When browsing articles about the unprecedented financial crisis recently, I found a short blog that remains me an old story of Entry Test to the Heaven. The blog was mistakenly tagged as finance but actually was about religion doubt written by an American novelist Garrison Keillor. Apparently, Keillor surprised with his Sunday Bible reading. He wrote, “The Scripture reading in church Sunday gave me a jolt — Exodus 32, which refers to the Chosen People wearing earrings, men as well as women, and I twitched when the lector read it. Yikes! Moses got his ears pierced? What else didn’t we know?”
The Keillor’s statement, however, is exactly what my brother spotted about 6 years ago. He said that the vast majority of believers don’t know exactly what been told in their scriptures. He then composed an Entry Test to Heaven to prove his hypothetic.
The tests consisted of 2 versions of 10-question test for Moslem and Christian each based on Qur’an and Bible. My brother gave his every office colleague a test paper based on their beliefs, and said that they need 6 points to pass the test. As my brother renown for humorous person, many of them didn’t misunderstand that the test was just for fun, but couple felt angry and tore the paper. The result was not surprising; not many passed the test, both Moslems and Christians.
I personally think that the test was interesting because it’s an axiom that we don’t really understand what we believe in. Even for the Moslems who recite the Qur’an everyday, less of them read the translation.
The reactions to the test were somehow unanimous. Most of them just answered the test and felt funny about it but couple was seriously angry. The funniest thing is one of my friends I handed over the test later created “Another Entry Test to Heaven” for “the creator” of the original Entry Test to Heaven, a complicated 10-question test that fortunately could be easily and rapidly answered by my brother.
The test however may or may not be an indicator of the vast majority faith level. Even if we could answer all of the questions, it doesn’t mean we are devoted believer. Sometimes understanding the sacred book and being devoted believer are mutually exclusive.
I want to share the test here but unfortunately I haven’t found the Christian version test yet. If you are Moslem and interested to take the test, please click here.
Tags: religion doubt
