What does the John 3:16 sign mean?

[sermonresearch]

undefined

Does anyone know if interviews were done where the general population was asked, “What does the John 3:16 sign mean that you see at sporting events?” I just wanted to get some answers to that question if anyone knows where I can access the answers that may have been posted somewhere. This guy used to hold up a sign in the 1980’s at different events.

Thanks!undefined

[paperbackwriter]

sermonresearch, I think you may be intersted in the columns Cecil has already written on this subject. The original column, and the follow-up. Not a heartwarming tale, to say the least.

[williamweigand]

Check pages 186 to 188 of Cecil Adams’ book More of The Straight Dope.

[Assuming_facts_not_in_evidence]

Just so you know, you have posted this question in the wrong forum. It will undoubtedly get moved before long.

[zut]

Welcome to the Straight Dope, sermonresearch. I did a bit of poking around, and found some information you might be interested in. From here:

A new survey conducted by the Barna Research Group reveals widespread ignorance of common Christian terms. Researchers asked a sample group of 1,210 adults to define Great Commission, evangelical, John 3:16, and gospel. In each case, only a small minority gave accurate answers. Even “born-again Christians” had trouble answering…

Twenty-five percent of the respondents gave accurate or partially accurate descriptions of John 3:16, and half of the born-again Christians could not offer a definition.

And, from here:

In a series of polls in recent years, George Barna found that more than 90 percent of Americans own a Bible. In fact, those households have an average of three Bibles…But Mr. Barna also found Americans are not reading the Bible as much as they used to, and their lack of biblical literacy has revealed itself in surveys in recent years.
For example:
Although signs bearing “John 3:16” are often visible in the background at sporting events and other public places, nearly 65 percent of Americans do not know that it refers to the passage saying that whoever believes in Jesus shall have eternal life.

The poll referred to (and I assume it’s the same poll in both cases) appears to have been taken about ten years ago, and I can’t find any follow-up on or further information on Barna’s Web site. To the point, I haven’t the foggiest notion what questions were asked, and how the poll determined whether or not people accurately understood the meaning of the verse. Also, be aware that the conclusions are ten years old, and may or may not have changed somewhat in the interim.

[ouryL]

To remind John to be home before 3:16.

[Troy_McClure_SF]

@ouryL

To remind John to be home before 3:16.

…else he has to go to bed without his Body of Christ.

[John_W.Kennedy]

The questions asked in that poll seem heavily weighted toward the Evangelical-with-an-E crowd. And several of them, at least to an educated Christian, have multiple correct answers.

[Yllaria]

Ah, nostalgia. Did you know that John 3:16 can be sung to the tune of “Anchors Away”? We used to sing it all the time in elementary school. (Baptist elementary school) Once you’ve sung it a few times, it stuck in your mind forever.

[user_hostile]

“For God so loved the world that He gave us World War III”

(Quoted from either this months Harpers or The Atlantic)