Despite dire warnings and insidious attempts by religious groups to penetrate schools, according to findings released this week from a survey commissioned by the Bible Literacy Project, most students in public schools don't know much about the Bible - and many teachers are hesitant to teach it.

Charles Haynes, a First Amendment Center Senior Scholar comments:

More than once, the Court has made clear that public schools may
teach students about the Bible as long as such teaching is presented
objectively as part of an academic program. And over the years, leading
educational and religious groups have developed consensus guidelines on how to teach about religion, including the Bible, in ways that are constitutionally and educationally sound. (These guides are linked at the bottom of this article.)

The best approach is the one taken by the Bible Literacy Project: Focus on the Bible as a literary text. But taking the literature approach shouldn't mean ignoring the religious implications of the Bible. The Bible is not only literature - for millions of Jews and Christians it is sacred scripture. So "Bible Literature" courses should also include discussion of how various religious traditions understand the text.

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