''The Bible and Its Influence'' is a

textbook A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textboo ...

first published in 2005 to facilitate teaching about the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

in American

public high schools State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...

. Its publishers, the Bible Literacy Project, say the textbook allows schools to study the Bible academically while fully respecting the

Establishment Clause of the First Amendment In United States law, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, together with that Amendment's Free Exercise Clause, form the constitutional right of freedom of religion. The relevant constitutional text ...

. It is designed for teaching either a semester course or a full-year course on the literary and historical influence of the Bible. The development took over five years, at a cost of $2 million, with contributions from 40

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

and

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

experts and scholars.

Use in public schools

As of September 2010, the Bible Literacy Project reports that the textbook has been adopted by 470 schools in 43 states, with more than 100 schools in Texas teaching Bible literacy courses.Bible Literacy Project press release announcing 470 schools using the course
On October 11, 2007, ''The Bible and Its Influence'' was designated by the Alabama State Board of Education as an approved textbook statewide.Bible Literacy Project press release announcing Alabama's adoption of the text
This designation allows schools throughout the state to purchase the curriculum with state funds.

Media commentary

''The Bible and Its Influence'' has received extensive press coverage. The cover story of ''

TIME Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' on April 2, 2007, described the rising trend in Bible courses in public schools nationwide. ''TIME'' senior religion editor David Van Biema stated, "Public school Bible electives should have a strong accompanying textbook on the model of ''The Bible and Its Influence'', but one that is willing to deal a bit more bluntly with the historical warts." In May 2007, ''The Bible and Its Influence'' was also featured in ''

Education Week ''Education Week'' is an independent news organization that has covered K–12 education since 1981. It is owned by Editorial Projects in Education (EPE), a nonprofit organization, and headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland in Greater Washington ...

'' and on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

's ''Today'' show. The

New York State School Boards Association The New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA) serves as the statewide voice of more than 700 boards of education. The collective influence of some 5,000 school board members, who constitute half the elected officials in the state, enables ...

's ''On Board'' magazine also had favorable coverage of ''The Bible and Its Influence'', calling it "a remarkable textbook" in a July 31, 2006, review.Full text of review as provided by Bible Literacy Project

Authors

Co-author is a Christian Evangelical educational political activist. Stetson serves as chairman of the "Bible Literacy Project", an organization which strives to introduce Christian beliefs into the American public school system. Stetson was also one of the founding members of the

National Organization for Marriage The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is an American non-profit political organization established to work against the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States. It was formed in 2007 specifically to pass California Proposit ...

, a group dedicated to blocking the legalization of same-sex marriage in the US. Stetson was also long affiliated with

Charles Colson Charles Wendell Colson (October 16, 1931 – April 21, 2012), generally referred to as Chuck Colson, was an American attorney and political advisor who served as Special Counsel to President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1970. Once known as Pr ...

.Joseph L. Conn, January 6, 2006,

References

External links

The Bible and Its Influence textbook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bible and Its Influence, The Bible education 2005 non-fiction books