that belief in fundamentalism decreases with education.

May 25, 2007
One-Third of Americans Believe the Bible is Literally True
High inverse correlation between education and belief in a literal Bible

by Frank Newport

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- About one-third of the American adult population believes the Bible is the actual word of God and is to be taken literally word for word. This percentage is slightly lower than several decades ago. The majority of those Americans who don't believe that the Bible is literally true believe that it is the inspired word of God but that not everything it in should be taken literally. About one in five Americans believe the Bible is an ancient book of "fables, legends, history, and moral precepts recorded by man."

Belief in a literal Bible is strongly correlated with indicators of religion, including church attendance and identification with a Protestant or other non-Catholic Christian faith. There is also a strong relationship between education and belief in a literal Bible, with such belief becoming much less prevalent among those who have college educations.

...

The analysis of these data shows one demographic variable that is highly related to views of the Bible -- education. The higher the level of education, the less likely the individual is to believe that the Bible is the actual, literal word of God.

http://www.galluppoll.com/content/?ci=27682



philosophy -> RE: One Third of Americans Say Bible is Literally True (5/25/2007 10:11:07 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: selfbnd411

The analysis of these data shows one demographic variable that is highly related to views of the Bible -- education. The higher the level of education, the less likely the individual is to believe that the Bible is the actual, literal word of God.



...does this mean that education is the enemy of faith? Or just the enemy of excessive faith?



KatyLied -> RE: One Third of Americans Say Bible is Literally True (5/25/2007 10:13:42 AM)

quote:

Interesting that belief in fundamentalism decreases with education.


That makes sense to me.



selfbnd411 -> RE: One Third of Americans Say Bible is Literally True (5/25/2007 10:22:34 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: philosophy
...does this mean that education is the enemy of faith? Or just the enemy of excessive faith?


That's the question [:D]

I tend to think that education increases one's willingness to think critically.  For instance, there's a story in the Bible where a Levite is traveling through a foreign land.  He finds no hospitality (a violation of custom) until finally he comes across a man from his own region, who takes him in.  The men of the town come pounding on the door, demanding to have sex with the male traveler and threatening violence if he does not present himself.

The man who took him in protects his guest by offering his daughter and his guest's female consort.  He tells the men of the town that they may do whatever they want to the women, but they should leave his guest alone.  They proceed to brutally rape the consort all night long.  The next morning, the traveler wakes to find his consort dead on the steps of the house.

What does he do?  He takes a knife and cuts her body into many pieces, sending the flesh and bones to each of the twelve tribes of Israel!  I guess the point was supposed to be that all Israelites should be ashamed and never let such a violation of the custom of hospitality happen again.

What is the lesson for those who believe that the Bible is literally true?  BTW, I was never told this story in Church.  I learned it years later when I got bored and decided to read the Bible for my own education.  The only way to understand this story is to interpret it.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=judges%2019&version=50;



luckydog1 -> RE: One Third of Americans Say Bible is Literally True (5/25/2007 10:28:59 AM)

I went to a church school, and took classes in Bible History, Chruch History/ Episicopalian Theology, and comparative world religions.  They were all trimester courses so we spent one year on all three.  Seriously studying the bible and the development of modern Christianity makes a belief in fundamentalism virtually impposible.  I think removing such subjects from the public schools has led to an increase in ignorant fundamentalism in our society.



Sanity -> RE: One Third of Americans Say Bible is Literally True (5/25/2007 10:29:55 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: selfbnd411

Interesting that belief in fundamentalism decreases with education.

May 25, 2007
One-Third of Americans Believe the Bible is Literally True
High inverse correlation between education and belief in a literal Bible

by Frank Newport

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- About one-third of the American adult population believes the Bible is the actual word of God and is to be taken literally word for word. This percentage is slightly lower than several decades ago. The majority of those Americans who don't believe that the Bible is literally true believe that it is the inspired word of God but that not everything it in should be taken literally. About one in five Americans believe the Bible is an ancient book of "fables, legends, history, and moral precepts recorded by man."

Belief in a literal Bible is strongly correlated with indicators of religion, including church attendance and identification with a Protestant or other non-Catholic Christian faith. There is also a strong relationship between education and belief in a literal Bible, with such belief becoming much less prevalent among those who have college educations.

...

