Two in Three Churchgoers Flunk Lifeway's Bible Literacy Quiz

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If your church handed out a Bible pop quiz this Sunday, most of the people in the pews would fail it. That is the finding of a new Lifeway Research study, as reported by Baptist Press.

Lifeway surveyed 2,012 American churchgoers who identify as Protestant, nondenominational, Catholic, or Orthodox, asking dozens of questions about basic Bible knowledge. The average score was 51. About 65 percent scored below 60, which is an F. Only 9 percent scored 90 or higher.

Some of the details are sobering. Only 45 percent knew Saul was Israel's first king, while 32 percent said David. Two in three wrongly thought Hezekiah is a book of the Bible, and 44 percent believed the Gospel of Thomas is in Scripture. Only about half knew that "God helps those who help themselves" is not in the Bible. On the bright side, 94 percent knew Moses received the Ten Commandments, and 80 percent could fill in the word "believeth" in John 3:16.

Reading habits tell the story. About 21 percent said they read the Bible every day, while 22 percent said they rarely or never read it. Daily readers averaged 66 percent on the quiz, and those who rarely or never read averaged 36 percent. Lifeway's Scott McConnell summed it up: "This study confirms most Christian churchgoers haven't learned or don't remember many things in the Bible and how it is organized." The survey was conducted online August 12-29, 2026.

A Bible Believing Response

This should not surprise anyone who has been paying attention. For decades churches have traded preaching for programs, Bible memory for entertainment, and expository sermons for TED talks with a verse attached. You get what you feed people.

God said through Hosea, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6). That is exactly what we are watching. When half of churchgoers can't tell a popular saying from Scripture, and nearly half think a gnostic gospel belongs in the Bible, false teachers have an open door.

The answer is not complicated. "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15). The Bereans "searched the scriptures daily" (Acts 17:11). God told Joshua that the book of the law "shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night" (Joshua 1:8). And David said, "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee" (Psalm 119:11).

Notice something else. The study used a modern translation for its Micah 6:8 question, and only 28 percent got it. Many believers don't memorize Scripture because the wording keeps changing from one version to the next. Pick up a King James Bible, stay with it, and hide it in your heart: "to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God."

Pastors, preach the Word (2 Timothy 4:2). Parents, read it at your table. And every one of us needs to open the Book daily, because "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4).

Source: Baptist Press, reporting on Lifeway Research.

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