Jews Least Likely U.S. Religious Group To Read Bible Weekly – And 2/3 Never Do

Image by iStock

By Laura E. Adkins April 21, 2017

If the “People of the Book” never take that book off the shelf and read it, do they still deserve the moniker?

Over two-thirds of Jews claim that they attend religious services at least a few times a year, but don’t press them on their religious knowledge: only 17% study religious texts weekly (ranking them second-lowest among religious groups, behind Hindus), and 65% “seldom or never” study religious texts, according to the Pew Research Center’s Religious Landscape Survey. Perhaps that’s because 55% of Jews don’t believe that the Torah is the word of God.

In a separate Pew survey on biblical knowledge, Jewish respondents averaged 4.3 out of seven correct responses — higher than the overall average score of 4.1 and the average Christian score of 4.2, but much lower than Mormons (5.7) and slightly lower than atheists / agnostics (4.4). The survey included two questions on the New Testament, which the Jewish faith does not recognize as a part of the biblical canon.

Laura E. Adkins is the Forward’s contributing network editor. Contact her at [email protected] or on Twitter, @Laura_E_Adkins.

Laura E. Adkins is a senior director at Jewish Women International and the former opinion editor of the Forward. Email her or follow her on X.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO