A new national report, funded
by the John Templeton Foundation, entitled Bible Literacy
Report II: What University Professors Say Incoming Students Need to
Know, revealed that English professors surveyed at leading
universities--including Yale, Harvard, Princeton and
Stanford--agreed that “regardless of a person’s faith, an educated
person needs to know about the Bible.” Released June 1, 2006, by the Bible
Literacy Project (www.bibleliteracy.org) at an academic symposium on
the Bible at Baylor University, the report surveyed 39 English
professors at 34 top U.S. colleges and universities, who said that
knowledge of the Bible is a deeply important part of a good
education.
“The virtual unanimity and depth of their responses on this
question were striking,” said Dr. Marie Wachlin, researcher and
author of the Bible Literacy Report II. “The Bible is not
only a sacred scripture to millions of Americans,” Wachlin
explained, “it is also arguably, as one professor put it, the most
influential text in all of Western culture.”
“Overwhelmingly, professors in this survey indicated that a lack
of basic Bible literacy hampers students’ ability to understand both
classics and contemporary work,” said Wachlin. “Arduously ‘decoding’
scripture references detracts from absorbing and responding to great
works of art, both ancient and modern,” she explained.
“The new national survey of university professors concludes that
high schools should make Bible knowledge part of their curriculum,
especially for college preparatory students. English professors
surveyed said students need Bible literacy to understand the many
Biblical references in English literature,” said Wachlin. “Doing so
requires curricula that simultaneously (a) acknowledge the Bible’s
status as sacred scripture to millions of Americans, (b) are fair to
students of all faith traditions, and (c) are of high academic
quality,” explained Wachlin.
“Loss of recognition [of the Bible] in the last three or four
decades has put much of Western literature beyond the reach of many
readers,” said Dr. David Lyle Jeffrey, Distinguished Professor of
Literature and the Humanities at Baylor University, who led the team
that produced the Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English
Literature.
Dr. Ulrich Knoefplmacher, Professor of Ancient and Modern
Literature, Princeton University, said, “Not to have a knowledge of
the Bible is almost crippling in students’ ability to be
sophisticated readers.”
The conclusions of the new Bible Literacy Report II: What
University Professors Say Incoming Students Need to Know match
findings in the April 2005 Bible Literacy Report I: What do
American teens need to know and what do they know?, in which 98%
of leading high school English teachers surveyed said that Bible
knowledge gives a distinct academic advantage. Ninety percent of the
high school teachers in the 2005 study said Bible knowledge is
critical to a good education. Teachers said teens are “clueless,”
“stumped,” and “confused” and that a lack of Bible knowledge is
harming their ability to understand British and American literature,
as well as art, music, history and culture.
Just 8 months ago, the Bible Literacy Project released the first
student textbook for academic study of the Bible in public high
schools, The Bible and Its Influence. The new student text,
used alongside the Bible, has received wide acclaim by the media,
scholars and national faith leaders. Nearly 900 high schools across
the country have requested review copies for potential use next
fall. Only 8% of public high schools have an academic course on the
Bible, although these courses are legal if the course presents
knowledge, but neither promotes nor denigrates belief.
The Bible and Its Influence student textbook has a broad
base of support, with endorsements ranging from the president of the
National Association of Evangelicals to the general counsel of the
American Jewish Congress to the chair of the Catholic Biblical
Association. It was written to satisfy the consensus standards in
The Bible and Public Schools: A First Amendment Guide, endorsed
in 1999 by 21 national organizations, including the National School
Boards Association. The student text keeps teachers from veering
from court-defined standards. With its university-based online
teacher training and teacher’s guide, the curriculum resolves
teachers’ fears about tackling the subject of the Bible in public
school, said Bible Literacy Project chairman Chuck Stetson.
Addendum
What Leading English Professors* Said When Asked: What do you
think about the following statement? “Regardless of a person’s
faith, an educated person needs to know about the Bible.”
- “Absolutely. [Without the Bible] it’s like using a dictionary
with one-third of the words removed.” Dr. George P. Landow, Brown
University
- “True. You’re simply ignorant of yourself if you don’t know the
Bible.” Dr. Ina Lipkowitz, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- “Definitely. Agree.” Dr. Robert Kiely, Harvard University
- “Not to have that is almost crippling in students’ ability to be
sophisticated readers.” Dr. Ulrich Knoefplmacher, Princeton
University
- “Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.” Dr. Thomas P. Roche, Princeton
University
- “Incontestable statement.” Dr. Ralph Williams, University of
Michigan
- “Absolutely necessary. [Bible allusions are] more concentrated
and more specific and profound and revisited over and over again;
more necessary than classics.” Dr. Stuart K. Culver, University of
Utah
- “Yes. A no-brainer.” Dr. Gordon M. Braden, University of Virginia
- “Every educated person deserves to know the Bible.” Dr. Leland Ryken, Wheaton College, IL
*Full academic titles are on page vi and vii of the Bible
Literacy Report II: What University Professors Say Incoming Students
Need to Know
