The Herald-Zeitung

Think you know the Bible? Take this quiz:

1. What is the Biblical origin of the phrase, “A man after my own heart”? (See answers at the bottom of this editorial)

2. What is the Biblical origin of the phrase, “Bite the dust.”?

3. What Biblical story does William Faulkner’s “Absalom, Absalom!” retell?

4. What scripture did Barack Obama quote in his acceptance speech for the nomination when he said, “At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. Let us keep that promise – that American promise – and in the words of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess.”

5. What verse is Bob Dylan quoting in the line “And the first one now / will later be last” in the song “The Times They Are A-Changin’”?

The Bible permeates every aspect of our culture — our music, our literature, the speeches made by our politicians.

If you haven’t read the Bible, there is so much in this life going over your head.

Worse, the holes Bible illiteracy leaves in an understanding of political rhetoric or literature, makes you vulnerable to the faulty interpretations of others.

Ignorance of the Bible is an intellectual handicap.

John Mullan, professor of English at University College London, said in a February interview with BBC Radio that it is becoming increasingly difficult to teach English literature because students do not know the Bible.

“I recently have interviewed quite a lot of candidates who have done ‘Measure for Measure,’ Shakespeare's play,” he said. “Not a single one of them seemed to have known the title comes from Christ’s Sermon on the Mount and that might make a difference to what the play's about.”

When school started this past Monday, it was the first day for the mandatory Bible elective — approved by the Texas Legislature in 2007 and by the Texas Board of Education in 2008.

Two schools in Comal County — New Braunfels High School and Smithson Valley High School — are holding the course this semester.

It makes sense to teach the Bible in our public schools as an elective.

To teach the Bible — its value as literature and its influence on culture and politics — hold immense value.

In fact, to leave the Bible out of literature study is a strange omission.

With the Bible in Texas high schools as a mandatory elective, what’s important now is careful examination of how it is taught.

The early motivations behind this effort might not have been completely secular, but the classes must be.

Teachers must walk a fine line – not proselytizing to those who do not believe the Bible is the Word of God, and not offending those who are believers.

Though the most vocal questioning of this elective has come from the secular world, perhaps the larger concerns will eventually come from Christians.

There is one Bible, but interpretations vary from church to church and even from family to family.

If classroom discussion of the Bible wanders into religious ideology, it could stray in damaging ways from what is taught at home. Religious instruction of the Bible should be left to parents and clerics of their choice.

Because of concerns from both the secular and religious worlds, Bible course curriculum must be strictly set, teachers must be trained and schools must monitor the bias of the teacher in the classroom.

Failure to recognize the knife’s edge in teaching of this loaded subject is naïve.

Whoever chooses to teach this elective has an exciting but challenging responsibility.

For the Bible elective to be a success, teachers, schools and parents must recognize the weight of that responsibility.

Bible quiz answers:

1. 1 Samuel 13: 13-14 (New International Version) Samuel speaking to Saul: “You acted foolishly,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you … Now your kingdom will not endure. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people.”

2. Psalm 72:9: (About King Solomon) “The desert tribes will bow before him / and his enemies will lick the dust.”

3. The story of King David and his son, Absalom, written in the book of Second Samuel. Absalom’s downfall is his pride and hunger for power. His enemies eventually kill him while he hangs by his hair from the branches of a tree.

4. Hebrews 10:23: “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”

5. Matthew 19:30: “But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.” The conclusion of Jesus’ teaching that it would be more difficult for a camel to make it through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.