From what I’ve seen, atheists usually don’t know much about religion. Maybe they do well on the trivia tests where they do an “overview” of what each religion teaches, but it is different entirely to actually spend a significant amount of time studying a faith. Remember, college classes in religion will teach everyone these trivia things, but they do it in a way that makes all religions appear equally valid, so of course many university students say they don’t want religion at all, especially since liberal professors belittle religion. Also, it depends on how you look at things. An atheist looks at the Bible a little too literally, whereas Christians who know their faith have a better understanding of what the Bible is and what it’s for. Christians who study their faith understand that the Bible is many different forms of writing, not all are literal, some are written from the perspective of how things appear to us on earth (for example, soul sleep is talked about in this kind of language, and many of the newer Christian religions believe in soul sleep because of this bad interpretation).
Also, many young adults today were not raised in religious homes. Church attendance has been declining rapidly since the 70’s. There is a good chance they simply don’t know better. Their parents were not well educated in their faith, left the church, and then tell their kids false things about it so the kids grow up thinking religion is stupid and they don’t want to go to church either.
Those who were raised in religious homes also might not know their faith very well. Many of them know the basics, but details (like the ones in the quiz) will stump them. It is important that everyone know their faith so they can defend it.
I agree that we need to pray for atheists. They are lost. Many of them are too proud and too arrogant to see that God exists. They built their reputations on being an atheist, and so they will attack people for believing in God (“mental disorder”). Some atheists will not let theists into their graduate programs, they close their minds to another point of view (so much for “tolerance”). Many atheists have their heads stuck in the sand, and we need to pray that they will open their hearts to God. Remember, the “intellectual” reasons for atheism are only a smokescreen. There are many logical proofs for the existence of God that haven’t been refuted in hundreds of years, but they choose not to believe out of pride (note: you can still believe in God without being a Christian, Muslim, or Jew; that is called deism, but deism isn’t really taught in schools so they will look at you confused if you suggest they become a deist). We need to pray they will open their hearts to God and let themselves be saved. This is very dangerous because although some religious groups would probably go to purgatory for their false teachings, atheism is a deliberate and (today, often militant) rejection of God. Those who reject God go to hell (hell is the absence of God), so this is very serious and they need our prayers before it’s too late.
