Bibles in Public Schools: Do Students Benefit When the Holy Book Is Taught in Classrooms?

An education expert has argued that United
States public schools can benefit immensely from reading the
Bible in literature classes and having prayer in schools.
William Jeynes, senior fellow at the Witherspoon Institute and an education professor at California State University, made these
arguments in a presentation Wednesday at the Family Research
Council.

Titled "Putting the Bible and Prayer Back in the Public Schools,"
Jeynes said there are many benefits to keeping the Bible in
public schools and drawbacks from when, during the 1960s,
courses were taken out.

In 1963, the Supreme Court ruled that sectarian Bible classes
could not be in public schools.

In the decision Abingdon v. Schempp , the court did allow for the
teaching of the Bible, provided it was done in a neutral, objective
matter.

"This is a very, very important topic," said Jeynes, noting that
some consider the Supreme Court decisions removing
compulsory prayer and Bible classes from public schools as "the
most spiritually significant event" in U.S. history in the past 60
years.

For his presentation, Jeynes laid out how the Bible was regarded
in education before the 1963 decision, the harmful effects of
removing the Bible from public education, and the efforts to
launch the Bible in literature classes across the country.

Jeynes asserted that allowing for the Bible to be studied in
literature classes helps students have a better understanding of
western literature, aids in helping them understand faith-based
arguments and ideas, and helps with moral development.

When asked by The Chirstian Post about whether or not other
religions' books should have similar courses, Jeynes replied that
the Bible has had the most influence on U.S. history.
"It's very clear that, in our society, even though there are other
holy books, the one that has influenced our history and our
literature the most is the Bible," said Jeynes.

"Like it or not, it does. It has a special place in our society. It
should have a special place in our curriculum."
Occasionally, proposed courses have come under fire from
church and state watchdog groups for allegedly fostering

Christian indoctrination in public schools.
Jeynes also said that the appeal of having the Bible taught in
literature courses is growing, with about 440 school districts
nationwide allowing for the elective.

"If you were to look at a map … of which districts have the Bible
as literature back in the public schools, they usually run in
clusters," said Jeynes.

"For example, what happens is that you'll have one district that
offers the Bible as literature and then maybe some parents right
on the border between two districts who communicate with one
another … that parent addresses the school board or
communicates with some education leaders."

Jeynes told CP that this cluster effect can be found at the state
level, as the map of states either allowing for districts to have
these classes or having a state level allowance are grouped
together regionally.

"There are clusters of states. So usually, if one state brings it in,
a neighboring state will say 'hey, now that's a good idea, why
don't we do the same?'" said Jeynes.
Pat Fagan, director of the FRC's Marriage and Religion Research
Institute, gave the introductory remarks describing Jeynes'
background.

"[Jeynes] does things in hundreds and dozens. He does journal
articles in the hundreds and books by the dozen," said Fagan.
"He's one of the leading research experts in education in the
country. This has led to him being invited by both the George W.
Bush administration and the Barack Obama administration to address issues of the effect of faith and family on education."

source: christianpost