Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know--And Doesn't

by Stephen Prothero

The United States is one of the most religious places on earth, but it is also a nation of shocking religious illiteracy. 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.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, History, Theology, Spirituality, Philosophy, Education

304 pages, Hardcover

First published March 13, 2007

About the author

Stephen Prothero is a professor in the Department of Religion at Boston University and the author of numerous books, most recently Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know—And Doesn't and American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Idol. He has commented on religion on dozens of National Public Radio programs and on television on CNN, NBC, CBS, FOX, PBS, MSNBC and Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. A regular contributor to The Wall Street Journal, he has also written for The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, Slate, Salon.com, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and The Boston Globe.

Prothero has argued for mandatory public school Bible literacy courses (along the lines of the Bible Literacy Project's The Bible and Its Influence), along with mandatory courses on world religions. Prothero defines himself as a "confused Christian".

Reviews

[Jason Pettus · Rating 1 out of 5]

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)

I had been really looking forward to reading this book ever since first hearing about it; it's a supposed beginner's guide to the world's major religions, explaining to us stupid Americans the basic tenets behind such complicated subjects as the gods of Hinduism, the morality of Islam, the ten commandments of Christianity, etc etc. But it turns out that this book is not that at all; it is instead mostly an insulting and patronizing lecture about what a bunch of morons almost all Americans are, and how we should all be ashamed of ourselves for daring to speak in public about the issue of religion in the first place. And that's...true, don't get me wrong, but was not the book I was expecting to read, nor the kind of book I have any interest in reading; I already get that most Americans are horribly ignorant when it comes to these issues, including myself, which is the whole reason I picked the book up in the first place. And sure, there actually is a section of this book that tries to explain these basic issues about world religions; but not only does it take up less than a third of the entire manuscript, but also follows no logical sense whatsoever, with the author instead merely giving us a series of dictionary entries listed in mere alphabetical order, giving us no sense of how these topics relate to each other but merely spitting out just enough information for us to not look like idiots at cocktail parties. This book is not only worthless from a practical standpoint, but edges on offensive to anyone who dares to bother taking an interest in it; I recommend skipping it altogether, and sticking to Wikipedia when it comes to learning the basics of the world's major religions.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once, I (a Buddhist) had to explain to my Christian co-worker that the movie "Babel" referred to the Old Testament tale of the Tower of Babel and the origin of languages. We've gotten ignorant in the US, and Mr. Prothero shows us the dangers and some of the causes of our religious ignorance.

The book is divided into four parts. The first, an essay on what's wrong presently with the state of our religious education. Second, a detailed and interesting study of religious learning (and unlearning) since the 1600's. Third, Mr. Prothero suggests his method of rectifying the situation. the last section is a glossary of essential terms that come up in religious discussion.

There's very little bad to say about this book. The topic is fascinating and presented in a (mostly) clear manner. The first three sections, especially the history of religious instruction in the US, are thought-provoking and dryly humorous at times. The only part that is a bit of slog is the glossary. It contains wonderful information, but reading a glossary is not a lot of fun. Combining all of that information into a narrative would have required several more volumes. The last and slightest of criticisms is that Mr. Prothero has a love of difficult words. I love words and had little trouble getting through it, but this alone makes me hesitate handing this book to someone with a less developed vocabulary.

I would like my whole family to read this book and most of co-workers - if I could get them to read it.

[mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

The front cover of this book entices you with the symbols of many world religions, making you think you may get a comparative-religion primer. What you really get is a treatise on how the U.S. has gone on a slide since the Protestant Bible was removed from the schools, and offers as a solution its reintroduction as a central part of the curriculum, with the smallest of fig leaves thrown to other world religions.

You won't learn much of substance about non-Christian religions from this book. It's literally a book that preaches to the choir. I had been hoping for more. The appendix has short and often pithily unsatisfying explanations of major religious tenets and events, and here the author does include other religions in passing.

Why is Christmas on December 25, for instance, when the Bible doesn't mention this date? I would expect that the author would touch on this in his appendix entry on Christmas, but he doesn't.

Overall, there's much more selling and much less information in this book than I had hoped.

[Ben · Rating 1 out of 5]

WARNING: This book is not what the title would lead you to believe. I picked up this book thinking that it would be a general overview of the worlds major religions. I'm not completely religiously uninformed, but you could still fill a warehouse with what I donʻt know about the world's various faiths; nevertheless, I find this sort of thing very interesting and was looking forward to broadening my horizons.

What this book delivered instead was a history of Christianity in the United States, from the Calvinism of the Puritans to the Evangelical movements of the 19th & 20th centuries. While this sort of thing has its place and certainly understanding the general development of Christianity in this country is, in my opinion, incumbent upon anyone who considers himself to be an informed citizen, still, I think that referring to vast majority of the detail in this book as something that "every American needs to know" is a bit of a stretch. This is not to say that it is valueless, but with all of the things that one needs to know to get by in this day and age, it hardly rates at the top.

To make matters worse, the author consistently makes note of how many presidents, members of Congress, & other politicians belong to a particular sect, implying that in order to understand who these people are, we need to understand the minutiae that differentiate Baptists from Congregationalists, or other sects. How many people live every aspect of their life in this way? I certainly donʻt mean to suggest that modern American politicians are uninfluenced by religion -- specifically Christianity -- but it seems highly unlikely to me that a devout Methodist and a devout Presbyterian are going to vote in wildly different ways because of the relatively slight differences in their faith.

