In U.S., 3 in 10 Say They Take the Bible Literally

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cho_pilo said:
gallup.com/poll/148427/Say-Bible-Literally.aspx

Please take a look at the “Views of the Bible, by Education.” It appears that the more educated the person the less likely they are to believe in the Bible.

What are your reactions and thoughts on this?
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When you make a stupid question, you will receive thousands of stupid answers.
I am making some stupid questions:


  1. *]Do americans consider reading good?
    *]Do people consider sex a good thing?
    *]Does all the water of the world contain salt?

    Here you put in the same basket the Pentateuch and the Gospels…
 
cho_pilo said:
gallup.com/poll/148427/Say-Bible-Literally.aspx

Please take a look at the “Views of the Bible, by Education.” It appears that the more educated the person the less likely they are to believe in the Bible.

What are your reactions and thoughts on this?
Click to expand...
Quote " It appears that the more educated the person the less likely they are to believe in the Bible. "

A catholic priest spends years at seminary studying.As a general rule, education is extensive and lasts at least five or six years, depending on the national Programme of Priestly Formation.

In the United States, priests must have a four-year university degree in Catholic philosophy plus an additional four to five years of graduate-level seminary formation in theology with a focus on Biblical research. A Master of Divinity is the most common degree.

In Scotland, there is a mandatory year of preparation before entering seminary for a year dedicated to spiritual formation, followed by several years of study.

In Europe, Australasia and North America, seminarians usually graduate with a Master of Divinity or a Master of Theology degree, which is a four-year professional degree (as opposed to a Master of Arts which is an academic degree). At least four years are to be in theological studies at the major seminary.

I wonder would you consider Catholic priests to be ‘educated’?

As to Americans taking the Bible literally.Would one not define those people as Sola Scriptura?

God bless
 
Dopey me, I can’t figure out what the difference is in Gallup’s categories Actual Word of God and Inspired Word of God, since “inspired” means that God “breathed” it. Doesn’t that make it the Actual Word of God?

Like many statistical surveys, the questions are loaded and the numbers are meaningless.
 
tbcrawford said:
Quote " It appears that the more educated the person the less likely they are to believe in the Bible. "

…]

I wonder would you consider Catholic priests to be ‘educated’?
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According to this website, the number of priests in the US only amounts to about 0.013% of the US population, so they wouldn’t affect the Gallop finding for adults in general.

(Incidentally if that page is right, the number of seminarians has more than halved since 1965 and correspondingly the number of parishioners per priest has more than doubled.)
As to Americans taking the Bible literally.Would one not define those people as Sola Scriptura?
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I think sola scriptura means taking authority from the Bible alone, whether or not it’s read literally. A number of Catholics on CAF seem to take the Bible literally (or at least Genesis) but might not like it if you called them sola scriptura. 😃
 
Jim_Dandy said:
Dopey me, I can’t figure out what the difference is in Gallup’s categories Actual Word of God and Inspired Word of God, since “inspired” means that God “breathed” it. Doesn’t that make it the Actual Word of God?

Like many statistical surveys, the questions are loaded and the numbers are meaningless.
Click to expand...
Perhaps you didn’t read the question they actually asked people, which seems clear and unbiased - Which of the following statements comes closest to describing your views about the Bible – the Bible is the actual word of God and is to be taken literally, word for word, the Bible is the inspired word of God but not everything in it should be taken literally, or the Bible is an ancient book of fables, legends, history, and moral precepts recorded by man?
 
inocente said:
According to this website, the number of priests in the US only amounts to about 0.013% of the US population, so they wouldn’t affect the Gallop finding for adults in general.

(Incidentally if that page is right, the number of seminarians has more than halved since 1965 and correspondingly the number of parishioners per priest has more than doubled.)

