Prothero, a professor of religious studies, argues that the level of knowledge in the U.S. about religions of the world is dangerously low, with an appalling ignorance of how religion has shaped history, religion, and public policy. He traces the history of religion in the U.S. and believes that the lack of knowledge about religious doctrines and beliefs began with the Second Great Awakening in the early 19th century, which emphasized feelings over thought, the spiritual experience over religious study, and the direct experience of the believer over the mediation function of clergy. During the latter part of the 19th century, public schools became more secular.

The latter part of the book is a dictionary of religious literacy. Prothero doesn't attempt to be comprehensive, but to introduce the aspects of the major world religions that are most often the subject of public debate. I consider myself fairly knowledgeable, but I learned a good bit from the dictionary. Where I fault Prothero the most is that he completely ignores modern Paganism and Wicca. Naturally I'm biased, since I am Pagan, but I do believe that the impact that Paganism, especially Wicca, has had on popular culture, the high degree of misunderstanding about it, and the debates over how it is handled in the military, for example, make it worthy of inclusion.

Nevertheless, an interesting and useful book. ( )

Can you Name the Four Gospels?

"Religious Literacy" is about the paradox that Americans are both deeply religious and profoundly ignorant about religion. Stephen Prothero himself is not religious but is a scholar of religious studies. That is to say, he writes 'about' religion and not 'within' religion.

This book is significant because while a majority of Americans consult their religious beliefs in their everyday decision-making, what informs those decisions is a profound ignorance of the doctrines that founded those beliefs. According to Prothero, ignorance leads to dangerous misunderstandings. During the FBI siege on Waco, Prothero argues that had FBI authorities been more knowledgeable in the apocalypse of the end of days, they would have interpreted the Branch Davidions intentions more accurately and perhaps avoided the terrible loss of life.

So who, what, and when did Americans lose their religious literacy? Prothero argues that the Puritans who populated America during the 17th century were very well versed in the catechism of the Christian faith. But the revivals, specifically the Second Great Awakening weakened that knowledge through their emphasis on morality and orthopraxy. The postwar evangelical movements, the second Vatican Council, all contributors to the overall de-emphasis on catechism and reliance on faith alone. This all culminated in the rise of the so-called "culture wars" between the secular humanists and the fundamentalists.

Though I agree with most of Prothero's anti-intellectual argument, along the lines of Richard Hofstadter. I think that he tends to dismiss the reasons behind and the powerful impulse of the many religious populist movements including revivalism and contemporary evangelicalism. The rise of the Christian Coalition, Moral Majority, is precisely the result of a rejection of the elitism, snobbery of traditional institutionalized religion. This is the same reason why revivalists of the Second Great Awakening rebelled against the divinity schools of Harvard and Yale, they focused on the experiential and conversion elements instead of dogma and theology. The "circuit riders" knew little about theology but knew how to sell religion to the public. Megachurches are precisely so popular today for the same reason. Why would the average person want to listen to their Pastors and Priests recite verses from the Bible ad nauseum, they could go back to school if they wanted that. In other words, religion has become popular again precisely due to the reasons why Prothero objects to. Dumbing down religion is what made it popular again. An injection of intelligence is likely only to push people away.

True to his word, Prothero includes an extended glossary, 100 pages worth explaining such terms like Exodus, Sermon on the Temple Mount, Hadith, and Orthodox Judaism. It is a great reference, and is reason alone to buy the book.

Overall, I think Prothero makes some very interesting obvervations about the role of religious education in today's society. From a literary perspective, religious references are used by almost every writer, a basic knowledge would obviously be crucial in understanding such references and parallels. Definitely recommend "Religious Literacy" for anyone wanting to learn more about the world's five major religions. ( )

This is a good book for discussion; not so good a book for reading.
You have to read it to discuss it, but it is awkward, repetitious reading. The ideas and history presented, however, are well worth discussing, even debating. ( )

The most interesting part of this book was the author's dicussion of how religion in America has changed over the years. He says that the religious no longer study or are taught doctrine by their ministers and priest, but now focus strictly on their own denomination's definition of morality. Also has a dictionary of terms everyone should know about the various religions of the world. ( )

Excellent book on the downfall of America's religious literacy. There could have been more on the solution to this problem in the book, but I feel the author leaves that vague because he understands that a solution would need to be tailored to the community. ( )