# What does the John 3:16 sign mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [November 17, 2004, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-john-3-16-sign-mean/275292 "2004-11-17T16:56:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sermonresearch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@sermonresearch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sermonresearch)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-john-3-16-sign-mean/275292/1 "2004-11-17T16:56:49Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![paperbackwriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-john-3-16-sign-mean/275292/2 "2004-11-17T17:31:06Z")
**sermonresearch** , I think you may be intersted in the columns Cecil has already written on this subject. The [original column](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_186.html), and the [follow-up](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a971107.html). Not a heartwarming tale, to say the least. ---
**Author:** ![williamweigand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b3f665/32.png) [@williamweigand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/williamweigand)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-john-3-16-sign-mean/275292/3 "2004-11-17T17:34:59Z")
Check pages 186 to 188 of Cecil Adams’ book **More of The Straight Dope**. ---
**Author:** ![Assuming\_facts\_not\_in\_evidence](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Assuming\_facts\_not\_in\_evidence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Assuming_facts_not_in_evidence)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-john-3-16-sign-mean/275292/4 "2004-11-17T18:20:01Z")
Just so you know, you have posted this question in the wrong forum. It will undoubtedly get moved before long. ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-john-3-16-sign-mean/275292/5 "2004-11-17T21:43:01Z")
Welcome to the Straight Dope, **sermonresearch**. I did a bit of poking around, and found some information you might be interested in. From [here:](http://www.christianglobe.com/Illustrations/theDetails.asp?whichOne=b&whichFile=bible_ignorance_of) > [@](#): > > 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](http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/08-96/08-05-96/c02li071.htm): > [@](#): > > 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.](http://www.barna.org/) 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. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-john-3-16-sign-mean/275292/6 "2004-11-17T22:20:17Z")
To remind John to be home before 3:16. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-john-3-16-sign-mean/275292/7 "2004-11-17T22:27:33Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > To remind John to be home before 3:16. …else he has to go to bed without his Body of Christ. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-john-3-16-sign-mean/275292/8 "2004-11-17T22:51:44Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-john-3-16-sign-mean/275292/9 "2004-11-17T23:43:30Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-john-3-16-sign-mean/275292/10 "2004-11-19T06:36:35Z")
“For God so loved the world that He gave us World War III” (Quoted from either this months _Harpers_ or _The Atlantic_)