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
more than 360 Schools in 43 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 2009
increased the number of schools using the course to more than 360 Schools in 43 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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
Used Nationwide: After two years of school
availability, our course has been adopted successfully by more than
360 Schools in 43 states, and five countries.
-
Teacher’s Edition
available:
440-page softbound
text, with wraparound feature, included free with orders of 25
student books.
-
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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