Of Course There Is a Place for the Bible in the Classroom

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The Bible and Christianity's impact on the U.S. is not an infringement of First Amendment rights; rather, it is an essential part of understanding the context in which U.S. history was shaped.

Oklahoma Superintendent of Schools Ryan Walters has been criticized for mandating that the Bible and Ten Commandments be integrated into the state’s 5th through 12th grade curriculum. Much of the criticism stems from Walters’s perceived challenge to the “separation of church and state” clause of the First Amendment as well as fears that the superintendent wants Oklahoma teachers to indoctrinate rather than teach.

Walters states that “the Bible is a necessary historical document to teach our kids about the history of this country, to have a complete understanding of Western civilization, to have an understanding of the basis of our legal system.”

The Superintendent has received pushback from education professionals in Oklahoma who see the nefarious hand of proselytization behind Walters’s edict. Superintendent of the Bixby Public School system, Rob Miller, said, “If there is no curricular standard that ties with that particular classroom, what would be the purpose of a Bible if not for pure indoctrination?” National watchdog groups are also concerned. Interfaith Alliance stated, “This is blatant religious coercion that should have absolutely no place in public schools – in Oklahoma or any other state.”

Although one may disagree with requiring schools to showcase the Bible and Ten Commandments in classrooms, it is impossible to deny Walters’s assertion that they are vital components for understanding U.S. history and Western civilization in general. Thus, given the woeful lack of knowledge exhibited by American high school graduates that underpins the distortion of U.S. history contributing to growing social disunity, education leaders might at least consider Walters’s claim.

Although it is contentious to claim the United States is a “Christian nation,” it is not in the least controversial to link American laws and political ideologies to the Judeo-Christian ethic, especially the teachings of Christ. In the span of the 300,000-year history of Homo sapiens, the radical idea of human equality is rather new. Evolving from the Genesis claim that God created humanity “in the Divine image,” Christ posited human equality in the eyes of God a mere 2,000 years ago, and that idea was first put into law by the United States only in 1789. The struggle for the realization of equality under the law has symbolized much of U.S. history, as citizens continue to strive toward “a more perfect Union.”

Disrespect for the sanctity of the individual has reached such proportions in the U.S. that some medical professionals recommend that a child need only be 14-years-old to begin gender transition treatment. It’s hard to imagine the proliferation of such ideas without an understanding of the Bible and the Christian tradition that spawned the progressively radical concepts established during the Renaissance, The Reformation, The Scientific Revolution, and The Enlightenment. The ideas proposed and developed during these movements led to the abolition of slavery, the liberation of women and sexual minorities and miraculous breakthroughs in science in several Western countries.

It seems reasonable that a study of the book that established the foundation of these movements would be “necessary” to understand the United States, a republic Lincoln called “the last best hope of earth.”

Still, critics like Miller are concerned that the Bible will be nothing more than a “classroom prop.” Compared to the prevalence of other “classroom props” used in many schools, including the “Genderbread Person,” however, the Bible might stack up fairly well. At the least, it seems that a discussion about which source would better help young Americans build a stronger and more united country would be a good idea.

Miller also says that the Bible would make no sense in a seventh-grade math classroom or a high school chemistry class. Devout Christians like Isaac Newton and Francis Bacon, recognized as the “Fathers of the Scientific Revolution,” might disagree. Bacon sought to unite empiricism and supernatural belief in intellectual life and Newton concluded that gravity was the result of God’s will.

According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Renes Descartes of “I think, therefore I am” fame believed “God’s existence is purported to be as obvious and self-evident as the most basic mathematical truth and he [Descartes] attempted to show how the ‘logic’ of the demonstration is rooted in our ordinary reasoning practices.” If nothing more, introducing students to these ideas might be a good “hook” and provide some insight into the “motive” behind the motivation to learn math and science.

Harvard University appears to have taken this approach. Beginning in 1992, the university launched The Veritas Forum, with this mission: Driven by a love for the university and its mission to seek truth, The Veritas Forum puts the Christian faith in dialogue with other beliefs and invites participants from all backgrounds to seek truth together.

A Place for Truth: Leading Thinkers Explore Life’s Hardest Questions, an excellent book edited by Dallas Willard, analyzes the arguments both for and against the existence of God that scientists have presented at the Veritas Forum. According to a 2009 Pew Research survey, 51% of American scientists believe in “some form of higher power or deity” while 33% believe in “God.” In fact, Francis Collins, head of the Human Genome Project, says that God can be worshiped in a cathedral or laboratory. More specifically, he notes, “If you see God as the creator of the universe — in all of its amazing complexity, diversity and awesome beauty — then science, which is, of course, a means of exploring nature, also becomes a means of exploring God’s creative abilities.”

The question of how religion is handled in a republic founded on a constitution that separates church and state will always be contentious. That said, helping students understand the Bible and Christianity’s impact on the U.S. and western civilization is not an infringement of First Amendment rights. Rather, it is an essential part of understanding the context in which U.S. history was shaped.

Studying the Bible and The Ten Commandments in school might remind Americans that we have a rich common heritage. That heritage might just serve to unite rather than divide us.

Dana E. Abizaid is a freelance contributor to The Daily Caller and has taught in university and high school classrooms for over 20 years.

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