Bring Back the Good Book by Levi

Bring Back the Good Book by Levi - August 2015 Scholarship Essay

In the past, teaching of the Bible in the classroom was a staple of American education, and for good reason. The Bible is the cornerstone of Western civilization, the point of reference used by all of its greatest thinkers, from John Locke to Thomas Jefferson. The Bible itself is remarkable as a work of ancient Middle Eastern literature, a monumental historical document, and a philosophical and religious treatise. Furthermore, the Founders of the United States were adamant that the Bible be taught in public schools, as made clear in laws such as the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. If I could add one subject to the American high school curriculum, I would add Biblical studies because of the instrumental role the Bible played in the development of Western civilization.

Everything in Western civilization, all of its greatest art, poetry, and philosophy, rests on the cornerstone of the Bible. Michelangelo's David is a depiction of the Biblical king of the same name. Michelangelo's painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is an extended summation of the entire Bible. Poets and writers such has Dante, Shakespeare, Milton, C.S. Lewis, and Flannery O'Connor all drew heavily from the Bible for inspiration. Dante's The Divine Comedy and Milton's Paradise Lost are celebrated as classic literature to this day, and are best studied with an understanding of the religious texts that inspired them, including the Bible.

Furthermore, the substance of the Bible, not just its imagery, are utterly pervasive in the writings of many of the greatest minds of Western civilization. John Locke, the great English political philosopher, praised the Bible as “one of the greatest blessings bestowed by God on the children of men. It has God for its Author, salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture for its matter. It is all pure, all sincere; nothing too much; nothing wanting!” Abraham Lincoln once told his son, “Every educated person should know something about the Bible and the Bible stories, Tad.” The sixteenth president of the United States frequently quoted from the Bible, and had an impressive knowledge of that book.

The Bible is also worth studying on its own merits. It is the preeminent work of ancient Middle Eastern literature, containing ideas, concepts, and themes which are not found or illustrated in any other source from that era. It also functions as a chief historical document which has yet to be contradicted by any scholarly or archeological findings. In fact, many such findings have indeed supported the accuracy the Bible. If nothing else at all, it is the world's most read, studied, and practiced religious and philosophical text, having influenced both Western civilization and millions of individuals throughout the entire world for more than 1,600 years. Surely such an incredible book is worthy of serious study!

Finally, the Founders of the United States explicitly intended that the new country's education system include Biblical instruction, a sentiment that stretches back to the days of the Pilgrims. In 1782, Congress approved the use of funds to print Bibles for use in schools, known as the Aitken Bible. Five years later, in 1787, Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance, stipulating in Article 3 that “Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.” After the passage of the Northwest Ordinance, most states made it clear in their own constitutions that instruction in the Bible was to be implemented in schools. In 1925, the Florida state legislature passed a law requiring the daily reading of the Bible in public schools. As recently as 1946, Dallas's schools published a textbook titled, “Bible Studies Course for New Testament.” It was only 1963 that the Supreme Court declared reading of Bibles in public schools unconstitutional, in the case of Abington School District v. Schempp.

It is quite plain to see that study of the Bible has a long history in our nation's public school system. The removal of Bible study in public schools was merely one of the first steps in downgrading that system. Without the context of Biblical teachings, much our understanding of history, philosophy, art, poetry, and even the American legal system would be, and is, rendered disconcertingly malformed at best and mind-bogglingly incomprehensible at worst. The Bible may be a religious text, but is also a work of history and literature, held by many to be the greatest of all books. We must therefore ask ourselves whether it is wise to exclude this book from the classroom, given how influential it has been to this very day.