The analysis of these data shows one demographic variable that is highly related to views of the Bible -- education. The higher the level of education, the less likely the individual is to believe that the Bible is the actual, literal word of God.

http://www.galluppoll.com/content/?ci=27682


I bet that a lot of them are intolerant, holier-than-thou types too, who look down their noses at anyone who isn't just like them. What do you think should be done withthose types, anyway...



philosophy -> RE: One Third of Americans Say Bible is Literally True (5/25/2007 10:34:46 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Sanity


I bet that a lot of them are intolerant, holier-than-thou types too, who look down their noses at anyone who isn't just like them. What do you think should be done withthose types, anyway...


.......not emulating them for a start.



pahunkboy -> RE: One Third of Americans Say Bible is Literally True (5/25/2007 10:38:27 AM)

i disagree. just the other day- Jesus wasn't paying attention gabbing on a cell phone as he turned into Walmart!

[in a van with 12 men dressed in white sheets and sandals]



cyberdude611 -> RE: One Third of Americans Say Bible is Literally True (5/25/2007 10:50:15 AM)

I think it is just that since colleges place such high importance in critical thinking, that one is less likely to believe simple fables written in an ancient text as fact.

Studies have shown that correlations do exist in that as a person's education increases, their faith in the bible decreases. However their belief in god does not change much. So although education seems to be an enemy of the bible, it doesn't appear to be an enemy of god. A person with a PhD for example is not very likely to believe the earth was created in 6 days. However someone with only a high school education is much more likely to believe this. Yet, both may believe in the same god.



SirDominic -> RE: One Third of Americans Say Bible is Literally True (5/25/2007 10:57:13 AM)

quote:

Chruch History


Interesting slip of the fingers. Crutch History? Very appropriate. lol.

The tragic flaw with fundamentalism is that belief in the Bible cannot be proved, it must be accepted on faith. So far, so good. The problem arises when people take that same way of thinking into the rest of their lives. When faith is what you live by, proof of a fact becomes pointless, indeed irrelevent. No amount of proof will sway someone who believes faith is all. Many religious leaders use this fact shamelessly to keep their flock thinking the way "they" want them to.

Namaste, Sir Dominic



LadyEllen -> RE: One Third of Americans Say Bible is Literally True (5/25/2007 10:58:35 AM)

Is this just a roundabout way of saying that people in Kansas are stupid?

The thing is, there is some valuable stuff in the Bible and other ancient religious texts - but only if its interpreted, and we're only talking about a tiny minority of it at that. The problem with interpreting it, is that we can only do so through our own worldview, and being as Europeans in no way and never connected with any of the goings on in it, its more than likely that we might get entirely the wrong picture compared to what was intended by its authors.

A similar problem exists for a literal interpretation. We simply have no knowledge of the social and cultural norms wherein the text abides, and so even with the most direct interpretation we might get it entirely wrong. And this is to ignore that the Bible is a production compiled from thousands of books written over a very long period indeed, to establish the authenticity of a certain interpretation of a certain offshoot of Judaism.

I see it more as a very interesting historicised mythology, or mythologised history, in its first part, and in its second part as just one of many interpretations of the life and deeds of one Nazarene heretic. It really makes me worry that there seem to be so many people, in the most powerful country in the world, who think its literally true - not worried so much that they believe it to be so, for they are entitled to hold whatever beliefs they wish, but worried in that it almost certainly might affect their conduct and behaviour, and given some of the examples to follow in the Bible......

E



outlier -> RE: One Third of Americans Say Bible is Literally True (5/25/2007 11:50:18 AM)

These people should spend less time reading The Bible
and more time reading about it.  The book I would recommend
is Bart Ehrman's 'Misquoting Jesus'.

Ehrman is an acknowledged biblical scholar .   Rather than
give my own interpetation or evaluation of this work  I will
give you these sources.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5052156

http://www.amazon.com/Misquoting-Jesus-Story-Behind-Changed/dp/0060738170

And this review copied from the Amazon page.

Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
The popular perception of the Bible as a divinely perfect book receives scant support from Ehrman, who sees in Holy Writ ample evidence of human fallibility and ecclesiastical politics. Though himself schooled in evangelical literalism, Ehrman has come to regard his earlier faith in the inerrant inspiration of the Bible as misguided, given that the original texts have disappeared and that the extant texts available do not agree with one another. Most of the textual discrepancies, Ehrman acknowledges, matter little, but some do profoundly affect religious doctrine. To assess how ignorant or theologically manipulative scribes may have changed the biblical text, modern scholars have developed procedures for comparing diverging texts. And in language accessible to nonspecialists, Ehrman explains these procedures and their results. He further explains why textual criticism has frequently sparked intense controversy, especially among scripture-alone Protestants. In discounting not only the authenticity of existing manuscripts but also the inspiration of the original writers, Ehrman will deeply divide his readers. Although he addresses a popular audience, he undercuts the very religious attitudes that have made the Bible a popular book. Still, this is a useful overview for biblical history collections. Bryce Christensen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Outlier



seeksfemslave -> RE: One Third of Americans Say Bible is Literally True (5/25/2007 12:02:11 PM)

selfbnd411:
Are you equating the statements ?
(1) the Bible is literally true
(2) the Bible is the word of God

