Biblical Literacy Curriculum Jockeys for Adoption

by G. Jeffrey MacDonald, Religion BookLine -- Publishers Weekly, 3/15/2006

Published in September 2005, The Bible and Its Influence aims to expand the ranks of public school teachers who engage the scriptures without fear of lawsuits. (RBL covered the launch in "The Book of Controversy," Sept. 21.)

Six months later, only a half-dozen school districts are using the text, which the Biblical Literacy Project developed in consultation with scholars, religious groups and lawyers. And while the BLP eagerly awaits orders for the upcoming school year, its chief competitor–a religiously conservative alternative–is reporting a recent surge in activity.

The National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools, which calls the Bible its textbook and supplements it with a 300-page teacher guide, got approvals from 24 new districts in January and from four more in February. That's up from an average of two new districts per month over the past 12 years, according to president Elizabeth Ridenour.

"It's really been snowballing," said Ridenour. She attributes the growth largely to media coverage of the issue, especially an Odessa, Tex., case that received national attention last year.

The Biblical Literacy Project, meanwhile, said "several dozen" districts have indicated intentions to use its text next year. But at $50 per textbook, certainty seems to require payment. "We won't really know [how many districts are committed] until orders start coming in, and that could be this spring, or even in the summer," said BLP spokesperson Sheila Weber. In this current school year, students are using the BLP text in select districts in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, New Hampshire and Texas.

The BLP faces an uphill challenge because it aims to reach districts that have for decades steered clear of Bible-related curricula. And while the National Council's approach gleans moral lessons from the Bible's content, the BLP text has stirred controversy by touching also on thorny questions of authorship and non-literal interpretations.

Critics of the book see its limited adoption thus far as a sign that would-be buyers are wary. Dennis L. Cuddy, a former education policy analyst in Ronald Reagan's administration and outspoken critic of The Bible and Its Influence, faults the text for containing factual errors and for failing to recognize certain of the Bible's moral teachings. He suspects he's not alone in his assessments. "I would have expected 10 or 20" districts either to be using the text by now or to be formally committed to doing so next year, Cuddy said.

To win over skeptics, the BLP is gathering endorsements from such prominent Christian conservatives as prison activist Chuck Colson and National Association of Evangelicals president Ted Haggard. Yesterday (Mar.14), the BLP released statements from six evangelical scholars, who used such terms as "compelling," "accurate" and "breathtaking" to describe the project.

Only eight percent of American school districts have a Bible course, Weber said. The other 92 percent would need to pave the way for one, which means getting parents comfortable with the approach and also engaging the committee-heavy process of adding a sensitive new course. Despite the challenge, the BLP is forging ahead with its mission to help students recognize biblical allusions that saturate the classics of Western literature. "It takes a long time to get the word out to teachers and students and to shift their curriculum," Weber said. "This is not just a matter of plugging a new algebra book into an algebra course."