Quiz tests knowledge about religion

While churchgoers might not be inclined to brag, many of them rest assured in the knowledge that they know a lot about religion.

At least, they are pretty sure they know the important stuff — Adam and Eve, Noah and the flood, the Exodus from Egypt, the birth of Jesus, his crucifixion and resurrection.

Sure, there are lots of other stuff in there about wars and pillaging and God commanding ancient Israel to destroy its enemies or Jehovah would destroy them. But that's more or less filler to the vast majority of believers.

Get the basics, and you're good.

I've always been impressed with how well versed many atheists are in theology. This includes not just Christianity, but Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism and a lot of other -isms. Often, they know more than believers do.

Turns out I'm not the only one intrigued with that thought. The Christian Science Monitor came up with a 32-question multiple-choice quiz a couple of years ago to let believers find out how much they really knew. The questions covered aspects of all the aforementioned belief systems.

Your friendly religion writer logged onto csmonitor.com and clicked on "Are you smarter than an atheist?"

Since it's a multiple choice quiz, I had at least a 25 percent chance of being correct on each question. The down side is that you have to know something. I remember facing the same situation in high school. Maybe that's why I preferred essay tests.

Given just the slightest shred of knowledge, a skillful writer can appear to know something when, in fact, he or she may know very little or nothing at all. Maybe that's why a writing career appealed to me. I could not do math, a field where you have to be right every time.

But I digress. On the quiz, I managed 91 percent. I did not know who or what Maimonides was (Jewish). I also forgot that the term "nirvana" is connected with Hinduism, and I also tripped up on when the Jewish Sabbath starts (it's Friday) I confused it with the first day of the Jewish week (Sunday).

The quiz also asks about what the U.S. Supreme Court and the Constitution say about religion. The Constitution says the government shall neither establish nor interfere with the practice of any religion. It also reminds us that a teacher cannot lead his or her class in prayer.

But it also points out that it is perfectly legal to read the Bible in school as literature and that classes on comparative religions also are within the bounds of the law.

It also is OK to pray in school. I used to do it all the time before math tests and before dodge ball games in phys ed class. One kid had it in for me and used to target me with the soccer ball as hard as he could throw it.

Somehow, God always let me get hit. When I get to heaven, I'm going to ask him about that.

Meanwhile, test your God knowledge and find out whether you, in fact, are smarter than an atheist. Just don't be smug about it.

God loves atheists, too.

Contact Jim Ketchum at jeketchum1@att.net