Teaching the heaviest books

I believe that it could be beneficial if objective teachers teach

religious texts from an academic perspective to late high school

students. Religious texts are not only a means of religious beliefs

and spiritual guidance, but also instrumental tools in providing a

historical and cultural lesson. Religion has been the common

denominator shared among all civilizations. In many ways religion, in

the past or present, has played a tremendous role in shaping the

political and social avenues within societies. Thus its value, when

studied from an academic perspective, can become a critical tool for

such fields as anthropology, philosophy and history. Nonetheless, I

would not favor it as a mandatory curriculum nor as a replacement of

other literary works.

IMAM MOUSTAFA AL-QAZWINI

Islamic Educational Center

of Orange County

Costa Mesa

While the authors of the Bible would have been dismayed by the

suggestion that they had a literary purpose, and while treating the

Bible as literature may distract the reader from the Bible’s deeper

intent, a student can hardly attain a true appreciation of literature

without knowing the highly stylized narratives of Genesis, the

majestic prose of the prophets and the superb poetry of the Psalms,

all included within the covers of the most influential book of all

time.

The biblical epic gives voice to all the joys, sorrows and hopes

that well up in humankind. It merits to be approached as a work of

literature, one that has enriched man’s cultural level and elevated

his civilization.

No work of literature rivals the Bible in inspiring creative

endeavor. In poetry, drama and fiction, its literary influence is

unparalleled. The German author, Heinrich Heine, wrote 200 years ago

that “Sunrise and sunset, promise and fulfillment, birth and death,

the whole human drama, everything is in this book. It is the Book of

Books, Biblia.”

In every country and society, writers have drawn upon the themes

and characters of the Bible and employed them in their reworkings of

eternal motifs: God and man, good and evil, right and wrong, love,

envy, as well as man’s battles for truth, freedom and justice.

“Paradise Lost,” “East of Eden,” “The Way of All Flesh,” “The Sun

Also Rises,” “The Good Earth,” “Gone With the Wind,” “The Grapes of

Wrath” and so many other classics owe their inspiration to the

biblical treasure trove.

Of course, Shakespeare was steeped in the Bible. The Bible’s

influence throughout the English language can be seen in such phrases

as, “the mark of Cain,” “the sweat of his brow,” “eat forbidden

fruit,” “man does not live by bread alone,” “the skin of his teeth,”

“the sleep of the just,” “sow the wind and reap the whirlwind,” “can

a leopard change its spots,” “you can’t take it with you,” “there is

nothing new under the sun,” “the apple of his eye,” “out of the

mouths of babes,” “at their wit’s end,” and “at death’s door.”

A student can benefit greatly from a literary approach to the

Bible. The searing drama of Job, the meditative verses of the Psalms,

the love poems of the Song of Songs, the terrifying eulogy of

Lamentations, the memorable stories of Joseph, Samson and Esther. The

Bible is supreme in the world of letters. It is for good reason that

it is the number one bestseller!

RABBI MARK MILLER

Temple Bat Yahm

Newport Beach

Why read about a cup of coffee instead of tasting it yourself? The

satisfaction is in the drinking. In Zen, we emphasize direct

experience rather than words, even if the words have been deemed

Scripture or sutras. This does not deny that scholarship is of value,

but sharply critiques its overemphasis and recognizes its

limitations.

If the purpose of proposals to teach the Bible in public schools

were literary and not indoctrination, why would they not also include

the Tao Te Ching, the Koran, the Shobogenzo or writings from the

Native American traditions indigenous to our continent? From my own

experience teaching classes in comparative religion at Cal State

Fullerton, I know that texts from the world’s religious traditions

can and should be taught as part of a well-rounded education.

Teachers at the elementary and secondary school level would need a

curriculum designed with community participation, specialized

training in the world’s religious traditions and clear guidelines

about principles of interfaith dialogue, diversity and first

amendment religious liberties. More to the point, it can be very

difficult to find any kind of reading that many students will

actually do.

THE REV. DEBORAH BARRETT

Zen Center of Orange County

Costa Mesa

“The Bible as Literature” was a course regularly offered by the

English department at the University of California during my 1964 to

1988 stint in Berkeley. I took this course for academic credit as an

undergraduate and audited it as a graduate student. During those 24

years, at least three different professors taught the course; two

were Christian, one was Jewish.

I know one professor, an Episcopalian, took considerable care to

not “incorporate doctrinal aspects” as he and I had many

conversations to this end during my tenure as Episcopal/Anglican

campus minister with Cal.

It certainly was possible for him and an English department, at a

clearly very secular public educational institution, to teach the

all-time bestseller’s literary forms: short stories, letters,

orations, wise sayings, prophecies, laws, history, songs and poetry.

In his 1966 book, “The Bible and the Schools,” then-Supreme Court

Justice William O. Douglas shows that the framers of our Constitution

insured that the First Amendment provided for tolerance of all

religions and preference for none. Douglas argued that an American

can be “a believer or a nonbeliever, a churchman or an atheist, a

proselytizer (recruiter) or a hermit” -- as he or she chooses. He

contended that this was the historic right the Supreme Court upheld

when it declared prescribed prayer and official Bible reading in the

public schools to be unconstitutional.

So, “Bible as Literature” courses could surely be well-taught by

believers or nonbelievers, people with faith in God or atheists, but

certainly not by proselytizers and probably not by hermits ... at

least not in Orange County.

THE VERY REV. CANON

PETER D. HAYNES

St. Michael & All Angels

Episcopal Church

Corona del Mar