Jews Least Likely U.S. Religious Group To Read Bible Weekly – And 2/3 Never Do
Image by iStock
By Laura E. Adkins April 21, 2017
If the “People of the Book” never take that book off the shelf and read it, do they still deserve the moniker?
Over two-thirds of Jews claim that they attend religious services at least a few times a year, but don’t press them on their religious knowledge: only 17% study religious texts weekly (ranking them second-lowest among religious groups, behind Hindus), and 65% “seldom or never” study religious texts, according to the Pew Research Center’s Religious Landscape Survey. Perhaps that’s because 55% of Jews don’t believe that the Torah is the word of God.
In a separate Pew survey on biblical knowledge, Jewish respondents averaged 4.3 out of seven correct responses — higher than the overall average score of 4.1 and the average Christian score of 4.2, but much lower than Mormons (5.7) and slightly lower than atheists / agnostics (4.4). The survey included two questions on the New Testament, which the Jewish faith does not recognize as a part of the biblical canon.
Laura E. Adkins is the Forward’s contributing network editor. Contact her at [email protected] or on Twitter, @Laura_E_Adkins.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
