The controversy about prayer and religion in the schools has caused a great deal of confusion. Each year when I assign the Bible to be read by my students, I receive calls from parents or comments from students that religion cannot be taught in school and that the Bible has been banned. Many think that when prayer was banned, the Bible was banned as well. This misconception is widespread among the general public and many of my colleagues decide not to teach the Bible at all rather than risk the ire of parents or administrators.

However, this can be a disservice to students, because they lose a great deal of their own culture and language when denied the opportunity to study the Bible. Without a biblical background students who take literature classes in college are severely handicapped when they read Milton’s Paradise Lost. They miss the religious tensions in John Steinbeck’s East of Eden and the nuances of Christian hypocrisy in Jane Eyre. Many popular poems cannot be understood without knowledge of the Bible.

In East of Eden Steinbeck asks the question if man is born evil or if he has a choice. The Garden of Eden, the fall of Cain, the nature of sin, and the question of favoritism by God are all themes in this novel. Who can understand the Scarlet Letter without understanding something about the religious faith of the characters? Who can understand something about the faith of our ancestors who forged a new country unless we read works of Anne Bradstreet, William Bradford, Mary Rowlandson, and Jonathan Edwards? Who can understand the salvation theme in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner without some understanding of the Bible? Who can understand the various themes of Shakespeare without the Bible?

Stephen Prothero, author of Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know And Doesn’t (HarperCollins, 2008), quotes Justice William Brennan:

His ideas were further expounded by Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson who also wrote on the McCollum v. Board of Education case:

The case of McCollum v. Board of Education was to outlaw “teaching of creed and catechism and ceremonial” ideas that reflect the teacher’s belief system within the public schools. It was not created to ban the Bible from the public school curriculum.

Mr. Darrin Drill is the superintendent of schools in Turner, Oregon. He is also a lawyer. He provides a clear picture of how administrators can handle the controversy in high schools today. He states that the Bible can be used in public schools:

(1) if Bible reading is part of the curriculum or state or national standards.

(2) If it is part of the purpose for the standards.

(3) If it is age appropriate.

(4) If equal time is given to other religions.

Based on various court cases, these guidelines help teachers maintain balance, compassion, and neutrality. His point is that the wall between church and state was created to keep the state out of church business, not the other way around.

Teachers cannot proselytize or evangelize from positions of power and authority in the classroom. The public school is for all students and most parents would not appreciate teachers forcing their opinions on their children. A teacher needs to respect all religions and beliefs, but allowing the Bible to be read as part of a curriculum in connection with literature or history is appropriate and helpful.

What students believe is their choice and any interpretation should be between the student and his family.

Exposure to the Bible has its own rewards. The Bible is interesting. Its topics are pertinent to the great issues of life. When reading the Bible as an assignment, students can discuss ideas in the classroom that encourage deeper thought.

Sometimes a teacher must remind students to respect various ideas because these controversial issues can bring about heated discussions. Students can look at Beowulf and see the references to Cain’s offspring and then discuss what that means in connection with Genesis. In Canterbury Tales students are exposed to various characters of the clergy and can make comparisons between them, seeing both the corrupt and the sincere. In The Inferno students look at the way various sins hurt the sinner in graphic pictures and symbols. Biblical allusions and references help students comprehend the work and give them a broader understanding of how the Bible has molded our culture and affected our history.

While some larger schools have the staff to teach the Bible as literature, most smaller schools have one class for each year of English. Teachers in smaller schools can decide what sections are read from the text and what novels are studied in class. Some of the great choices in novels for Juniors who are usually studying American Literature are The Scarlet Letter, The Crucible, Huck Finn, Of Mice and Men, and Separate Peace. Most schools teach British and International Literature and such choices might include Brave New World, Macbeth, Jane Eyre, The Brothers Karamazov, Crime and Punishment, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Heart of Darkness, and Billy Budd. These books are full of religious references and biblical allusions.

Some books don’t always provide a positive first impression to Christians. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley creates a science fiction world of total control by a society that is godless, and where the Bible is locked up in a safe. Students are astounded that, although Huxley wrote the book in 1936-37, he saw a world similar to the one they live in today where materialism, drug use, and deteriorating relationships are the norm. However, as the novel unfolds, students discover that this society is a dystopia, a world where humans are just cogs in a machine and that having all the pleasure in the world does not make these people fulfilled.

Although I am a high school Junior and Senior English teacher, I can recommend books that deal with religious material in other grades as well. A few titles appropriate for teens include Lost Names by Richard Eunkook Kim, Night by Elie Wiesel, Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, Trumpet of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly, Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, and The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare.

Today’s teachers cannot have Bible reading for devotions at the beginning of the day. They cannot lead in prayer for students at football games. But teachers can present the Bible in literature and history as it fits into the curriculum. We can choose literature that is helpful and edifying, that brings out lively discussions, and that sparks the deepest questions in life. The Bible as literature can also be taught in comparative religion classes. We can present the Scriptures to young minds and trust God and his Spirit to work in their hearts. |L