Poll: U.S. More Bible-Wired, Prayerful than Europe's Christian Nations
When compared to people living in Europe's most Christian-populated nations, Americans are the most prayerful and most likely to be connected to the Bible, according to a new study released on Monday.
Three-quarters of American respondents said they had read a phrase from the Bible in the past 12 months, found the poll conducted by GFK-Eurisko research group for the Catholic Biblical Federation, according to Reuters.
In comparison, only 20 to 38 percent of respondents from the other eight countries surveyed – Britain, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Russia, Italy, Spain and Poland – replied they had read from the Bible in the past year.
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Among the countries with the lowest Bible reading rate were Spain (20 percent), France (21 percent), Italy (27 percent), and Germany (28 percent).
Similar results were found when respondents were asked if they had read a book with a religious theme in the past 12 months.
More than half of Americans (58 percent) responded affirmatively, while Polish came in second with 50 percent. Other countries have between 22 and 35 percent.
In all countries, the majority of respondents said they believe the Bible was the direct word of God or inspired by God. But Germany and the Netherlands had the highest percentage of respondents that did not believe the Bible was divinely inspired, rather they consider it "an ancient book made up of legends, historical facts and teachings written by man."
Nearly all Americans (93 percent) said they had a Bible at home, compared to the French who were the least likely to have a Bible at home (48 percent).
The average American household owns three Bibles, according to a 1993 Barna Research study.
A nationwide Harris Poll released earlier in April showed that the Bible was American's favorite book of all time.
Americans also stood way above other countries when it came to prayer. Most Americans prayed (87 percent), while the French prayed the least (49 percent).
All the nationalities surveyed, except for Italians and French, said they prayed "with my own words." Meanwhile, Italians and French more often recite memorized prayer.
Americans were also the most willing to donate money to spread the Bible message.
Poland, meanwhile, was found to have the highest percentage of regular religious service goers (91 percent), followed by the United States with 77 percent and Russia with 75 percent.
The poll interviewed Christians and non-Christians ahead of a synod of Roman Catholic Bishops on the Bible to be held at the Vatican in October. Most of the respondents were Christian, and the majority of the Christians polled in the United States and Britain were Protestant; in Russia were Russian Orthodox; and in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Poland were Catholic.
