“The Bible contains the most profound philosophy, the most perfect morality, and the most refined policy that ever was conceived upon Earth,” said John Adams, our first vice president under and second president after George Washington.
Adams was no orthodox believer, denying as he did the doctrine of the Trinity. But Adams understood the importance of the Bible for America and for any other society. This understanding is one reason why officials in states such as Oklahoma seek to incorporate Scripture into public school curricula.
Some, even among Christians, have pushed against this move, worrying it will either exclude some people who don’t share their faith or who simply have a differing interpretation of the text. But teaching the Bible in public schools should not involve mandating belief in it as God’s word or a requirement to read it according only to one subset of the Christian church.
Indeed, the Bible can be taught while respecting these principles of equality and religious liberty. One could even say the Bible reflects them within its pages.
At the very least, teachers can use the Bible to understand our history better and as one avenue to tackle the perpetual questions of human life.
Historically, we cannot know our history properly without seeing how the Bible has molded individuals and groups throughout America’s past and into the present. The way we speak was honed in large part through the vocabulary and cadences of the King James Bible. We cannot understand many speeches and letters from great statesmen without reference to Scripture.
If you ever heard a reference to America as a “City on a Hill,” for example, the phrase’s origin goes back to the Bible. Abraham Lincoln’s famous House Divided speech built upon a statement of Jesus in the Gospels. His second inaugural address uses several biblical texts to think through the trial that was the Civil War. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first inaugural makes allusions to Jesus’s overturning the money changers in the Temple as a picture of his New Deal coalition running out the Republican administration of Herbert Hoover.
One need not agree with or even like these usages of Scripture. But one misses out on much of our history if he or she doesn’t know where the references come from.
Moreover, the Bible speaks to perpetual and universal matters. We all must confront whether there is a higher being to whom we owe any praise or obedience. We all must consider what is just and good as well as where we get the standard for such things. We all must ask whether this life is all there is to our existence or if somehow we participate in some form of eternal life.
The Bible addresses all of the above and more. As Adams argued, Scripture gives powerful answers to each. These are answers that have convinced many in our own country and across the world.
Finally, the Bible offers fine literary examples for us to consider. Its use of poetry, imagery, and other facets of communication should not be kept from students, who can learn from them in these ways even if they do not subscribe to the deity of Christ or some other particular doctrine.
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Our policymakers should respect the Bible enough to display its teachings for students to assess. And, on that note, we should not shut other texts out of the classroom from other faiths or from those of no faith. Let students see them all and respectfully consider their merits.
We should not shut out the Bible from our curriculum. Still respecting religious liberty and contributions by other sources, we can learn much from Scripture. We can learn much about our history, much about how to discuss fundamental questions, and much pertaining to literary style and beauty. And we might learn the truth, too. Let the students see and decide for themselves.
Adam Carrington is an associate professor at Ashland University.