Study shows Protestant ministers often have limited familiarity with the core beliefs of other faiths

(Original release date:  August 25, 2004) Study results being released for the first time in the September/October edition of Facts & Trends magazine show large numbers of Protestant clergy have little familiarity with the core beliefs of numerous non-Protestant religious groups. 

Protestant ministers were asked to rate how familiar they are with the core beliefs of 13 different religious groups, using a scale of 1 (not at all familiar) to 5 (extremely familiar).  Not one of the 13 groups has a majority of Protestant ministers claiming to be extremely familiar with its core beliefs.  The groups most likely to be extremely familiar to Protestant ministers are Roman Catholicism (41%), Judaism (33%), Mormonism (21%), and Jehovah’s Witnesses (21%).   

If the top two levels of familiarity on the survey scale (ratings of 5 and 4) are grouped together, 85% of all Protestant clergy claim to be relatively familiar with the core beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church, and 80% are familiar with the core doctrines of Judaism.  This decreases to 61% for Mormonism, and 60% for Jehovah’s Witnesses.  These are still the only four faith groups with which a majority of Protestant ministers are relatively familiar.  Forty-seven percent are familiar with the core beliefs of Islam, 43% with New Age beliefs, 31% with Satanism, 28% with Buddhism, 27% with Hinduism, 15% with Scientology, 13% with Wicca, 13% with Baha’i, and just 5% with Sikhism. 

On the other end of the scale, if the two lowest responses (1 and 2) are combined, large numbers of Protestant clergy show little or no familiarity with the beliefs of Buddhism (33%), Hinduism (35%), Satanism (45%), Scientology (54%), Baha’i (66%), Wicca (67%), or Sikhism (85%).  

Familiarity with different faith groups does not vary much by different areas of the country, but there are some differences denominationally.  On average, of five major denominational groups examined separately in the study findings, Methodists are the least likely to be familiar with the beliefs of other faith groups.  Methodist ministers’ familiarity with Islam, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Satanism, and New Age beliefs is particularly low. 

Ministers in Pentecostal and charismatic denominations also tend to be less familiar than average with other belief systems.  Pentecostal clergy have a relatively high level of familiarity with Satanism compared to other denominations, but are average or below average on the other faith groups.  Pentecostal ministers are especially likely to be unfamiliar with the core beliefs of Islam, Hinduism, and Judaism. 

Lutherans, on the other hand, tend to feel more familiar with non-Protestant groups than do pastors from other denominations.  Baptists tend to be about average on their familiarity with non-Protestant faiths. 

Ron Sellers, president of Ellison Research, expressed surprise at the findings about Pentecostal and charismatic clergy.  “Evangelism and conversion are very strong influences in Pentecostal theology and practice, and Pentecostal clergy tend to have particularly strong beliefs that Christianity is the only path to salvation,” Sellers explained.  “Trying to reach people who hold other beliefs is more likely if you understand what those beliefs are.  Yet the study demonstrated that Pentecostal and charismatic clergy are sometimes below average in their familiarity with the beliefs of non-Protestant faith groups.  Given the importance these pastors often place on evangelism, one might expect just the opposite, so this is a surprise,” Sellers concluded. 

Facts & Trends, where this study is being published, is designed to assist pastors, church staff and denominational leaders in their roles of ministry by informing them about LifeWay resources and how they relate to current issues in Christian ministry.  It is published by LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.  For information about Facts & Trends, contact Chris Turner at 615-251-2307.  

The study was conducted by Ellison Research, a marketing research company located in Phoenix, Arizona.  The sample of 700 Protestant ministers included only those who are actively leading churches.  The study’s total sample is accurate to within ±3.6 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level with a 50 percent response distribution.

The study was conducted in all 50 states, using a representative sample of pastors from all Protestant denominations.  Respondents’ geography, church size, and denomination were carefully tracked to ensure appropriate representation and accuracy.

How familiar are you with the core beliefs of...?

Faith Group Extremely Familiar (5) 4 3 2 Not at All Familiar (1)
Roman Catholicism 41% 44% 10% 3% 3%
Judaism 33 47 13 5 2
Mormonism 21 40 28 8 4
Jehovah's Witnesses 21 39 28 9 3
Islam 13 34 34 13 5
New Age 10 33 30 17 10
Satanism 9 21 24 28 17
Buddhism 6 22 39 24 10
Hinduism 6 20 38 24 11
Scientology 5 10 31 33 21
Wicca 4 9 20 32 35
Baha'i 3 10 21 25 41
Sikhism 1 4 10 24 61

How familiar are you with the core beliefs of...?

Faith Groups All Pastors Southern Baptist Other Baptist Methodist Lutheran Pentecostal All Others
Roman Catholicism:              
  • relatively familiar
 85% 78% 77% 87% 97% 82% 90%
  • moderately familiar
 10 18 15 9 0 8 7
  • little or no familiarity
 5 4 8 4 3 10 3
Judaism              
  • relatively familiar
 80 72 77 91 85 69 84
  • moderately familiar
 13 22 13 6 13 15 11
  • little or no familiarity
 7 6 10 3 2 16 5
Mormonism              
  • relatively familiar
 61 69 67 50 70 53 61
  • moderately familiar
 28 26 23 28 20 38 29
  • little or no familiarity
 12 5 10 22 10 9 10
Jehovah's Witnesses              
  • relatively familiar
 60 64 68 44 63 54 60
  • moderately familiar
 28 30 24 33 26 33 27
  • little or no familiarity
 12 6 8 23 11 13 13
Islam              
  • relatively familiar
 47 50 53 31 57 38 53
  • moderately familiar
 34 35 27 40 38 37 32
  • little or no familiarity
 18 15 20 29 5 25 15
New Age              
  • relatively familiar
 43 45 47 28 47 38 46
  • moderately familiar
 30 33 25 37 18 34 32
  • little or no familiarity
 27 22 28 35 35 28 22
Satanism              
  • relatively familiar
 31 33 34 15 23 41 31
  • moderately familiar
 24 30 32 18 25 20 22
  • little or no familiarity
 45 37 34 67 52 39 47
Buddhism              
  • relatively familiar
 28 26 31 28 30 24 29
  • moderately familiar
 39 39 31 36 41 37 44
  • little or no familiarity
 33 35 38 36 29 39 27
Hinduism              
  • relatively familiar
 27 29 32 18 25 22 28
  • moderately familiar
 38 37 30 45 38 34 42
  • little or no familiarity
 35 34 38 37 37 44 30
Scientology              
  • relatively familiar
 15 15 20 7 20 12 15
  • moderately familiar
 31 33 32 23 15 36 34
  • little or no familiarity
 54 52 48 70 65 52 51
Wicca              
  • relatively familiar
 13 14 13 6 18 14 14
  • moderately familiar
 20 20 25 11 13 26 18
  • little or no familiarity
 67 66 62 83 69 60 68
Baha'i              
  • relatively familiar
 13 9 10 11 22 7 18
  • moderately familiar
 21 19 19 22 25 22 20
  • little or no familiarity
 66 72 71 67 53 71 62
Sikhism              
  • relatively familiar
 5 4 6 1 7 5 6
  • moderately familiar
 10 12 11 6 13 10 8
  • little or no familiarity
 85 84 83 93 80 85 86

Numbers may not add to exactly 100% due to rounding.  "Don't know" responses are not shown.  The survey included all Protestant denominations, but the ones shown separately in the table above were the only ones with subsamples large-enough to examine separately.