Breakthrough public school Bible textbook receives wide acclaim from scholars, the media and national faith leaders

In its first two years, The Bible and Its Influence is used in 181 schools and 38 states!

FRONT ROYAL, VA. The acclaimed new public high school textbook, The Bible and Its Influence, (www.bibleliteracy.org) praised in TIME magazine’s April 2nd cover story, has in fall 2007 -- its second school year available--doubled the number of schools using the course to 181 schools in 38 states.
 
This dramatic growth is due in part to several positive developments, said Chuck Stetson, chairman of the Bible Literacy Project, which publishes the textbook. Stetson cited the recent TIME magazine cover story “Why We Should Teach the Bible in Public Schools,” in which TIME reporter David Van Biema writes “[Public school Bible electives] should have a strong accompanying textbook on the model of The Bible and Its Influence.”

The Winter 2007 Baylor Law Review concludes that The Bible and Its Influence "clearly conforms to constitutional standards’ and recommended its adoption by public schools. The New York State School Boards Association On Board magazine has called it “a remarkable textbook."  The Bible and Its Influence has been endorsed by leaders from the First Amendment Center, the American Jewish Congress, the National Association of Evangelicals, and the Catholic Biblical Association. Prior to publication, the textbook was reviewed by 40 scholars of law, English literature, and secondary education, representing the Catholic, Jewish, Evangelical, mainline Protestant, and Orthodox faiths.

"In addition, legislation supporting high school academic Bible electives passed in Georgia in 2006 and in Texas and South Carolina in June 2007, has also created considerable statewide interest," said Stetson. "This is only the start of what will be a major new trend across the nation," commented Stetson, who noted research funded by the John Templeton Foundation that only 8 percent of schools were offering academic, non -devotional courses on the Bible, although it has always been legal.  The goal of the Bible Literacy Project is to provide the safeguards and curriculum with a goal that 80 percent of the nation’s high schools will offer a constitutionally sound Bible elective, respectful of students of all faiths (and none).

The Bible and Its Influence was released in fall of 2005 by the Bible Literacy Project and was first available for school use in the fall of 2006. It is the first and only textbook designed to meet constitutional standards for public school use and be subjected to extensive review by scholars. It is also the first to provide comprehensive coverage of the Bible’s influence on literature, art, music, and rhetoric, and is designed to be an elective option in English or Social Studies programs for 9th to 12th grades. The Bible Literacy Project course uses two books -- the student textbook and the Bible, using a translation of the student’s choice.

“There has never been a public high school textbook like this,” said Chuck Stetson, chairman of the Bible Literacy Project. “It was created to satisfy all constituencies involved in the heated public debate about the Bible in public schools. It treats faith perspectives with respect, and was examined by 40 reviewers for accuracy, fairness and the highest level of scholarship. The value of a student textbook, used alongside the Bible, is that it keeps a teacher from veering away from court-defined standards. It informs and instructs, but does not promote religion,” said Stetson.  

Extensive media coverage has given the textbook wide acclaim. Associated Press story designated The Bible and Its Influence as one of 2005’s “notable books,” cited for its “distinctiveness and potential importance.” In addition to being the subject of a TIME magazine cover story, the textbook has been positively featured on NBC’s TODAY show, in Newsweek, USA Today, Fox News, CBS, CBN, CNN, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, LA Times, Education Week, WORLD magazine, BreakPoint, Christianity Today and a wide range of other national newspapers.

Textbook reviewers included Dr. Leland Ryken, the Clyde S. Kilby Professor of English at Wheaton College, IL, who called the new textbook “an undisputed triumph in scholarship and presentation. The achievement is breathtaking.” Dr. Ryken, author of more than 20 books about the Bible, said of this new textbook, “I learned something new on virtually every page.”

Marc Stern, general counsel for the American Jewish Congress and textbook contributor, said The Bible and Its Influence “will serve as an excellent and even-handed introduction to the Bible. Without question, it can serve as the basis for a constitutional course about the Bible in the nation’s public schools. It is therefore a signal achievement.”

Dr. Charles C. Haynes, senior scholar at the First Amendment Center, said, “Let me say how impressed I am by this textbook. It is clear that much hard work and good scholarship have gone into the text. The instructional design is excellent. This promises to be an outstanding resource for public schools.”

Joan Spence, a public school language arts teacher in Battle Ground, WA, currently using the textbook, said, “Although I have taught Bible literature courses for several years, after using this new textbook with my students, I cannot conceive of going back into my classroom without it.”

Many national faith leaders have voiced strong support for this constitutionally sound curriculum for public schools, including renowned evangelical leaders Chuck Colson, Vonette Bright, Peter Lillback, Joe Stowell and Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, as well as Marc Stern, the general counsel of the American Jewish Congress, and Bishop Richard Sklba, the chair of the Catholic Biblical Association, among many others.

“The Bible and Its Influence is unique in eight distinctive ways,” explained Cullen Schippe, textbook general editor, and former vice president and publisher for Music, Religion and Social Studies at Macmillan/McGraw-Hill.

1. Fulfills First Amendment Standards of The Bible & Public Schools: A First Amendment Guide-- a consensus statement about how the Bible can be taught in public schools--endorsed by 21 national educational and religious organizations, including the National School Boards Association, the National Education Association, the National Association of Evangelicals, the Christian Legal Society, and the American Jewish Congress, among many others.
    
2. Rigorous Review by more than 40 prominent literature academics, high school teachers, theologians and scholars -- both secular and from the Roman Catholic, Protestant Evangelical, Mainline Protestant, Eastern Orthodox and Jewish traditions. General Editor Cullen Schippe is the former head of Religion, Arts and Music at Macmillan/McGraw-Hill.
    
3. A student textbook used along with the Bible. The first and only student textbook on the Bible for public high school courses in 30 years. Explains the narratives, themes, and characters of the Bible. Respects but does not promote faith traditions. Students read from the Bible translation of their choice and study differences between translations.
    
4. Cultural Context: Covers the vast influence of the Bible in engaging features like: The Bible in Literature, Cultural Connections (music, art, rhetoric), and Into Everyday Language. Special features include Abraham Lincoln and the Bible, Handel’s Messiah, The Bible and Emancipation, and Shakespeare and the Bible, among many others.
    
5. Respects Faith Perspectives: Presents facts academically, without prejudice to a particular view of canon and doctrine, preserving the ability of parents to teach their view of the Bible’s religious significance.
    
6. Used Nationwide: After two years of school availability, our course has been adopted successfully by 181 schools in 38 states, and five countries.
    
7. Teacher’s Edition available: 440-page softbound text, with wraparound feature, included free with orders of 25 student books.
    
8. On-line Teacher Training: The only university-based training for teachers in how to teach the Bible in the public schools. Three price and content structures are available: a modestly priced short course which gives a certificate of completion, a mid-price course for continuing education units and a full-price course for graduate level credit.

FACT SHEET from two BLP national research reports on need for Bible Literacy

• 100 percent of university professors English surveyed—including those from Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford—say “an educated person should know the Bible.”
   
• More than 98 percent of leading high school English teachers say that Bible knowledge gives a distinct academic advantage.
   
• More than 90 percent of leading high school English teachers say that Bible knowledge is critical to a good education.
   
• Teachers surveyed said students are “clueless, stumped and confused,” about Bible references and that loss of Bible knowledge is harming students’ ability to properly understand literature, art, music, history and culture.
   
• There are more than 1300 Biblical references in all the works of Shakespeare.
   
• More than 60 percent of allusions in one AP literature prep course are Biblical phrases.

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