What about allegory metaphor fable  allusion and any other "hi falutin'' term that may be used to describe attempts to  spread an ethical or value system that represents a core truth. That truth cannot be disseminated by a literal description because it  is beyond the capacity of the human mind to unravel or truly comprehend.

The answer to the question you may immediately try to pose is...revelation lol

Also many "educated" people wish to project an image of being worldy wise and sophisticated and may well not reveal what they truly believe. NO ?



KeirasSecret -> RE: One Third of Americans Say Bible is Literally True (5/25/2007 12:40:49 PM)

Which is worse, misinterpretation, or not believing?

Perhaps, education tends to disprove misinterpretation. Either way, I believe it is man, who is the enemy of faith; not education.

Does it not make sense that those who live with lower incomes, would feel a need to rely on faith, while those with money can just hand and over good ol’ Ben, or a denomination there of?

Personally, I believe the bible is a little of both, some fable, some fact; all true.



philosophy -> RE: One Third of Americans Say Bible is Literally True (5/25/2007 12:52:48 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: KeirasSecret

Either way, I believe it is man, who is the enemy of faith; not education.



...given that the human is the only animal capable of faith, then to say that man is the enemy of faith is something of a paradox.
Surely it is some quality of humanity, not humanity itself that is the enemy of faith.



KeirasSecret -> RE: One Third of Americans Say Bible is Literally True (5/25/2007 1:04:43 PM)

quote:

...given that the human is the only animal capable of faith, then to say that man is the enemy of faith is something of a paradox.
Surely it is some quality of humanity, not humanity itself that is the enemy of faith.  


Hmmm, you could have a point; I will have to think on that. Im not sure I understand what capability has to do with it.

Does it assume creation of?



CuriousLord -> RE: One Third of Americans Say Bible is Literally True (5/25/2007 1:27:41 PM)

Religion is typically based on the idea that people just have to "accept" (assume) things that aren't observed (and find their basis in fairy tales, though I section this off since you don't have to acknowledge the Bible 'n such as a fairy tale to follow this argument).  This idealogy is not only not scientific, it's anti-scientific.

Education today largely revolves around Science and its derivatives.  The more educated one is, the more probable one has increasing levels of exposure to scientific ideas.

Since religion is anti-scientific, and those with more education are likely to be more inclined towards scientific prospective, it seems to follow that a more educated person will take less stock in religious beliefs, to include a literal intereptation of the Bible.



KeirasSecret -> RE: One Third of Americans Say Bible is Literally True (5/25/2007 1:47:07 PM)

quote:

Since religion is anti-scientific
 
I disagree, I believe it is misinterpretation, that makes people believe it is anti-scientific.
 
Example: The bible says God created Earth in six days, it also says a thousand years are but a day to God.
 
Now, I'm not sure how that translates mathmatically, but it does tell me that what we think of as "a day", is not even remotely, close to what God would consider a day.



philosophy -> RE: One Third of Americans Say Bible is Literally True (5/25/2007 1:51:37 PM)

It seems to me that the capability to have faith requires an ability to imagine not having faith, in other words it is a choice based on an internal dialogue regarding the nature of reality. As far as i am aware only humans have that ability, ergo only humans can have faith.
Hope that clears that up :)



CuriousLord -> RE: One Third of Americans Say Bible is Literally True (5/25/2007 1:53:24 PM)

A "day" is the period of time in which the Earth rotates once.  No matter how great a being is, a day is still just a day.  A terribly powerful, ultra-human with a mind of a god and muscles of a titan may be able to do great things in this time span- but it's still just twenty-four hours.  But this isn't my point.

In Science, you start with as little as possible.  The basic observations of the world around you.  Note something- then go on.

Religion calls for one assuming something that isn't found in this, "the scientific method", and is thusly not scientific.

Later, when you consider the nature of reality, you find that science and religion conflict.  Many, many times, religion's adapted, trying to make these conflicts go away by yielding its own nature- trying to evolve to avoid people realizing it's untrue.  But, in the end, it conflicts with things that have been found scientifically, and is thus anti-scientific.



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