Indeed, many of these differences have become much less important to Americans in general, as this book -- for mysterious reasons -- laments. But if politicians may misuse religion and their constituents donʻt mind, then what does it matter? Point out that Jesus preached non-violence and would therefore probably have been anti-gun to a Christian member of the NRA; I suspect it wonʻt make much of a difference. Or remind any one of the wealthy Christian national figures who appear regularly on the news and remind them that "it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a wealthy man to get into Heaven"; I doubt very much theyʻll drop what their doing so that they can immediately give away all their worldly possessions. My point is that if religion is being misinterpreted or misused by political figures, but no one cares -- and in many cases, many people agree with their interpretations -- then how does it matter? Itʻs not like misconstruing a law of nature while trying to build a rocket; in that case, the rocket will certainly fail. But if a policy is put in place on the basis of a misunderstanding of Christian scripture and both the politician who sponsors the policy and the constituents whom he represents are ok with it, then were is the problem?

I did not like this book not only for its misleading title, but also for what I see as an either disingenuous or genuinely misinformed understanding of the place of religion in the U.S. today. If anything, the author should have spent more time talking about the other world religions with which Americans are coming into contact more & more as the world gets smaller. Instead he relegated all of that information to a glossary at the end of the book that I can only assume was added in order to give it a bit more length. On the whole, a disappointing book-on-cd, made worse by the author/readerʻs histrionic intonation that made it sound like he thought he was revealing unknown and immeasurably important secrets to the listener; indeed, most of this book is anything but.

[Bill Kte'pi · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's an extra star or so here to balance out the negative ratings that are really just about people not getting the book they thought they were getting (some of those reviews also completely misrepresent Prothero's argument, so I suspect that once the disappointment hit them, they stopped paying much attention). This isn't a primer on religious literacy, and it was clear to me when I bought it that it wasn't; this is a book about the decline of religious literacy in the United States, the contrast between that decline and the prominence of religious affiliation in public life, and why religious literacy is important. As a religious studies scholar, I wasn't interested in a primer on religious literacy - except maybe as something to recommend to friends - and although there's a dictionary at the back, a dictionary isn't the best form for that kind of thing anyway.

As a diatribe about the decline in religious literacy, it's well-supported - though sure, in my case Prothero was preaching to the choir, and some parts already feel dated in light of the rapid rise of Islamophobia. My own thinking about the decline in religious literacy has focused mainly on the twentieth century, especially the second half, so I particularly appreciated his coverage of the 19th century.

[Crystal · Rating 1 out of 5]

As others have mentioned, this is not what I expected.

I wanted to learn about religions, not find out about how I'm much more of an idiot than originally thought, and then get a historical background on Christianity in the United States. Oh, and secular schools never used to exist? I garnered from his tone that he thinks their current existence is BAD, and schools need to spend more time talking about religion (it sounded to me he exclusively meant Christianity, seeing as half-way through the book I hadn't heard much of anything about other faiths)

I was ready to delete the whole thing (I listened to it) when he talked about the religious education of Native Americans, and made it sound like this was a great thing... especially the schools that were interested in education rather than 'retraining heathens' (paraphrasing because I don't have a book, thank goodness). Wish I had, so much unnecessary strain on my poor ears.


I dunno about you, but I wanted to learn about other religions for the same reason I'd like to know about other cultures: so I'm less likely to piss people off unintentionally. Please tell me a book like that exists, 'cause I'm still searching.

[Jenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was recommended in another one I'm reading, Raising Freethinkers: A Practical Guide for Parenting Beyond Belief. It was touted there just as the title makes it appear: a sort of religious primer. It is not. Not at all. Instead, what it is is a 304 page long indictment on how we know nothing about religion. Really? Wasn't that summed up in the introduction? It doesn't take an entire book to let us know that we're religiously ignorant and need to know more. With the title of this book, we obviously know that and are looking for a good survey of religion instruction. That's why I picked this one up. So, I suppose I'll remain ignorant of world religions for now until I can find a good survey book. Honestly I felt this book was a waste of space. It's preaching to the already converted. The only mildly instructive part was Prothero's list of religious terms and a short definition on each, but honestly? It was nothing Google couldn't have helped me out with on my own. To sum up: Don't bother.

[Rich · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing, but probably still worth reading.

Rather than a book about what every American needs to know about religion and doesn't, this book is mostly filler bookending a rather simple idea, namely that it is not possible to adequately teach history or current events while completely avoiding the topic of religion.

Prothero wrote a short op-ed piece arguing that because of this fact, American public schools should include courses specifically designed to inculcate religious literacy into students, including a separate course focusing exclusively on "the Bible". This book is an attempt to stretch out the 'teach, don't preach' idea he first put forth in his op-ed piece. It's a position, that although hardly novel, deserves consideration in our religion soaked culture.

However, this book does little to extrapolate on the idea or build a robust foundation to support his specific recommendations.
Part I focuses on Americans' ignorance of religion in general and how that ignorance exists across the spectrum, even to matters of basic doctrine within the most devout, with passing implications that this is somehow a very bad thing in need of correction. Why this is more pressing than other forms of American ignorance is not addressed. Why this particular form of ignorance deserves special consideration in setting curricula is also not addressed.

