It is legal to teach the Bible in public school! We can pray for organizations equipping teachers and schools to teach the Bible.

From World.While schools in many states have offered Bible classes for years, BibLit represents a foray into online learning. In a day when many Americans are surprised to hear public school Bible classes are still legal, virtual learning offers a way to bring Biblical literacy to students in districts that may not have a dedicated Bible teacher.

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The Tennessee nonprofit Bible in the Schools has funded in-person Bible education in Hamilton County public schools since 1922, but some of the group’s board members launched BibLit with outside funding in 2020 as a separate entity to provide online courses. The organization’s pilot class, Bible Literature: Old Testament Ideas and Influence, began in January 2020 for about 100 Hamilton County students. . . .

BibLit’s executive director, Mike Harrell, said the organization works with Village Virtual, an online course provider, to distribute its Old Testament and New Testament courses. Student enrollment, after increasing during the first year of the pandemic, has dropped since schools returned to in-person learning, he said: “Nobody wanted to do anything online.” But Harrell said BibLit is talking with officials in Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, and Alabama about expanding the program.

Multiple states have considered legislation supporting elective Bible instruction in recent years—including Oklahoma, Iowa, and Missouri during this year’s legislative session.

Davis, the teacher, said people often ask if her work is legal. “I think people understandably assume that it’s going to be a religious class, that a Bible class and a Christian class are synonymous,” she said. “I’d explain this is studying a book, like we would study any other book. … I’m certainly not up there trying to forward my religious perspective.”

A 2010 Pew Research survey found that only 23 percent of respondents knew that public school teachers are legally allowed to read a Bible passage in class as a literature example. Contrary to popular understanding, Bible instruction in public schools is legally recognized by the Supreme Court, a fact recognized even by the American Civil Liberties Union, as long as that instruction does not advocate for religious beliefs. . . .

Other organizations have also provided Bible history classes. Elizabeth Ridenour founded the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools in 1993. The organization provides curriculum for elective Bible classes, and according to the group’s website, 3,500 public high schools in 41 states use it. Ridenour said in an email that the council is funded by private donations and does not charge schools for the curriculum.

Harrell said many people are unaware that Bible classes are constitutional and worry about controversy. But to him, it’s a no-brainer: “If, in fact, the Bible is one of the most widely known and read books in the history of the world, then why aren’t we teaching it in school? Because it’s had enormous influence, certainly on Western culture, and other cultures.”

(Excerpt from  World. Photo credit: Unsplash.)