Morehouse Parish School Superintendent Tom Thrower announced Thursday a new elective class will be offered at Bastrop High School next year. The Bible as History and Literature from the National Council on Bible curriculum in public schools will begin in the Fall at BHS.
“This is a project that we have been working on the past two years,” said Thrower. “The school board requires our seniors to attend a full day the entire year and we needed extra electives. There will be no preaching in the classroom -- this is a state-approved elective course.”
This course can count as either Social Studies or Literature, depending on the teacher’s certification. The King James Bible is the textbook and class instructional strategies will include films, Web sites, drama activities, worksheets and lectures.
The first semester the Old Testament will be taught and the New Testament will follow in the second semester.
The purpose of the course is to inform students of the importance of religion on world and national history without imposing any particular religious sect. Students will gain a fundamental understanding of the Bible as literature, art, and music. They will examine the influence of biblical history on American culture and community life by gaining insight into the Founding Fathers’ views on human rights. Students will also gain a greater knowledge of middle eastern history, geography, religion and politics that are currently having a tremendous impact on world events.
House Resolution No. 108, passed in the 2008 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature, states that local educational agencies may offer for credit an elective course that teaches, in an objective, academic and non-secular manner, literature or history from a biblical perspective.
