As a scholar who teaches world religions, Martyn Oliver finds this Pew study alarming: 12% of Americans are under the impression that Noah, he of the Ark, was married to Joan of Arc.

Oliver teaches religion at American University in Washington, a liberal-arts school where religion is a fairly popular major. But many of his students show up not exactly well-prepared for what they're about to be taught.

So Oliver wrote a list - 10 Things Every College Student Needs to Know About Religion - which went viral.

A better understand of religions isn't just about impressing others at parties. Oliver says, "If you haven't read the Sermon on the Mount, you have a really hard time understanding Martin Luther King Jr.'s speeches."