President Trump recently tweeted, “Numerous states introducing Bible Literacy classes, giving students the option of studying the Bible. Starting to make a turn back? Great!” As usual, a tweet from the President brings with it greater public interest in the topic.
While the President has brought renewed attention to Biblical literacy courses, the courses themselves are not new. Even the ACLU has agreed that schools can offer courses about the Bible using the Bible as the textbook. Common concerns over the constitutionality of public schools offering a course about the Bible can be addressed with the basic guidelines of the curriculum.
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the practice in its 1963 decision, Abington Township v. Schempp. Since then, most advocates on both sides of the religion-in-schools debate agree that the Bible may be taught as literature. Many also agree, as the Supreme Court affirmed in Schempp, that the Bible may be taught for its “historic qualities” as part of a “secular program of education.”
Indeed, these courses are an academic study of the Hebrew texts and the New Testament. The goal of Biblical literacy curriculum is an understanding of the Bible’s impact on the history, literature, laws, and government of Western Civilization. Knowledge of the content, characters, poetry, and philosophy of the Hebrew texts and the New Testament provides an invaluable insight into understanding modern culture. An accurate study of Western Civilization is, in fact, impossible without it.
In the many school districts where this type of curriculum is offered, the course is a voluntary elective, never a requirement. Teachers take great care to maintain a neutral analysis of the texts, not favoring or disfavoring any particular religious tradition or perspective. Students who choose to take the class are allowed to use any translation of the text.
This intellectual approach to the Hebrew texts and New Testament is well within the Constitution’s parameters of neither coercing nor inhibiting religious activity, because the course seeks to increase knowledge, not to impart faith. These courses are academic, not dogmatic.
Many great works of literature throughout Western Civilization are replete with Biblical narratives and imagery. Our own nation’s founders often drew upon Biblical narratives to advance common themes of justice and liberty. Their vision of ordered liberty requires a common understanding of the rights of men and the duty of government to protect those rights. Consequently, basic Bible literacy is an essential cultural currency for interpreting and understanding our own history and the appeal of limited government.
The Bible has been translated into more languages than any other literary work in the history of the world. It still often tops the best-seller list. The impact of the text on the foundation of Western Civilization and American history cannot be overstated.
Each state and even each school district within each state can debate and discuss the addition of a Biblical literacy course to its curriculum. School board members and state policymakers will ultimately decide what is best for the schools in their jurisdiction. Parents may vote at the ballot box or vote with their feet, taking their students and their taxes to districts that reflect their priorities for the education of their children. It is a debate worth having.
What cannot be debated is the constitutionality of a course that increases knowledge and common understanding of texts that are inextricable from the foundation of our country. Public schools across America can and do offer such courses for students seeking a complete education. It’s a shame that such curricula elicit any controversy at all, but their legality is clear.
Hiram Sasser is general counsel to First Liberty Institute, a nonprofit law firm dedicated to defending religious freedom. Read more at FirstLiberty.org.
