Kentucky Senate approves law to teach the Bible in public school. Hmm a religious book taught in public school, what could go wrong?

From the Huffington Post:

In Kentucky, the Senate has approved new legislation allowing the Christian Bible to be studied in public school. It has been submitted for House review.

Kentucky Sen. Joe Bowen told WLKY that he believes biblical rhetoric has played a huge role in the development of the modern world.

"No doubt about it, the most important book ever written and obviously, it's had so much influence on our society and all of Western civilization."



Now I am sure that all of you automatically assume I would be against this law, but you would be incorrect.

In fact I am completely in favor of introducing a class that REALLY examines the origin, politics, and disagreements over content, that occurred during the writing of the original Greek manuscripts that make up the new testament.  As well as how its various translations have modified its content into what we now recognize as the "Word of God."

After all I took a class in comparative religious studies while I was in college and it completely altered my view of religion. Of course it also made it completely impossible to EVER be a religous person myself. But hey, that is always the risk of learning TOO much about religion, or their holy books.

In fact let me make a suggestion for a book that would be extremely eye opening for some of these young students. It is one of my favorites called "Who Wrote the Bible?"

Here is a review:

No matter how strongly you believe the Old Testament to be the word of God, there is no denying that the hand of man wrote it. In this book Richard Elliot Friedman sets out to see if he can identify specifically which hand. Now this may seem futile and even sacrilegious depending on your viewpoint but on closer examination of the nature of the books creation shows that it may not be such an impossible task. As for the argument of sacrilege, might not knowing the author even strengthen the character of the book, especially if it turns out that a well respected and easily recognisable name is actually responsible? I will say as part of this introduction that the although this book is penned from a historical and scholarly viewpoint, it is at no point trying to impose any religious ideas, beyond those which deal with the job at hand. Friedman retains a healthy respect for his subject at all times as you would expect for such a well respected writer, a writer who also happens to be a Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Religion. If anyone is best armed to undertake such a quest to find the Old Testament author, a task that needs to combine sensitivity with superior scholarship, it is Richard Elliot Friedman.


There are certain traditions in place regarding various authors, Moses, Jeremiah and David are all supposed to have had a hand in the penning of certain parts, but are these assumptions correct. Like all good authors Friedman sets these assumptions aside and starts from scratch examining firstly the world that created the book and importantly the reasons why these various oral teachings were assembled in one place in the first place. With an understanding of the events of the ancient Middle East the reasons for its creation and evolution can be seen more clearly. A lot of store is put by the specific viewpoint that a particular piece of writing shows. If a story makes detailed reference to particular religious rituals or the inner workings of the temple, as some clearly do, then it follows that the author was probably a priest. Similar lines of thought can be upheld for tales more militarily or agricultural based themes. With this in mind it is possible to argue for a number of different authors to the stories. Similarly an understanding of the political set up of the area is important. The lands of the Hebrews was based on twelve tribal groups aligned with one of two kingdoms, Israel and Judah and the allegiances of the writer also has a bearing on the way many tales seem to have been written. There is also a visible evolution of the stories over time, as you would expect from texts rewritten through out successive generations, the changing mindsets, political considerations and important events all playing their part in this.

And that is just ONE possible textbook that could be used to help these students to better understand the book that has had such an impact on our modern world. Just imagine how well versed these young people would be in exactly how the Bible came to be if they could read this book, as well as other scholarly works on the creation of this most inspiring book?

Or is that NOT what Sen. Joe Bowen and the Christian population of Kentucky who are pushing for this law have in mind?  Could it in fact be less about "education." and more about "indoctrination?"

Well this IS Kentucky we are talking about so I think you can decide that for yourself.