There’s a movement afoot to get the Bible taught as literature in more grade schools and high schools. Sounds like an idea that will really inflame a lot of people, but this study by William Jeynes (a non-resident scholar at Baylor University and a professor at California State University in Long Beach) indicates that Bible literacy can lead to greater student achievement.

“Students who possessed high levels of Bible knowledge achieved at higher academic levels and were more likely to demonstrate positive behavior patterns than those with lower levels of Bible knowledge,” Jeynes says, going on to add:

“One cannot thoroughly understand Shakespeare, Dickens, Dostoevsky, or Tolstoy without a solid knowledge of the Bible. Furthermore, to comprehend the effect of the life saving miracle of George Washington, the abolition of slavery, the women’s suffrage movement, and the civil rights movement, one needs a sufficient knowledge of biblical principles. Students that possess such knowledge will indubitably have an academic advantage.”

This sounds similar to what “Religious Literacy” author Stephen Prothero has been saying. What do you think?