Biblical teaching stuck
in orthodoxy

"Yeah," she said. "My world history teacher gave us this list of names, and I've got to write a page on each one."

The list was Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I assumed that was not Paul McCartney, Matthew Broderick, Mark Hamill, Luke Skywalker and John Lennon, important historical figures though they are.

Hers is a private school, not a public one, so there was no issue here of separation of church and state. Still, it occurred to me, how do teachers handle the obvious historical importance of religious figures and events without crashing into that proverbial wall of separation?

Between religions and within them, believers often disagree about who did what, with which and to whom, as well as what it meant.

No world history course could begin to tell the human story without including the impact of religion, religious leaders and religious teaching. The literature attributed to Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John has shaped Western culture profoundly. But whose version of that history does the teacher offer, and accept, from the student?

Most of her fellow students will come in with third-grade Sunday school answers. Five authors of most of the New Testament, right? Those would be the traditional answers.

But I have a degree from a major theological school and a continuing education in contemporary biblical scholarship. If I steered her to the resources I knew, she would not end up with the traditional answers. How would she respond to that? How would her teacher respond to that? Would my guidance be a gift or a theft?

After all, I had tried for years to teach any willing members of my congregation what I had learned about biblical scholarship, and found no takers. It wasn't until I offered to use Isaac Asimov's commentary on the Bible as the text that people were willing to take the course. Asimov was safe: science-fiction writer, ex-president of the American Humanists Association. One wouldn't likely catch a case of theological indigestion from him.

So what angle would serve to open up to a 15-year-old this incredible literature that has shaped all of Western thought -- in a maximum of five pages?

Back in the early '60s, when I was in theological school, a book came out that went off the top of the charts. It was "Honest to God," by J.A.T. Robinson. It was a popularization of four theologians for many years before the common fare of graduate-level religious education. "Why was it so popular?" we asked.

Professor Harvey Cox answered, "Because you all go out into your churches and keep your mouths shut about what you learned here." And he was right. Many ministers in most denominations have privately admitted to me that they cannot teach the biblical scholarship they learned in school -- and keep their jobs.

Will my 15-year-old be tempted by what has become secret knowledge?

Will she be curious about the fact that eleven-twelfths of Mark's gospel is almost word for word in both Matthew and Luke? This is not the sort of thing eyewitness reporters would be expected to do!

How about the fact that most biblical scholars acknowledge that the disciples Matthew and John did not write the books that bear their names? Nor did Mark and Luke write theirs, at least not in the form we currently have them.

Shall I show her the fairly short list of the teachings of Jesus that the Jesus Seminars scholars think are likely to have any historical claim to be what he said? Shall I let her read the 17 other gospels that were not included in the official New Testament, or share with her the political reasons some were included or excluded?

Shall I show her the history of the first couple of centuries of Christianity that did not make it into the traditional Sunday school lessons?

If I do, and she includes the nontraditional answers in her paper, will she get negative attention from teachers and schoolmates for challenging the popular version? Some would worry that this might threaten her faith. I don't, for I assume that any faith worth having, and any God worthy of worship, will respect her best use of her mind.

So do I teach her to think critically about these issues, including my take on them? Or do I teach her how to please the teacher, pass the course, keep her friends and fit into this increasingly traditional-religion dominated society?