Christian Universities and Colleges: The Need to Train Instructors to Teach the Bible as Literature in Public Schools

Abstract

The author examines the national growth of Bible literacy courses in America's public schools and examines what steps Christian universities and colleges can take to help meet the demand for teachers for these courses. The author asserts that several sources of training are currently available, but declares that they will be unable to train a majority of the increasing number of instructors that will be needed to fill these classes. As a result, Christian institutions need to develop courses specifically designed to prepare these instructors. The article examines why the recent growth of these courses across both entire states and school districts is likely to continue. The article then addresses the likely benefits of such courses, based on meta-analysis research and the examination of nationwide data sets. It then distinguishes the difference between Bible literacy and religious literacy, and also explains why Bible literacy is an important component of religious literacy. The paper concludes by examining the appropriate response of Christian universities and colleges.