A quarter of people in Britain confuse the Bible with speeches by Sir Bob Geldof, according to new research published today by Theos, the public theology think tank.
In the ComRes poll, designed to examine social attitudes and perceptions of the Bible, 27% of people questioned wrongly believed that the statement "You must defend those who are helpless and have no hope. Be fair and give justice to the poor and homeless" (Proverbs Chapter 31, verse 8) came from a speech by the singer, songwriter and activist Bob Geldof. A further 20% thought it was from a report by former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan. Only 13% of people correctly identified the statement as coming from the Bible.
Despite this, the majority of people (52%) rightly stated that the Bible offered more teaching on poverty and justice, compared with hell (11%), adultery (10%) and homosexuality (2%).
The findings of the Theos research have been released to coincide with the launch of a new Poverty and Justice Bible by Bible Society. The Bible highlights for the first time more than 2,000 passages which speak of attitudes towards poverty and injustice. It was developed following comments by leading Christian activists, including the U2 front-man Bono, that the 2,000 verses dealing with poverty cannot be ignored.
The respondents in the Theos research were divided on the issues that concern them the most. The breakdown of traditional family structures topped the poll with 29% of respondents stating this was their greatest concern. This was closely followed by the extent of poverty and injustice in the world (28%), international terrorism (24%) and climate change (18%).
The statement 'The Bible champions the cause of the poor and marginalised' divided opinion between those who agreed and disagreed, both 42%. Even among Christians, only 65% agreed with the statement, with nearly a third (29%) disagreeing. Interestingly, these figures were almost reversed amongst atheists, 28% of whom thought that Bible did champion the cause of the poor and the marginalised, and 54% who didn't.
Commenting on the results of the research, Paul Woolley, Director of Theos said:
"The issue of global poverty and injustice is a major concern to a majority of people in society. It is encouraging to see that 52% of people rightly think that the Bible offers more teaching on this subject than hell, adultery and homosexuality.
"However, there are clearly some important challenges to the Christian community contained within these findings. The fact that people confuse the Bible and a speech by Bob Geldof is intriguing, but the fact that 42% of people disagree that the Bible champions the cause of the poor and marginalised demonstrates a significant degree of biblical illiteracy and the need for the Christian community to model the emphases of its sacred text more clearly."
ComRes interviewed 1008 GB adults by telephone between 1 and 3 February 2008. Data were weighted to be representative demographically of all GB adults. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.
To see the research in full, click here. To see the headlines of the poll, click here.
