Book #22: Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know-- And Doesn't

Title: Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know-- And Doesn't
Author: Stephen Prothero

One part dictionary of religious terms and two parts lament over the state of religious literacy in the United States.

We're a religious nation-- why do we know so little about our own religions? That seems to be Stephen Prothero's main question. He gives a little quiz on religious literacy at the beginning (I scored and 80%, which had me depressed at first, until he went over the scores of his college students later in the book). The quiz is pretty fun, and the dictionary is useful, especially for me for the non-Christian religions. It made me wish I had taken a Comparative Religions course in college. Overall, I feel like my education at BYU and as a seminary grad served me well in knowing a lot about my own religion. And I'm glad for that, despite the years of lost sleep.