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Since our country's founding, Americans have debated the speeches and tracts sacred to our founding, from the Exodus story to the Declaration of Independence. In this election year, politicians and pundits constantly debate the "true" meaning of America's core canon, asking what the founding fathers or Martin Luther King, Jr. or Eleanor Roosevelt would think of immigration reform, or affirmative action, or birth control. In his new book, author and professor Stephen Prothero has collected these core texts in his new book, "The American Bible."

What is the color of honey, and "faces pale with fear"? If you're Homer--one of the most influential poets in human history--that color is green. And the sea is "wine-dark," just like oxen...though sheep are violet. Which all sounds...well, really off. Producer Tim Howard introduces us to linguist Guy Deutscher, ...

Elaine Pagels, professor of religion at Princeton University and author of Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, and Politics in the Book of Revelation, examines the history and meaning of the Christian Bible's book of Revelation and its apocalyptic imagery. 

EVENT: Elaine Pagels presents Revelations at the 86th and Lexington Ave Barnes & Noble on Thursday, March 22 at 7 P.M. 

Curator Risa Levitt Kohn talks about “Dead Sea Scrolls: Life and Faith in Biblical Times,” on view at Discovery Times Square. The exhibition features the most comprehensive collection of ancient artifacts from Israel ever organized, including one of the largest collections of the 2,000-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls displayed in North America, along with an actual three-ton stone from Jerusalem's Western Wall. It also includes the Ten Commandments Scroll, which will be on display for two weeks in December. The exhibition is on view at Discovery Times Square through April 15, 2012.

James Martin, SJ, a lifelong Catholic, a Jesuit for over 20 years, and a priest for 10 years, reveals the humor in the Bible, and explains how joy, humor, and laughter help us to live more spiritual lives, understand ourselves and others better. In Between Heaven and Mirth Father Martin illustrates examples of healthy humor and purposeful levity in the stories of biblical heroes and heroines, and in the lives of the saints and the world’s great spiritual masters.

Liana Lupas and Tricia Pongracz, curators at the Museum of Biblical Art, tell us about the exhibition “On Eagles’ Wings: The King James Bible Turns 400” at the Museum of Biblical Art. The exhibition presents touchstones of the translation process, examining how this work was and continues to be inspirational. It also features a series of paintings commissioned from Makoto Fujimura, a contemporary artist working in New York City.  "On Eagles' Wings" is on view at MoBiA through October 16.

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible. Linguist and author of Begat: The King James Bible and the English Language, David Crystal, discusses its impact on the English language over the last four centuries.

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible. Linguist and author of Begat: The King James Bible and the English Language, David Crystal, discusses its impact on the English language over the last four centuries.

America is the most religious industrialized country in the world, but a new survey finds that few Americans are well-informed when it comes to religion. The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life called more than 3,4000 Americans and asked them to answer 32 questions about the Bible, Christianity and other world religions and leaders. The study found that most Americans answered around half the questions incorrectly. The people that scored highest were agnostics and atheists, with Jews and Mormons following closely behind.

Take the Pew quiz »