Only ten per cent of Britons know the Bible

Despite fatigue and time pressures, we still have so much work to do, according to this new survey:-

'The British public is widely ignorant of the stories and people who form the basis of Christianity, a new survey has found. The National Biblical Literacy Survey discovered that just 10 per cent of people understand the main characters in the Bible and their relevance. Only 7 per cent were familiar with the story of Pentecost and only 15 per cent knew the Advent stories. Despite the TV and stage musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, over half of respondents knew nothing about Joseph’s story and 60 per cent had no idea of the parable of the Good Samaritan. Revd David Wilkinson, from St John’s College, Durham, the survey’s sponsors, said these levels of ignorance meant most people are unable to appreciate the ‘depths’ of many pieces of music, Shakespeare’s plays or many works of art. A full report of the survey is due later this month.

Sources: Daily Telegraph (20/6, 24/6); Daily Mail (22/6)