Part II outlines America's history of religious education as involving almost exclusively one form or another of protestant indoctrination. Prothero, who is arguing for a broad religious literacy rather than sectarian indoctrination of any sort, still refers to this period as an Eden, despite the narrowness of the viewpoints taught, and in contradiction to his claim that religious literacy entails a grasp of the essential ideas of all the world's major religions.

Prothero makes his essential claims regarding the necessity for specifically religious education in the first 20 or so pages of Part III, but does little to show why his specific proposals have merit. Even so, these are still the best pages of his book in describing why a broad religious literacy is not only desirable, but indispensable in understanding history. Unfortunately, he addresses few of the common or obvious objections to his proposals and glibly dismisses several of those he does bring up with comments such as "I hope the foolishness of this argument is evident", and blithely asserts that ""natural inclusion" of biblical topics in history and literature courses is not enough" with nothing presented to back up such a statement. Shouldn't this approach warrant at least some discussion? Why would all other historical motivations and contexts be sufficiently addressed within a class, while the subject of his particular discipline require something more? Considering that his main argument is for a specific approach, it is surprising he spent so little effort in addressing other possible ways to achieve these goals.

Another glaring omission is the lack of in-depth discussion of HOW the subject can be taught with fairness and neutrality. While people from a broad variety of religious and political perspectives agree with the simple observation that religion can not be completely ignored, the real conflict occurs where the rubber hits the road - in how the subject is addressed. Saying, "They need to avoid the the pitfalls of both proselytizing for Christianity and crusading against it" is simple enough, but how exactly is this to be done? What sort of standards and oversight are proper to prevent the rubbery line from being pulled by over zealous teachers? How are issues of scientific fact and historicity to be addressed when they are in direct conflict with the doctrines of one religion or another? Is astronomy no longer to be taught because someone might believe the world sits on elephants on the back of a tortoise? Nothing in Prothero's book even takes on these thorny issues which arise when schools are instructed to both teach religion AND be 'neutral' on every issue, saying nothing that might offend a holder of beliefs contradicted by the facts taught in other subjects. Prothero has surprisingly little to offer by way of advice here.
The remainder of Part III is a curiously selected, superficial 'Dictionary of Religious Literacy" which at least does something to address the subtitle of the book, but little more. It reads more like an appendix than the section intended to fulfill the stated purpose of the book. Perhaps Prothero should have simply left off this addendum and retitled his book "Religious Literacy: What American Religious Education Was -- And How I'd Like it to Be."

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book offers an interesting take on the existence of religious knowledge (or the apparent lack there-of) in society today. Essentially, Prothero has identified religious literacy as an important issue facing the United States today as it plagues all levels of society. In order to correct these issues, the author calls for the creation of a Biblical studies class and a world religion class within the public high school system in order to improve general religious literacy. In making his argument, Prothero does an excellent job explaining the prolific history of religion in the public education system from its inception in the United States well into the late 19th century. He also offers a rather different approach to the decline of religion in public schools. He argues that it was the proponents of orthodox, fundamental, or conservative religions that had religion removed from public education because it was too general and therefore not useful. Later it would be picked up by the secular education supporters to bring us to the situation we find ourselves in today.

If the above topic does not interest you, the book is still worth purchasing because of the 83 page religious literacy dictionary that appears at the end of the book. This dictionary can serve as the basis for the creation of a world religion class or simply may be used to increase your own personal knowledge on the topic of religion.

Finally, on a more personal note, the plight of Catholic education is following a similar pattern to that of the public school system as chronicled by Prothero. With the national recommended changes for religion curriculum by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, we are moving further away from Catholic literacy and choosing to focus on loving Jesus rather than knowing the Catholic Church. Indeed, we are choosing to simply develop character in the name of Jesus rather than developing a knowledge of being Catholic, what that means, and how that fits into the larger world scheme. If these changes are passed, I am certainly out of a job and likely moving to the public school system to teach comparative religion classes because atleast they will be allowed there. Truly disturbing news.

[Chris Mercado · Rating 2 out of 5]

I went into this book hoping to learn what I do not know about religious literacy. My problems with this book is that only the last 1/3 of this book is geared toward actually educating the reader. The first 2/3 of the book goes over why/how America "lost" its religious literacy and how/why it should get it back.

And honestly, when it came to the actual educational part at the end, I felt it felt short of being educational. It felt like a Cliff Notes version of religious literacy.

I read "God Is Not One" by the same author and found that much more enlightening and informative. I would skip this one just read that one.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of the three books that I have read by Stephen Prothero, this was my least favorite. In this book, he argues for religious education to be included in school curriculums. I find the idea problematic because, living in the South, I find that few people can approach religion objectively. Also, I don't favor removing other subjects from the curriculum to squeeze in religion classes. I have no problem with colleges and universities offering elective classes on religion.

[Terence · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been looking for something to listen to on the drive to work and this is just the ticket.
_________________________________________

I listened to the audio version of this book so, as usual, I wasn't able to take notes and succeeded only in jotting down some thoughts when I got to work or back home from the drive but I'm minded to track down the hardcopy version of this book and give it a proper read.

I often listen to radio programs or visit websites where evangelicals/fundamentalists square off against secularists (or they're commenting on their opposites). I cringe when the former claim the Founders were Christians and that the United States is a Christian nation. I cringe as well when the latter claim that the Founders weren't all that Christian and that the United States isn't a Christian nation.

They're both wrong, and Stephen Prothero's Religious Illiteracy is a good introduction as to why that's so.

