A report on Bible Literacy released by the Bible Literacy Project at the National Press Club on April 26, 2005, finds that almost all high school English teachers surveyed believe Bible knowledge confers a distinct educational advantage. The report also quotes a 1986 study which found that the Bible was named most frequently when college English professors were asked what book they wish incoming freshmen to have read before entering the university.
The report was positively reviewed in a i>Chicago Tribune editorial. It’s also the subject of a cover story for the May 23rd issue of the i>Weekly Standard by contributing editor David Gelernter, a professor of computer science at Yale and a senior fellow in Jewish Thought at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem. Gelernter reviews the role of the Bible in American history and western civilization and concludes by observing:
My guess is that our next Great Awakening will begin among college students. College students today are (spiritually speaking) the driest timber I have ever come across. Mostly they know little or nothing about religion; little or nothing about Americanism. Mostly no one ever speaks to them about truth and beauty, or nobility or honor or greatness. They are empty – spiritually bone dry – because no one has ever bothered to give them anything spiritual that is worth having. Platitudes about diversity and tolerance and multiculturalism are thin gruel for intellectually growing young people.
Let the right person speak to them, and they will turn back to the Bible with an excitement and exhilaration that will shake the country. In reading the Bible they will feel as if they are going home — which is just what they will be doing.
Love for God and for God’s Word are main elements of InterVarsity’s purpose statement. Bible study is a key component of InterVarsity’s activity on campus , including investigative studies known as GIGs (Groups Investigating God) as well as in-depth manuscript study. Small groups and large groups spend major chunks of time in Bible study and each student and staff member is encouraged to include Bible study and prayer in their daily Quiet Time.
Bible study can be helpful in understanding the themes and allusions in English literature. But Bible study is also transformational, as David Gelernter suggested in his Weekly Standard story, and as the following stories from our InterVarsity online archives illustrate.
Of Mark & Men – Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh
Small Group, Big Impact – Boston University
Serious Study – Purdue University, Lafayette IN
Growing in God – University of West Florida, Pensacola
Daily Time with Christ — University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh
Exploring the Bible Together – University of California, Chico and Bemidji State University, Minnesota
