Religious Literacy Series

Many Americans believe:

• Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife
• The Sermon on the Mount was preached by Billy Graham
• Wicca is a style of patio furniture

While the United States is one of the most religious places on earth, it’s 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.

Join us as Pastor David explores the themes of Stephen Prothero’s best-selling book, Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know–And Doesn’t. Not a day goes by that both local and global stories involving obvious religious elements are misunderstood by the media and a majority of Americans. “We have a major civic problem on our hands,” says Prothero.  Pastor David’s Religious Literacy series will help you identify the basics that every American needs to know to help us all be more responsible in confronting the challenges facing us in our every day lives.

Religious Literacy Series 2016

• April 3rd     Religious Literacy #1: At Your Own Risk  Proverbs 1:5
• April 10th    Religious Literacy #2: A Nation of Illiterates  Proverbs 1.7
• April 17^th     Religious Literacy #3: The Greatest Story Never Read  Proverbs 16:22
• April 24^th    Religious Literacy #4: Religion Matters  Ecclesiastes 7:12
• May 1^st          ALL CHURCH CAMP
• May 8^th        Religious Literacy #5: What We Once Knew  Job 28:28
• May 15^th       Religious Literacy #6: How We Forgot  Hosea 4:6-7
• May 22^nd      Religious Literacy #7: Now What?!  James 3:13-18

 This series is based on the writings of best-selling author and Boston University Religion Professor, Stephen Prothero:

Stephen Prothero is the New York Times bestselling author of Religious Literacy and chair of the religion department at Boston University. His work has been featured on the cover of Time magazine, Oprah, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, National Public Radio, and other top national media outlets. He writes and reviews for The New York Times Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Washington Post, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Salon, and other publications. He holds degrees in American Religion from Harvard and Yale.