Questioning your faith? You may want to ask an atheist for help.

Atheists, Jews and Mormons scored the highest averages on a recent survey concerning Americans’ religious knowledge, but the results shouldn’t be taken as the word of any god, said one University religion professor.

“You have to ask yourself, is this really the most appropriate test for gauging how much people know about religion in general or other religions?” said Sandy Martin, University professor and head of the religion department. “Someone who gets the answer wrong is not totally ignorant of that religion.”

The survey, conducted by the Pew Research Center, contained a 32-question quiz on the basic tenets and history of the world’s major religions, including Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism.

After administering the survey to 3,412 Americans, results indicate atheists, Jews and Mormons answered three to four more questions correctly than white evangelical Protestants or white Catholics.

One question on the survey asked when the Jewish Sabbath began, for which the correct answer was Friday. Many participants in the survey probably answered Saturday, which meant they were aware and not totally ignorant of Judaism, Martin said.

On average, Americans answered 50 percent, or 16, of the questions correctly.

Atheists and agnostics scored highest on the survey, with a score of 20.9 out of 32.

Most atheists have left a religious tradition and studied religions of the world, said Randall Bourquin, chief officer of the UGAtheists.

“I’ve found that the large majority of people who are actively atheists have often had kind of a break with a religious past; and it’s usually a process of inquiry and investigation — lots of reading, lots of YouTube videos and lots of discussions with friends, and that leads to a more broad and comprehensive understanding of a lot of religious issues,” he said.

Jewish Americans also scored high on the test, according to the survey results.

“As a Jew, it’s important to know about the world around us and take an interest in other religions to help build bridges to other communities,” said Marni Bronstein, director of social justice and awareness for Hillel at UGA.

And of the seven questions focused on knowledge of the Bible, Mormons scored the highest.

Rudy Anderson, president of the Latter-day Saint Student Association, said this result was because of the focus Mormons place on personal study.

“A big part of our message and what we teach is finding out for yourself, and is focused a lot on study and personal knowledge,” he said.

The report pointed toward education as the most determining factor for religious knowledge. However, education and other demographic traits were equal, the report said people who do not live in the South scored higher than Southerners.

But for Martin, the results of the survey should not be taken as a definitive result of American religious knowledge.

“As a matter of principle, a test or survey is only as good as that test or survey — take it with a grain of salt,” he said.