Technically speaking, the secularists are right: America is not a "Christian" nation. "God" is mentioned nowhere in the Constitution and the federal government (and, after the 14th Amendment, states) is forbidden from establishing or restricting the exercise of religion, and there are no (formal) religious tests for office, but in all other respects, America is profoundly Christian.

Or it was. In the last century we Americans have had to accomodate and live up to the ideal of religious tolerance to a far greater extent than the Founders ever imagined (and present-day right-wing evangelicals want).

All this is secondary, though, to the purported chief purpose of this book and that is to document the appalling religious illiteracy of the American public. "Illiteracy" has two forms: The first is ignorance of other faiths. The second is ignorance of one's own faith. It's this latter that Prothero focuses on - how did it develop and why does it matter?

As to development - The "fault" lies in the nature of Christianity as it evolved in America. Correct doctrine dominated religious dialog from Luther's theses down to the Revolution. The smallest differences in liturgy or theology could set two communities at each other's throats and informed believers knew why they were Puritans or Methodists or Congregationalist or Quakers, etc., and not something else. The marketplace of religions that arose in the wake of the Revolution fostered competition among creeds and the triumph of evangelical Christianity* in the 2nd Great Revival meant that the emphasis fell on a personal relationship with Jesus Christ at the expense of doctrine.

The accidents of history made further dumbing down inevitable:

1. The Catholic "invasion" of the country in the 19th century prompted Protestants to draw together against the tyranny of the papists and de-emphasize any differences.

2. The threat of Godless Communism prompted Christians of all kinds to band together.

3. Today, it's the "threat" of Islam that is bringing Christians together in an effort to define themselves against the Other.

I would think the importance of our illiteracy is self-evident. How can you understand your own motivations much less another's when you can't even recite the basic tenets of your faith? (It's the rare American Christian who can name the four Gospels or recite the Ten Commandments, and don't even attempt to get into transubstantiation with a Catholic. And American Jews shouldn't get too smug - many of them are just as ignorant of their scriptures as Christians.)

If there's anything this survey lacks it's a concommitant look at American Muslims (or Buddhists, Hindus, etc.) to see if there's a similar level of ignorance amongst their congregations.

I'd recommend the book, especially the first chapters. Chapter 6 - the dictionary of religious literacy - makes for some dry recitation; the meat of Prothero's argument is in the first chapters and more interesting. If you're a believer it may spur you to take a closer look at the distinctiveness of your beliefs; and whether you're a believer or not, Prothero's overview of American cultural history is eye opening and instructive.

* Don't make the mistake that present-day evangelicals make of equating their beliefs with those of 18th and 19th century evangelicals. The problem with modern evangelicals claiming that the Founders would be on their side is twofold. One, the Founders, by and large, weren't evangelicals; and, two, the evangelicals of the early Republic had different concerns and beliefs than their modern counterparts.

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another listened-to-in-the-car-book, and a pretty good one, too, if you're at all interested in religion and especially if you aren't for, as the author explains, Americans are woefully ignorant about religion in general even as they claim to be a religious nation.

He begins the book by explaining just how ignorant we are in the world of religion and gives a quiz which, by the way, I failed (but did get more right than the average American.) The best statistic he gave was that 10% of Americans think that Joan of Arc was Noah's wife. :) I laughed out loud on that one.

He goes on to explain why knowledge of world religions is important, and he certainly convinced me. For example, now that I know that marriage is one of the Catholics' main contracts with God, akin to baptism and communion, then I can more fully appreciate their problem with divorce.

He then goes into a rather lengthy history of the teaching of religion here in the US, which was informative but sometimes boring. The book ends with a glossary of sorts that has many interesting terms involving the 7 main world religions.

I come away understanding more about religion here and in other countries, and I also more understand Islam & Muslims which I agree is very important to do. He does not argue for one religion over another; he simply says that we all need to know more so that we can make sound decisions in the way we react personally and as a country.

Overall, a good listen. (I don't think I would have stuck with it as a book...but I have a rather short attention span for non-fiction.)

[Sorenconard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. This book suffers from an identity crisis. Is it college paper extended to prove why we need religous literacy? Is it a book on religous history of America? Is it a book that teaches about the basics of the major religions? It does all three of these but none very well. The section about why we need religous literacy, and religous history often feel directionless. The author's main points seem to contradict each other. On one hand he is saying american's need to understand religions(author stresses we need to learn Christianity the most) more but on the other hand he is saying that religous knowledge and references are all over our culture that it is impossible to fully engage on society without knowing it. So which one is it? And On that point, I don't get his argument that we need to know bible references to be able to be an informed voter since politicians make bible references. This makes no sense to me since this could be said about pop culture references like snooki or sports. Is it on me to go back and watch all of jersey shore or watch all of the 86 mets season? No, it's on the politician to be a communicator that people understand.

I learned some stuff about American history and some religous info but overall I felt like the book was a mess.

[Allie Cauvel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have high hopes for this.

Edit (8/16/11): I will categorize myself as disappointed. I think the problem began with the idea that this book was going to provide some of that Religious Literacy (what every american needs to know-- and doesn't). Instead, the majority was spent arguing why Religious literacy was important-- something I was already on-board with. Damn.

The sections titled "Eden (What We Once Knew)" and "The Fall (How We Forgot)" were off and away the most valuable/interesting parts of this book. The Dictionary of Religious Literacy at the end felt like a rather lazy way to approach such a topic, although admittedly Prothero doesn't see the dictionary as an ideal tool either, instead proposing increased emphasis on religious studies in public education.

