Who knows what about the Christmas Story?

A survey carried out by the public theology think tank, Theos, has been getting quite a bit of publicity with reports in the Telegraph, the Times, and on the BBC website which has an extensive discussion about the results.

The survey presented 4 multiple choice questions to a sample of 1015 people:

(1) According to the story in the Christian Bible, where was Jesus born?

Choice of: Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Nazareth, Jericho, None of these

(2) According to the story in the Christian Bible,who told Mary that she would give birth to a son?

Choice of: wise men, an angel, shepherds, Joseph, None of these

(3) According to the story in the Christian Bible, who was Jesus’ cousin?

Choice of: Peter, Luke, James, John the Baptist, None of these

(4) According to the story in the Christian Bible, where did Joseph, Mary and Jesus go to escape from King Herod when Jesus was a young child?

Choice of: Nazareth, Babylon, Egypt, Rome, None of these

While most of the press coverage has, understandably, focussed on the general ignorance of the British population, the break-down of the figures shows a fascinating and in many ways disturbing result in terms of the church’s teaching of its own members and the level of basic literacy among those who profess to be Christians and regular church attenders.

In addition to offering a break-down of the figures by age, class, gender and region, the full data includes a breakdown on the basis of how the respondent would describe their own beliefs.

The categories are:

• I am a Christian who regularly attends church
• I am a Christian who does not regularly attend church
• I am a Muslim
• I am a member of another religion
• I am a doubter - I’m not sure whether I believe in God or not
• I am an atheist - I don’t believe in the existence of God at all
• None of these
• Refused
• Don’t know

The first category only comprised 161 respondents in the weighted base and their answers were as follows (the correct answer is now listed first, in case you’re unsure!)

Q1 - Bethlehem (83%), Nazareth (11%), Jerusalem (3%), Jericho (1%), Don’t know (2%)

Q2 - An angel (83%), wise men (2%), shepherds (4%), Joseph (8%), Don’t know (2%), Refused (1%)

Q3 - John the Baptist (75%), Peter (9%), Luke (2%), James (3%), Don’t know (10%), Refused (1%), None (1%)

Q4 - Egypt (44%), Nazareth (46%), Babylon (3%), Rome (1%), Don’t know (6%), Refused (1%), None (1%)

How did they do over all?

Well 2% of the Christians who regularly attend church didn’t get any right.

10% got 1 right

25% got 2 right

27% got 3 right

36% got all 4 right (the next highest grouping for all right was those who said they were Christian but did not regularly attend church where only 11% managed to get all 4 correct).

In other words, under 2/3 (63%) got more than 50% in this basic test.

Interestingly, agnostics and atheists consistently did better than Muslims (29% of whom got none right and 22% only one right ie more than half could not answer more than one correctly) and those of other faiths (where 39% got 3 right) although both samples are small.

Revisiting the Anglican Communion map

The Fulcrum Newsletter I wrote and noted on the blog last week - entitled "The Anglican Communion: Mapping the Terrain" - led to a fascinating level of response, much of it critical.

As a result I’ve written two further pieces trying to engage with some of the issues raised. As they are rather too lengthy to put on the blog (though if there is demand then I can) I have posted them up online as PDFs.

The first is a general response on the challenges of mapping. This asks

1. Is mapping – particularly of this level of complexity - a helpful exercise - particularly at the present moment?
2. Is the map accurate and helpful?
3. Where am I/are we on the map?
4. What do we do with it?

The second has a focus on the main area of controversy in the mapping - the validity and usefulness of suggesting it is helpful to distinguish two approaches among conservatives on sexuality which I then labelled "rejectionist" and "reasserter".

This looks at

1. Is it accurate and helpful to distinguish two positions on sexuality among conservatives?
2. Are the names I gave accurate and helpful?
3. Was the quotation I used an unfair slur on the "rejectionist" group?
4. Are the distinguishing features I offered accurate and helpful?
5. Does the distinction help understand the current tensions within the Communion?

I look forward (I think) to any further responses and ongoing discussion either here or on other blogs.

T.F. Torrance (1913-2007)

Awoke this morning to find an email with the sad news that Professor T.F. Torrance died yesterday, Sunday, 2nd December 2007.

The first of doubtless many tributes to this theological giant is by George Hunsinger.

For those unaware of the greatness and significance of the man and his life and thought there is the T.F. Torrance Theological Fellowship and the works of Alister McGrath and Elmer Colyer

If you want to hear him lecture (back in the early 1980s) there is a set of MP3s online

Many will join in giving thanks to God for him and praying for his family - many of them of course distinguished theologians - that at this time of their loss they will know Advent hope and the joy of the resurrection.