I think sola scriptura means taking authority from the Bible alone, whether or not it’s read literally. A number of Catholics on CAF seem to take the Bible literally (or at least Genesis) but might not like it if you called them sola scriptura. 😃
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Hi inocente I was addressing the OP who said Quote " It appears that the more educated the person the less likely they are to believe in the Bible. "]

[The more educated the person the less likely they are to believe the bible], so my point was to ask the OP if after all the education a catholic priest goes through, would he consider a catholic priest as educated! I am interested in what the OP thinks of this.

Regarding your point about sola scriptura… perhaps you are correct I would suggest however that sola scriptura people tend to letterally believe in the bible also.As catholics we are not sola scriptura.I agree however there are some catholics and many other posters here who may take the bible literally .
In any case my points were addressed to the OP.I am interested in his opinions regarding his comments.
Thankyou for your (name removed by moderator)ut however,much appreciated.
God bless
 
tbcrawford said:
Hi inocente I was addressing the OP who said Quote " It appears that the more educated the person the less likely they are to believe in the Bible. "]

[The more educated the person the less likely they are to believe the bible], so my point was to ask the OP if after all the education a catholic priest goes through, would he consider a catholic priest as educated! I am interested in what the OP thinks of this.
Click to expand...
But to be fair, the OP wasn’t expressing an opinion but just repeating one of the Gallup findings, given in the last column of this table from the article linked in the OP.

http://sas-origin.onstreammedia.com...roduction/Cms/POLL/vuh2ey05lec30d_smtcpog.gif
 
Again thankyou for your (name removed by moderator)ut.My point was about his comments regarding’ It appears’ (so his view) the more educated the less likely to believe in the bible.Catholic priests are highly educated thus my comments to him.I am sure if he wishes to respond to me he will,he does not have to of course.Thankyou for your interest.
 
inocente said:
Perhaps you didn’t read the question they actually asked people, which seems clear and unbiased - Which of the following statements comes closest to describing your views about the Bible – the Bible is the actual word of God and is to be taken literally, word for word, the Bible is the inspired word of God but not everything in it should be taken literally, or the Bible is an ancient book of fables, legends, history, and moral precepts recorded by man?
Click to expand...
I read all of it. My comment still stands. Perhaps you can enlighten me, what is the difference between “inspired” and “actual,” given the meaning of “inspired”?

Fact is, all Protestants take some parts of the Bible literally. They interpret the Bible as they wish.

Catholics – if they pay attention to the teaching of the Church – read the Bible as the sacred authors intended. The Bible has four senses – Literal, Allegorical, Moral, Anagogical.
 
Jim_Dandy said:
I read all of it. My comment still stands. Perhaps you can enlighten me, what is the difference between “inspired” and “actual,” given the meaning of “inspired”?
Click to expand...
But what’s that got to do with the OP topic and the Gallop question? It’s not as if they are rank amateurs at asking poll questions. Why isn’t it clear to you when the question asks whether scripture is to be taken literally, word for word OR not everything in it should be taken literally? :confused:
*Fact is, all Protestants take some parts of the Bible literally. They interpret the Bible as they wish.
Click to expand...
Catholics – if they pay attention to the teaching of the Church – read the Bible as the sacred authors intended. The Bible has four senses – Literal, Allegorical, Moral, Anagogical.*
Click to expand...
Heh. I’ve been on CAF some time and never noticed any consistency about how Catholics interpret scripture, some read it literally and others don’t, and some posters admit they’ve never read it at all.
 
tbcrawford said:
Quote " It appears that the more educated the person the less likely they are to believe in the Bible. "

A catholic priest spends years at seminary studying.As a general rule, education is extensive and lasts at least five or six years, depending on the national Programme of Priestly Formation.

In the United States, priests must have a four-year university degree in Catholic philosophy plus an additional four to five years of graduate-level seminary formation in theology with a focus on Biblical research. A Master of Divinity is the most common degree.

In Scotland, there is a mandatory year of preparation before entering seminary for a year dedicated to spiritual formation, followed by several years of study.

In Europe, Australasia and North America, seminarians usually graduate with a Master of Divinity or a Master of Theology degree, which is a four-year professional degree (as opposed to a Master of Arts which is an academic degree). At least four years are to be in theological studies at the major seminary.