Anyway. Mildly interesting, but I found most of it to be a yawn. Maybe because I needed about 100% less convincing (to accept his viewpoint) than the anticipated audience.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prothero makes the argument for teaching religion (in a comparative fashion) in public schools. As it turns out, it wasn't the left/liberals/ACLU that removed the teaching of religion in public schools, it was a combination of two factors: the religious right didn't want other religions taught alongside and given equal weight to their own and secondly, religious teachings went through a 100 year long process whereby various faiths (mainly Protestant Christian faiths) agreed, in an attempt to keep religion in the public square, to replace religious study with generic "morality" teaching. The end result is that no one knows what it is they profess to believe in….

[Dan Herman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm inclined to say this is a must read but I say that about every book (almost) that I read. But this is a heckuva good book. Explains how American Protestants actually sacrificed religious studies in public schools when confronted by the Catholic menace in the second half of the nineteenth century. More important, argues that we need to return religious studies to the public schools. Not religious indoctrination, but religious studies ... students need to understand religion and religious perspectives if they are to function as citizens, especially in a Global world. Prothero is arguing, in essence, for more "diversity" in our curriculum without actually calling it diversity.

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd like this more if it weren't so damn boring. It's informative at times, but overall the message seems to be 'Americans don't know shit about religion'. Well thanks, jackass... that's why I bought your book. Teach me something.

[Reading Through the Lists · Rating 2 out of 5]

While this book definitely generated an interesting discussion in my “Teaching World Religions” graduate seminar, I can’t say it’s a good book.

Prothero starts by diagnosing a problem: Americans are religiously illiterate--they do not understand Biblical allusions made by politicians or in literature and they are completely ignorant of the tenets of the world’s major religions. This forces them to rely solely on news media or (worse still) politicians to tell them what and how to think of religious conflicts across the world. What makes it worse is that religious history is being deliberately scrubbed from public school education by teachers who mistakenly believe that the separation of church and state means they cannot even talk about religion. This leaves students with a woefully inadequate view of history or even the world around them.
The solution: Both high school and college students need to have classes dedicated both to the Bible and world religions in order to make them more informed citizens.

From there, the book then delves into the religious history of America: how the Puritans aggressively promoted literacy in order to teach the Bible, how the Founding Fathers believe that being a good Christian also meant being a literate, informed citizen.
Prothero’s main argument is that it was not “godless secularists” who stripped religion from the schools but rather various Protestant denominations who, by diminishing their denominational differences in favor of a general set of ethics and morals, actually set the stage for increasing religious illiteracy. By generalizing “religions” and stripping them of their differences, one actually reduces religion into an unendurable sameness that does not educate, but rather deceives.

While Prothero makes some interesting points (see above), the style of this book feels grating. It’s clearly written for a general audience rather than an academic one (not a bad thing at all, but in this case it seems to be merely an excuse for poor writing), and is incredibly repetitive. Good points get repeated again and again and again until they all but lose their meaning.

As other reviewers have pointed out, the structure is also confusing. Prothero goes from call to action, to history lesson, and finally to the solution to the problem: just teach more religion in schools. However, as our class discussion illuminated, actually implementing these changes is far, far easier said than done.

Which, to me, points out the biggest problem with this book: it feels like it was written in an armchair, gleefully diagnosing problems and offering easy solutions, all without ever bothering to lift a finger to actually implement them. There’s also a definite WASPyness to this book that you just can’t shake--Prothero doesn’t touch any of the difficult issues we raised in class, such as religious violence in early America (his ‘Eden’) and religious and cultural appropriation, and never challenges his own assertion that Christianity deserves the top place in the study of American religions.

If anyone is motivated by this book to make real strides in teaching religion effectively, then good for them--they will be the ones who deserve the credit.

2.5 stars.

[Mark Lawry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started out with a great intro and then seemed to fizzle. Prothero made great secular arguments for the value of comparative religion within society. His reasons ranging from being able to understand paintings in art museums around the world to following public debate about policy over the centuries. Clearly Prothero knows history and religion but he dismisses the reality that all of us are limited in education hours. We are in fact only able to learn so much about so many things. My father grew up in a Christian family and he knew the Christian scriptures far better than I ever will. He mixed scripture in every day conversation. I know full well something is lost in not knowing the things he knew. Now I'm a father myself I can see in my own daughter that she knows more about other things. We are all limited to 24 hours a day, only so many days in a lifetime. Prothero would want extensive religious study to be mandatory for everyone. This might even be of value but would necessarily come at a cost of learning other things. I would argue that our schools should focus more on engineering, math, science, cooking, etc. I know, I know, if you have read this book or are thinking of doing so you most likely completely don't agree with me on this point at all.

[Noah Myers · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. I can’t think of a book more poorly titled. For a book claiming to teach Americans the basics they should know about religion it has a whole lot of information they don’t need.

There was a whole section dedicated to telling us about different books published in American history that were the basics of the educational systems attempt to do religious literacy. I don’t see the value of know that information for the every day American

Halfway thru the book I was still waiting for him to start actually getting into what I needed to know and not just how we failed to teach it in American history.

[S. William · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full disclosure up front – The following may take the form of a rebuttal, more than a review.

