Author Warns Believers Against New 'Communitarian' Bible Curriculum
by Jim Brown
November 9, 2005
(AgapePress) - - A Christian author alleges a new curriculum put out by the Bible Literacy Project spreads communist ideals. The curriculum makes use of a textbook designed for use in public schools, entitled The Bible and Its Influence. But one Christian author, Berit Kjos, warns that several board members of the Bible Literacy Project have ties to the Communitarian movement, which she describes as an attempt to blend all religious beliefs and create a different society where the individual is de-emphasized in favor of the community or state. "That agenda," she contends, "is being implemented through this curriculum."
Kjos says the purpose of the Bible Literacy Project's new course is "not to teach people about the Bible or to make students biblically literate. Rather, she asserts, is objective is to train people "to set aside what the first head of the World Health Organization, Dr. Brock Chisholm, called 'poisonous certainties' -- the 'certainties' that keep them from embracing all other religions as being equal."
The concerned author contends that The Bible and Its Influence encourages students to reinterpret the Bible using their own personal notions about what the scriptures are saying and about who God is. She notes, "One question is, 'Do you think Adam and Eve received a fair deal as described in Genesis? Eve did not know good from evil. How could God blame them for disobeying?' So, immediately, you set up a conflict."
Also, Kjos feels the classes put a conscious emphasis on religious pluralism and diversity. "You will have Christians, you will have Buddhists, and Muslims -- different religions -- represented in the classroom and probably in each small group," she points out, "because the key is to bring diversity into the small groups."
The textbook also undermines biblical prophecy, Kjos asserts, by referring to images from the Book of Daniel as being "associated with the 'so-called' end times." Based on her observations, she recommends that Christian parents seek out an alternative to the Bible Literacy Project's materials, such as the curriculum offered by the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
