1. It was created to fulfill the standards of The Bible &
Public Schools: A First Amendment Guide, co-published by the
Bible Literacy Project and the First Amendment Center. The Guide
provides a consensus statement about how the Bible can be taught in
public schools, and was endorsed by 20 national educational and
religious organizations, including the National Education
Association, the National
School Boards Association, the National Association of Evangelicals,
the American Jewish Congress, and the Baptist Joint Committee for
Legislative and Public Affairs, among many others.
2. It has been examined by 40
reviewers, with their
feedback incorporated into the editing of the text. The reviewers
include prominent literature academics as well as high school
teachers and scholars from the Roman Catholic, Protestant
Evangelical, Mainline Protestant, Eastern Orthodox and Jewish
traditions. (Reviewers are listed in the press room at
www.bibleliteracy.org).
3. It is a student textbook. While some curricula offer
only a teacher’s guide, the Bible Literacy Project textbook will be
the only student textbook produced in the last 30 years. It presents
a straightforward explanation of the narratives, themes, and
characters of the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament. The
course includes direct reading from the Bible. Students will use the
translation of the Bible with which they are most comfortable.
4. It broadly covers the cultural contexts and influences of
the Bible with examples of art, literature, rhetoric and music.
The textbook contains engaging features entitled Historical
Connections, The Bible in Literature, Cultural Connections (music,
art, rhetoric), and Into Everyday Language. Special one or two-page
features include “Abraham Lincoln and the Bible,” “Handel’s
Messiah,” “The Bible and Emancipation,” Shakespeare and the Bible,”
among many others. (There are more than 1300 Biblical references in
the works of Shakespeare alone, and more than 60% of allusions to
learn for one AP literature exam prep course are Biblical phrases.
Citations provided at www.bibleliteracy.org.)
5. It preserves the ability of parents to teach their view of
the Bible’s religious significance. The text presents a fair and
academic presentation of the Bible, without prejudice to a
particular view of canon and doctrine.
6. It has been pilot tested both in public high schools and in
a university training course for English teachers. After only one
year on the market, this course is being taught in school districts
in 29 states.
7. The first national, university-based training for teachers
in how to teach Bible literature in the public schools is available
online at
www.bibleliteracy.org/training through our partnership with the
Concordia University (Portland) School of Education.
8. A teachers' edition of the textbook, which assists teachers
in creating a course that is legal, fair and enriching to students,
is now available. It is included at no charge with each orders of 25
student textbooks.