Stephen Prothero is a professor of religious studies, and in the introduction to “Religious Literacy,” he makes very clear the difference between engaging in religious studies, and preaching. How strange then that a significant fraction of the book reads much like a sermon. It preaches the virtues of religious knowledge, laments its decline, and proffers a solution, while all the time being excessively selective in the enumeration of relevant facts and factors.

The book is roughly a decade old, and a lot has happened since it was written. Yet, I don’t think that the most salient points discussed in the book have changed all that much. The opening chapters outline the author’s interpretation of the ‘problem.’ It seems that a great many US school-children cannot name the four (canonical) Christian gospels, or list the seven pillars of Islam, or recite the four noble truths of Buddhism. (I admit that the last one got me too – I knew they were about suffering, but couldn’t quote them in detail.) The author also throws in some factoids of questionable veracity, such as; “10 percent of American high-school students think that Noah’s wife was Joan… of Arc.” Frankly, I hypothesize that this only suggests that about 9.9 percent of American high-school students saw right through the question and were goading the questioner, but anyway...

Following his selective enumeration of the things that young Americans do not know, (a section entitled “The Problem”), he continues by describing the way things used to be (in a chapter called “Eden”), then proceeds to offer his analysis as to how we got to where we are today; (“The Fall”). The ‘sermon’ is biased heavily toward Christianity – which is in no way the author’s fault. This is the way it was in the USA. Religion did indeed, and most unquestionably, play an enormous role in the past. Stephen Prothero is absolutely correct in his observation that in America, as well as Europe, and other nations which are the offspring of European colonialism, the group of faiths which had the greatest impact on history could be collectively referred to as Christianity. Where I do criticize the author is in his implication, not explicitly stated but not at all subtle, that the past religious ‘Eden’ in America represented some sort of a halcyon heritage, and that ‘The Fall’ from this supposed ideal is like another fall of man.

From my own perspective (as admittedly defined by my own subjective prejudices), I argue that any individual human’s most persistent enemy is time. Whether we are children or adults, or, as I happen to be, “hoary with the hair of eld” (Google it), there are unmerciful constraints allotted upon the hours of our lives. We must prioritize everything, including the elements that make up the syllabus of our education. So very long ago in my formative years, I was instructed in the Christian faith. In those days, which the author refers to as the “Eden”, the Lord’s Prayer was recited every morning, and we were subjected to a carefully cherry-picked Bible reading over the crackling public address system. I truly cannot say that tales of any god, or threats of any hell, contributed manifestly to the successes or failures in my life, but I do freely admit, as the author correctly argues, that my understanding of history, as well as literature and other media, has been enhanced by my religious literacy.

Nevertheless, given the demands upon our all too finite hours, I am in general agreement with the admittedly difficult decisions that have relegated religious knowledge to a lesser importance in the modern age. Still, it is not all bleak for religion. That same modernity means that any individual wishing to learn more about any world religion can find libraries of information (and disinformation) no more remote than their nearest Internet-connected device. Usually, it is in their own pocket. I would not condone the dedication of valuable school time to the subject, especially in light of other deficiencies in education, many of which, (in my subjective evaluation at least,) appear significantly more dire. There is even a suggestion (in a later chapter) that the time to teach religion could be found at the expense of mathematics. This is the author quoting someone else, not speaking himself, but the fact that he would even include such a quote in his book is worrying.

By way of illustration, there is apparently a recent study, (which various news sources choose not to link,) stating that 4 out of 5 students in Oklahoma City can’t tell time on an analog clock. Regardless of the doubtful veracity of this news, (one source was FOX), I have witnessed this specific ignorance several times myself – youth and young adults stating unashamedly that they “can’t tell time on old clocks”. I personally view the ability to read a clock in the classroom, or in the town square, as far more important than being able to recount the seven pillars of Islam. In similar dismay, I would wager that if one were to ask an average 60-something-year-old to bisect an angle with straightedge and compass, or to use a tape measure to ensure that two pieces of wood are joined squarely, one would be greeted with only blank stares from the vast majority. Why then, in light of this modern eschewing of knowledge in general, does the author expect that everyone will continue to be imbued with a journeyman’s knowledge of religion? Pythagoras will help people build square walls – Moses will not. While religion might indeed have been pivotal in the history of America, so have square walls. And square walls remain critical and relevant today.

After defining his view of the problem, the author offers a solution. He points out, entirely correctly, that there is nothing unconstitutional in America about teaching about religion in public schools, so long as the lessons do not become vehicles for indoctrination. He also observes, quite correctly, that most teachers steer almost completely clear of religion. He then quotes a study suggesting that three-quarters of Americans would not object to the study of world religion in schools. Conversely, that means that one quarter would object. The parents of 25% of the students in any particular class would be opposed to this type of instruction. In a class of 30, the parents of 7 or 8 of them would be angered; some threatening lawsuits, some pulling their children out of school, etc. One can certainly understand why teachers don’t want to touch this with a ten-foot pole. Furthermore, it is unreasonable to expect a teacher with no specialized education in religious studies to be entirely objective on such a matter. Many – one might even estimate, the majority – of teachers will have personal beliefs and prejudices, and these will be brought into the classroom, either intentionally or subconsciously. I myself probably couldn’t teach such a course without eventually betraying my personal views. The author states that the fear of controversy over religious studies is overblown – I argue that it is understated.

