“It’s coming back!”
While this is the motto of the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools (NCBCPS), it is not a new maxim for this nonprofit organization – or for the history of America’s educational system.
But the remainder of the organization's motto says it all: “It’s coming back, … and it’s our constitutional right!”
For three decades, NCBCPS has worked within the legal auspices of the U.S. Constitution to restore its Bible curriculum as an educational tool in public schools across America.
According to Elizabeth Ridenour, president of NCBCPS, this curriculum is the missing educational component in today’s floundering school systems.
“Even our children know there is something missing,” Ridenour explained to The Stand, “and NCBCPS is working to provide our students with that missing piece – the Bible, which is the foundational document of our nation’s society.”
Recognizing the need
“The Bible equips students,” said Ridenour, “with a greater knowledge of its impact on history, law, life, and culture. Students also gain recognition and understanding of numerous symbolic references to the Bible in art, literature, and music.
“The Bible also gives students insight into the views of our Founding Fathers and the use of the Bible by those founders as the original blueprint for our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution – and our entire educational system.”
As early as 1791, Dr. Benjamin Rush, an American Founding Father from Pennsylvania, defended the use of the Bible as a foundational textbook in schools.
Rush declared “the Bible contains more knowledge necessary to man in his present state than any other book in the world. That knowledge is most durable, and religious instruction most useful, when imparted in early life.”
Therefore, any modern-day public school recognizing its students’ needs for this historical, cultural, and educational “missing piece” can use the Bible curriculum from NCBCPS to complement literature and history studies in a comprehensive program of secular education.
Reviewing the details
“The NCBCPS course has been used in over 4,000 schools in 42 states,” said Ridenour. “It’s taught as an elective on campus during school hours for credit, with the Bible as the main textbook. In most of these schools, the course is repeated each year.”
Each student receives a 300-page curriculum book that covers 18 teaching units. Written in conjunction with a prestigious council of biblical scholars, the materials also provide students with a suggested list of other vetted reading materials and video resources.
The Bible is the main textbook, and the students read through the entire Bible over the course of the school year.
Upon request, NCBCPS offers a thorough informational packet about the course, which contains a copy of the entire curriculum and a booklet filled with helpful documents and guidelines. When approved for use in a public school, NCBCPS helps prepare teachers through curriculum guidelines, methodology, class objectives, course outlines, and actual lesson plans.
To make implementation of the program easier for teachers, NCBCPS provides a curriculum guide and a teacher’s companion guide, which includes lesson plans, tests, answers, and activities for each day’s lesson. Teachers also receive an informational packet explaining all the legal guidelines for the course. Plus, the entire curriculum is free.
Restoring the missing piece
“Unless our students have a working knowledge of the Bible,” Ridenour cautioned, “in particularly the books of the law, it’s difficult to understand even the basis upon which our Constitution was founded.
“We need to get back to those foundations, like our Founding Fathers intended for our nation to do all along.”
(Digital Editor's Note: This article was published first in the August 2024 print edition of The Stand. Click HERE for a free six-month subscription.)
