The American Founders Debate the Bible's Use in Schools
Location
Room A
Start Date
1-10-2011 10:45 AM
End Date
1-10-2011 12:00 PM
Abstract
Sandwiched between two great religious "awakenings," the American founding occurred at a time when Enlightenment thought had found a following among influential intellectual elites. The Enlightenment rationalists' skepticism of the transcendent claims of orthodox Christianity—divinity of Christ, Christ's virgin birth and resurrection, the Bible's divine origins—conflicted with the religious beliefs of many Americans. This set the stage for skirmishes in a "culture war" between orthodox Christians and Enlightenment rationalists over the place of religion in public life, including a debate over the Bible's use in the education of the youth. Influential political figures in the founding era, such as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Rush, Fisher Ames, and Noah Webster, weighed in on this increasingly contentious issue. Religion figured prominently in this generation's education, and yet they were divided on the propriety and utility of religion, specifically the Bible, in schools. Influenced by the rationalist critique of revealed religion, Jefferson and Webster argued for limiting the exposure of pupils to the Bible. Jefferson thought children were insufficiently mature to handle the Bible's themes. Webster worried that the Bible might be profaned and trivialized by its popular use in the classrooms. Believing that religion (and morality informed by religious values) was indispensable to social order and political prosperity in a regime of self-government, Rush and Ames contended for an expansive use of the Bible in fostering civic virtue. Moreover, they thought students benefitted from the King James Bible's model literary qualities.
On the surface, this late-eighteen-century discussion appears very different from the twenty-first-century controversies. Current controversies are usually framed in terms of the First Amendment. Readings and instruction from the Bible—the sacred text of Christians—in public schools are alleged to constitute the establishment of Christianity in violation of the First Amendment. Moreover, the Bible's use might burden the First Amendment rights of students who, for reasons of conscience, oppose Bible reading and instruction in state schools. Beneath the surface, however, the eighteenth-century debates share similarities with current controversies. Both emerged from a clash between proponents of secular, rational thought, on the one side, and religious traditionalists, on the other, who feared the coerced secularization of public life, especially schools.
Late-eighteenth-century efforts to restrict the Bible's use in schools arguably sprung from the rationalist or deist rejection of the Bible's claim of divine origins. Rush opined that objections to the Bible's use as a school book were rooted in Enlightenment and anti-Christian thought. "The present fashionable practice of rejecting the bible from our schools, I suspect has originated with the deists," wrote Rush. "They discover great ingenuity in this new mode of attacking Christianity. If they proceed in it, they will do more in half a century, in extirpating our religion, than Bolingbroke or Voltaire could have effected in a thousand years."
The proposed paper examines a controversy in the American founding era that raised a range of issues, some of which anticipated twentieth-century prudential and constitutional challenges to religion's place in education.
The American Founders Debate the Bible's Use in Schools
Room A
Sandwiched between two great religious "awakenings," the American founding occurred at a time when Enlightenment thought had found a following among influential intellectual elites. The Enlightenment rationalists' skepticism of the transcendent claims of orthodox Christianity—divinity of Christ, Christ's virgin birth and resurrection, the Bible's divine origins—conflicted with the religious beliefs of many Americans. This set the stage for skirmishes in a "culture war" between orthodox Christians and Enlightenment rationalists over the place of religion in public life, including a debate over the Bible's use in the education of the youth. Influential political figures in the founding era, such as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Rush, Fisher Ames, and Noah Webster, weighed in on this increasingly contentious issue. Religion figured prominently in this generation's education, and yet they were divided on the propriety and utility of religion, specifically the Bible, in schools. Influenced by the rationalist critique of revealed religion, Jefferson and Webster argued for limiting the exposure of pupils to the Bible. Jefferson thought children were insufficiently mature to handle the Bible's themes. Webster worried that the Bible might be profaned and trivialized by its popular use in the classrooms. Believing that religion (and morality informed by religious values) was indispensable to social order and political prosperity in a regime of self-government, Rush and Ames contended for an expansive use of the Bible in fostering civic virtue. Moreover, they thought students benefitted from the King James Bible's model literary qualities.
On the surface, this late-eighteen-century discussion appears very different from the twenty-first-century controversies. Current controversies are usually framed in terms of the First Amendment. Readings and instruction from the Bible—the sacred text of Christians—in public schools are alleged to constitute the establishment of Christianity in violation of the First Amendment. Moreover, the Bible's use might burden the First Amendment rights of students who, for reasons of conscience, oppose Bible reading and instruction in state schools. Beneath the surface, however, the eighteenth-century debates share similarities with current controversies. Both emerged from a clash between proponents of secular, rational thought, on the one side, and religious traditionalists, on the other, who feared the coerced secularization of public life, especially schools.
Late-eighteenth-century efforts to restrict the Bible's use in schools arguably sprung from the rationalist or deist rejection of the Bible's claim of divine origins. Rush opined that objections to the Bible's use as a school book were rooted in Enlightenment and anti-Christian thought. "The present fashionable practice of rejecting the bible from our schools, I suspect has originated with the deists," wrote Rush. "They discover great ingenuity in this new mode of attacking Christianity. If they proceed in it, they will do more in half a century, in extirpating our religion, than Bolingbroke or Voltaire could have effected in a thousand years."
The proposed paper examines a controversy in the American founding era that raised a range of issues, some of which anticipated twentieth-century prudential and constitutional challenges to religion's place in education.
Comments
Dr. Daniel Dreisbach earned a doctorate of Philosophy at Oxford University as well as his Juris Doctorate from the University of Virginia. A prolific writer synthesizing history, law, and theology, his works include a host of book reviews, journal articles, and books. Currently he is Professor of Law and Society at the Washington, D.C. American University.