If an elementary- or high-school educator were to put together a basic course on religion – for simplicity’s sake, let’s just say a segment focusing on the Christian Bible – what parts would he/she be expected to teach? Would the syllabus include the story of Jephthah murdering his beloved daughter to please God? Or of Jesus telling slaves to obey their masters? Do we lecture on the rape of Tamar, and how she was thereafter forced to “remain desolate” for the rest of her days? What about how the world will end with seven-headed, ten-horned dragons? Do young kids learn about the law stating that those engaging in homosexual acts shall be put to death, or that a rape victim must marry her rapist? Or that only 144,000 will ever get into heaven, everyone else being doomed to burn for all eternity? Somehow, I think that in most schools, all of these subjects would be censored in favour of the Sermon on the Mount or the Ten Commandments. Of course, I know that most Christians do not believe in many of the dark tales in the Bible, but most do believe in, for example, the resurrection of Jesus. So, which stories are to be taught? Generally, the response to that question is that one should teach exactly as much of the Bible as, either, a) – the teacher, or course designer, personally believes in, or, b) – as portrays the Christian religion in a positive, peace-loving, charitable light, thereby offending no one. While the example of the Christian Bible is cited, the same could be stated for any religious text or concept. Sure, higher education at the university level might succeed at breaking through these constraints, but such fully-rounded teaching of religion is not going to occur in an elementary setting.

Cherry-picking religion is surely worse than not teaching it at all. I argue that it better serves the duty of the pursuit of truth to offer no instruction on the subject of religion, rather than to spout misleading, out of context snippets designed to create a sugar-coated misunderstanding. (That’s what churches and other places of worship are for.) By way of analogy, most Americans received very little elementary-school instruction on, for example, the history of the City of Warsaw. Would we be right to simply describe the lovely parks and museums found there today and leave it at that, without mentioning WWII or the Communist era? That would be more dishonest than simply saying that there is no time to teach about the history of Warsaw.

Those who have an interest in religion, either in an academic sense or a theological one, have a plethora of opportunities to find information, especially in our modern, connected world. Every child or adult with access to the Internet can have his or her own Bible, or any other holy book that may be desired. Their local library probably has a book or two about world religions, or even about the history of Warsaw.

Later in the tome, there is a dictionary of religious terms and concepts. It is largely useless. Even in my youth, we had Encyclopædia Britannica, and now, we have Wikipedia. Either of these sources, along with many others, can offer simple summaries such as those presented therein. It is unworthy of a book authored by a distinguished professor of religious studies to reduce the complexity of religion to such banalities.

Despite all said above, I do sympathize somewhat with of the author’s frustration over America’s lack of religious literacy. But I see this as one aspect of a broad illiteracy; one spanning a multitude of subjects. Not all learning is done in school. Today, with vast libraries at the fingertips, people of all ages can study any subject that interests them. I absolutely accept that religion is a perfectly valid subject for such independent study, but so are many other equally valid subjects.

Perhaps a joy in learning, a reveling in knowledge, is an attitude we should strive to impart on young people. We could give them input on the the direction of their elective studies, with some sage guidance from their elders. I know that such a concept is pie-in-the-sky, but drilling facts into youthful brains by rote, simply to prepare them for the next test, is not a productive alternative. Even if we can’t obtain such a lofty ideal, would not future generations better served if we worked toward it, instead of away.

Stephen Prothero’s book made me think, and any book that succeeds at doing this is not a terribly bad book. I’ve given it a middling rating since it is well written – neither condescending nor unnecessarily technical, and it does put forward some factual, and some controversial points. If the matters it touches upon are of interest to an individual, it is worth a read.

[Mariah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps this book is preaching to the choir when I picked it up- I am pretty knowledgeable about various religions, though there’s always more I could learn. But I’m well aware that my knowledge and literacy is above average- I just didn’t realize how much! Stephen Prothero, a professor of religious studies realized the extent of this ignorance when he encountered college freshmen who didn’t know things he thought of as common knowledge, like the story of Noah & the ark, Moses, and the Sermon on the Mount, let alone basics of world religions like the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism. (This reminds me a bit of Prof. Alfred Kinsey who realized his students didn’t know very basic info about sex!)

It wasn’t always like this- Prothero details the United States’ robust history of religious learning, how the early schools were all sectarian. Even when public schools were started the textbooks were filled with Biblical references and theological lessons. Colleges and universities were founded primarily as places to educate future clergy, and all students were instructed in theology. But as the country become more religiously diverse, it became more difficult to have religious themed curricula. Since denominations couldn’t agree on theology, ethics was emphasized more, in fact religion was boiled down to just ethics. In higher education religion came into conflict with the growth of science, and it was seen as enemy to intellectual freedom and inquiry. Finally as more concern over church & state separation arose, religion was pushed even further out.

Prothero doesn’t want us to go back to the days of singing hymns in classrooms, or leading students in prayer. But by neglecting the teaching of such an integral part of American and global culture, language, music, history and politics we ill-prepare students to deal with the world as it really is. High school and college students should all take a course on world religions-Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism and another on Christianity and the Bible. He supports this with Supreme Court decisions that have determined that teaching about religion is constitutional- as opposed to making judgments about which religion is right (or if all of them are wrong) I definitely agree these things ought to be taught. He makes the point that giving all religions equal time as some liberals argue makes no sense, students need to know more about larger religions they’re more likely to run into, like Christianity.

