Professors from the nation's leading universities agree:
"Regardless of a person's faith, an educated person needs to know
about the Bible" - at least according to a report funded by the John
Templeton Foundation released today.
The study surveyed 39 English professors at 34 top U.S. colleges and
universities including Yale, Harvard, Princeton and Stanford. The
findings, published in the Bible Literacy Report II: What
University Professors Say Incoming Students Need to Know, found
basic Bible knowledge to be foundational in higher education.
Dr. Marie Wachlin, author of the report, said almost all of the
respondents were in agreement that "a lack of basic Bible literacy
hampers students' ability to understand both classic and
contemporary work.
"The virtual unanimity and depth of their responses on this question
were striking. The Bible is not only a sacred Scripture to millions
of Americans, it is also arguably - as one professor put it - the
most influential text in all of Western culture."
Dr. George Landow, professor of English and the history of art at
Brown University, agreed.
"Absolutely," he said, "(Without the Bible) it's like using a
dictionary with one-third of the words removed."
Copyright © 2006 Focus on the
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