I wonder would you consider Catholic priests to be ‘educated’?

As to Americans taking the Bible literally.Would one not define those people as Sola Scriptura?

God bless
Click to expand...
That doesn’t mean that an educated person isn’t still more likely to be an agnostic or atheist. Unless you believe priests make up the majority of our educated people?
 
cho_pilo said:
That doesn’t mean that an educated person isn’t still more likely to be an agnostic or atheist. Unless you believe priests make up the majority of our educated people?
Click to expand...
Hello cho pilo
My own opinoins have not been expressed I was referring to your comments where you made the remark …
Quote " It appears that the more educated the person the less likely they are to believe in the Bible. "

You made the assumption “it appears” the more educated the person the less likely they are to believe.

Would you consider a catholic priest to be educated? If so would they be less likely to believe in the bible? My point is I disagree with your assumption. The more educated a person does not necessarily mean they are more or less likely to believe in the bible.
 
tbcrawford said:
Hello cho pilo
My own opinoins have not been expressed I was referring to your comments where you made the remark …
Quote " It appears that the more educated the person the less likely they are to believe in the Bible. "

You made the assumption “it appears” the more educated the person the less likely they are to believe.

Would you consider a catholic priest to be educated? If so would they be less likely to believe in the bible? My point is I disagree with your assumption. The more educated a person does not necessarily mean they are more or less likely to believe in the bible.
Click to expand...
Just look at the statistics. My remark was based on it.

*Edit: Saying a particular group “is more likely to be” does not mean that every person within the group is that way. It simply means that the greater number of that group are the that thing. In this case, the greater number of educated people do not believe in the bible as the literal word of God. Hence, an educated person is less likely to believe the bible to be the literal word of God.

Of course there will be educated people who do believe that to the case, but they are the minority.
 
cho_pilo said:
What are your reactions and thoughts on this?
Click to expand...
I think that when ever people learn new information they tend to integrate it into the web of information and rules that they know. On occasions there will be information that in some way seems inconsistent with another set of information that one holds. This can lead to several responses including compartmentalizing the different information sets, discarding some information, cognitive dissonance, and so on.

My thinking is that a person that is “more educated” has a greater volume of information against which to perform compatibility checks with other information. Literal interpretations of parts of the bible (especially in the old testament) might not be reconcilable against some information. The explanation that parts of the bible are not to be taken literally may help integrate the bible with other information.
 
For some people, the more they learn, the more obvious and logical it is to them that God doesn’t exist.

And for others, the more then learn, the more obvious and logical that God does exist.

It really depends. I’d say most turn away from God, yes. But I know some dont.
 
Even if people take the Bible literally they are still far closer to the truth than those who reject it lock, stock and barrel! They have the example and teaching of Jesus to inspire and guide them…
 
cho_pilo said:
Just look at the statistics. My remark was based on it.

*Edit: Saying a particular group “is more likely to be” does not mean that every person within the group is that way. It simply means that the greater number of that group are the that thing. In this case, the greater number of educated people do not believe in the bible as the literal word of God. Hence, an educated person is less likely to believe the bible to be the literal word of God.

Of course there will be educated people who do believe that to the case, but they are the minority.
Click to expand...
👍 Ok thankyou for clarifying your views.

God bless
 
cho_pilo said:
gallup.com/poll/148427/Say-Bible-Literally.aspx

Please take a look at the “Views of the Bible, by Education.” It appears that the more educated the person the less likely they are to believe in the Bible.

What are your reactions and thoughts on this?
Click to expand...
I was just redirected to this thread from another one, and I see it’s been inactive for a while. But I have to point out, your conclusion is quite faulty.

According to the results of the survey, it appears that the more educated the person, the more likely they are to believe in the Bible. Even among postgraduates, perception of the Bible as “the inspired word of God” far outweighed disbelief.

I would say, the more educated, the more nuanced perception one has of his/her belief in the Bible. 🙂
 
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