I learned a lot from this book about the history of religious literacy and it made me realize how secular my upbringing was, despite being brought up going to church/Sunday school. Growing up I took it for granted that discussion of religion was taboo in school. But as a student at a Lutheran-affiliated college I was required to take classes in religion. No one told me what I had to believe, but I found it was a great opportunity to learn more.

To put on my Pagan hat, I realize that Prothero is talking about “world religions”- not New Religious Movements (NRMs) that Paganism would be classified under. But at the same time, I’m rather miffed that his Glossary of Religious Concepts all Americans Should Know included Scientology (a pyramid scheme that somehow managed to get status as a church) but not modern Paganism, which a lot more people follow, and gets more press.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apparently, I'm fairly well versed in religion. At least, according to Prothero's little quiz, I'm among the top percentage of Americans when it comes to recognizing, identifying and defining some basic religious terms and characters. That's something to be proud of, I suppose.

But the shocking level of ignorance among many Americans today is not. I can almost understand some lack of knowledge about Hinduism or Taoism, neither of which most Americans have much contact with, but not to comprehend the most basic tenets of your own faith astounds me. And after 9/11 to be unable to distinguish a Sikh from a Muslim is just ridiculous.

Prothero lays out his argument clearly and succinctly. To sum up:
* Chapter 1 - Americans are amazingly ignorant about religion, even while being very religious.
* Chapter 2 - This is a problem because religion influences world events and various cultural, societal, and political institutions.
* Chapter 3 - Religious education used to be very thorough and pervasive in American life.
* Chapter 4 - It's not any more because of mostly well-meaning attempts to be more tolerant and inclusive which led to a focus on morality and ethics rather than specific religious knowledge.
* Chapter 5 - Therefore, to re-educate Americans about this important subject, secondary schools ought to require a course on the Bible-as-literature and a course on World Religions.

The final chapter (Chapter 6) was primarily a list of religious terms, beliefs and groups that Prothero feels Americans should be conversant in. This section could have been stronger and more helpful if it were arranged by religion instead of alphabetically, though. If you want to actually learn about religions, find a good reference book on World Religions and study it. This book is more about making the case for the importance of learning about religion rather than imparting that specific knowledge.

For more book reviews, come visit my blog, Build Enough Bookshelves.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went into this book looking for a primer on what we should know about the world's major religions. What I found though, was that half of the book was spent lamenting the poor state of Americans' knowledge of all religions, including Christianity, which is the most prevalent one in the US. I found it to be interesting, if a little eye-opening, as I assumed religious Christian Americans would know these things. (Being raised Catholic, I was familiar with the grand majority of the Christian concepts presented in the text.)

I thought that the remaining part of the book would have been organized by religion and give and in-depth look at the biggies in the world. Nope, it's more of a reference manual set-up. While it was interesting, it got fairly repetitive after a while.

I'd really say this is 3.5 stars. The content was a good start for what I was looking for, but it didn't quite hit the mark.

[Emily B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned the basics of world religion in World History, and my Government class analyzed the first Amendment. Aside from that, I haven't been taught very much about religion. That's why I'm so happy I read this book. The beginning and end serve as, "World Religion for Dummies", while the middle part chronicles religious education in America, from the Pilgrims to modern times.

The funny part about all of this is, I might know more about other religions than the Lutheranism I was raised with. I can tell you what the Rig Veda is, but I also thought that Mount Sinai appeared in the New Testament. Yes, I know that it appears in the Old Testament with the Ten Commandments, but I thought it appeared in the New Testament too. Apparently, it does not. Looks like I need to read my Bible more carefully...

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prothero makes a compelling case for why we need to be educated about the worlds religions. It is a great book to get discussion going with believers and nonbelievers alike. He focuses on Christianity since, he argues, it is by far the most prevalent and influential in American culture.

He covers how Americans used to be better educated about religion, why this has changed, and he offers solutions to the problem. The main section of the book is 148 pages. The last 80 pages are a mini encyclopedia of religious terms, practices, and beliefs. These are concepts he believes every educated person should be familiar with. He also has a few tests to see how much you know. Do you think you will pass? I won't tell you my score.

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

So disappointed in this book! Thought it was going to be a 4 star book - finally some basic information about the world's leading religions without strong biases comparing them. He gave a great defense as to the social need for this type of literacy. And then he just kept giving example after example of our lack of literacy - enough already! I KNOW I don't know this stuff, so tell me what I need to know! More than 3/4 through, he finally gets around to teaching us what we need to know. The book could have still been redeemed, but no. He gives us a dictionary. A dictionary! This means a Christian term could be next to a Buddhist term could be next to a Hindi term.... With no consistency of thought, it was nearly impossible to learn anything. So, so disappointed.

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a truly bad book. Americans are religiously illiterate - anyone interested in religion or sociology knows that - and Prothero drives the point home with condescending condemnation of us stupid Americans. This book just pissed me off - what a missed opportunity to point out that we got ourselves into a pointless mire of a war in Iraq because we (a) know nothing about Islam and (b) the Bush administration knew nothing and cared less about the history and culture of the Middle East. This book is mostly 200 pages of whining coupled with a biased and absurd rendering of religion's place in early American history.

Don't waste your time and money.

PS: See Jason Pettus' review on Goodreads for a better and more comprehensive and equally critical review.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm biased on this issue, since it's very important to me that people know something about all religions. You'll laugh, but one of the major reasons I wanted to homeschool was so that we could understand the proper role of religion in history, and learn a lot about other faiths. So I'm really enjoying this book!