I recently have heard several church leaders say that the main reason why there is so much disagreement with church teachings is that Catholics no longer understand their faith the way they used to. In other words, religious illiteracy contributes to dissent. If it is true, this claim has important policy implications. It suggests that, if people only understood their faith, they would agree with church teachings.

But, is it true that a lack of understanding leads to disagreement with church teachings? Does religious illiteracy foster dissent?

In the 1960s, sociologists Charles Glock and Rodney Stark explored the relationship between religious knowledge and religious belief. Their measure of religious knowledge included questions about scripture quotations and Old Testament prophets. Their index of religious "orthodoxy" included items on the existence of a personal God, the divinity of Christ, the authenticity of biblical miracles, and the existence of the devil. Their measure of "ethicalism" had to do with the importance of loving one's neighbor and doing good for others.

Glock and Stark found very little relationship between knowledge and belief. Catholics who were high in knowledge were only slightly more likely than other Catholics to be doctrinally orthodox and were no more likely to score high on ethicalism.

A 2005 national survey also raises questions about the alleged connection between illiteracy and dissent. Several colleagues and I asked Catholics to agree or disagree with the following statement: "You often feel that you cannot explain your faith to others." Agreement with this statement was a sign of religious illiteracy. Disagreement was a sign of religious literacy.

We also asked Catholics about the importance of the sacraments, belief that Mary is the Mother of God, social justice, the teaching authority of the magisterium, having a celibate clergy, prayer, helping the poor, the Resurrection, eucharistic adoration, and the church's opposition to the death penalty, same-sex marriage and abortion.

Catholics who were most likely to say they could not explain their faith to others were no more, nor less, likely than other Catholics to say these church teachings are important. For example, 83 percent of those who said they could not explain their faith to others and 85 percent of those who disagreed with that statement said that belief in the Resurrection is "very important." Thus, there was little or no link between illiteracy and dissent.

Here is a third way to look at the issue. If illiteracy contributes to dissent, Catholics with high school educations or less should disagree with church teachings more than highly educated Catholics. In fact, most studies --- including several of my own --- indicate just the opposite: less educated Catholics are more likely to agree with church teachings than Catholics with advanced degrees.

Moreover, some of the most knowledgeable people in today's Church have disagreed with church teachings. Father Hans Kung has openly disagreed with the Church's views on the infallibility of the pope, and Father Charles Curran has disagreed with the magisterium on sexual-reproductive issues.

Our research also shows that laypeople accept core church teachings which they would be hard pressed to explain, such as Jesus' real presence in the Eucharist, and reject many other teachings which they can explain rather easily, such as the Church's opposition to the death penalty.

These studies and observations raise serious questions about the alleged link between illiteracy and dissent. There does not appear to be a very strong relationship between the two. Indeed, they seem to have little or nothing to do with each other. If so, efforts to increase religious literacy might have other beneficial effects, but they are not likely to reduce dissent in the Church.

James D. Davidson is professor of sociology at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. His most recent book is "Catholicism in Motion: The Church in American Society" (Liguori/Triumph, 2005). At the Religious Education Congress, he will lead workshops on "Contemporary Myths about Catholics and Their Church" (April 1) and "What the Latest Research Tells Us About American Catholics" (April 2).