I am not against reading the Bible in public. I frequently read my Bible at a local coffee shop or restaurant. I have even encouraged Bible study in such public places. But we always came together as a community of faithful Christians.

President Trump has recently spoken out in favor of bringing back reading of the Bible, as an elective, into public class rooms. I am not in favor of this idea. I agree with another blogger and Ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church, Alan Bevere, who wrote:

First, the Bible is not America’s book; it is the church’s book and must be taught in the context of the faith community. I have said it before and will say it again: America is not a Christian nation nor has it ever been. There is only one Christian nation in existence and that nation is called “church.” 1 Peter 2:9 states to the churches in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” http://www.allanbevere.com/2019/01/scripture-refracted-or-should-bible-be.html I recommend reading his entire posting, as he gets into more detail than I will hear.

I have for many years now, after having attempted individual Bible study myself, to promote Bible reading only in community. I have seen too often how much damage can be done by both independent Bible study and study in groups outside of the formation Christian community. I have been led astray in my own individual pursuit, and only because I joined a caring Christian community, the church, was I able to be brought back and gain more solid footing in understanding the nature of the Bible witness.

In the 1970’s, I also took a course on the Bible as literature in a public university. I enjoyed the class, but I realize in hindsight, how it also failed ultimate purpose of the Bible as Scripture – the formation of a Christian soul. It was still not until the end of the Twentieth Century that I realized the seriousness of this error.

Thus, I can not support a move to bring Bible reading back to public schools. Instead, I would like to bring Bible reading back to Christian families in accord with a Christian community. I believe, our illiteracy in the Bible begins there, not in public schools. Christians, we need to make both prayer and reading of the Bible a primary function of our family life, along with regular attendance in the one true Christian state, the Church.

To sum it up, I let Bevere speak again:

In other words, the Bible cannot simply be taught “in terms of its historical context.” It must be embodied by those who have decided to follow Jesus. And those who follow Jesus do not become Americans; they become Christians and they belong to the nation called “church.” If studying the Bible results in anything less, it is not a true lesson in Bible literacy.