Dear Friend,

Did you ever hear the old joke about the guy who, on his history quiz, identified Joan of Arc as "Noah's wife"? Well, it's not just a joke anymore—in real-life surveys one out of 10 U.S. citizens actually thinks it's true!

That, my friends, is no laughing matter, nor is the mounting evidence that the United States is rapidly becoming a biblically illiterate nation.

The cover story in the current issue of Time magazine is "The Case for Teaching the Bible." If you think the title is provocative, you'll find the content absolutely sobering. The article focuses on several angles of the hot debate over whether God's Word should be in the curriculum of modern public education.

What is not debatable is the level of biblical illiteracy among U.S. citizens and Western culture in general. We Americans claim to be very religious, surveys show, but one can't tell it from our poor level of knowledge about extremely basic issues of the Bible. When only one out of three U.S. citizens can even name the four Gospels, it doesn't say much about our competence to actually discuss the content of the Scriptures!

This topic deserves a lot of press, and one man currently putting it in the spotlight is Stephen Prothero, who chairs the Boston University religion department. His new book, Religious Literacy, is bound to stir controversy because he advocates bringing the Bible back into the arena of public education.

One among many of Prothero's arguments is, "Biblical illiteracy is not just a religious problem. It is a civic problem with political consequences. How can citizens participate in biblically inflected debates on abortion, capital punishment, or the environment without knowing something about the Bible? Because they lack biblical literacy, Americans are easily swayed by demagogues on the left or the right who claim—often incorrectly—that the Bible says this about war or that about homosexuality." The civic arena of political debate is rather minor compared to the moral arena of human behavior, but the point is well-illustrated that biblical illiteracy creates pervasive problems.

No matter how important this issue may be, the current discussion will be a tempest in a teapot, fading out of the public consciousness after the next item of societal curiosity pushes it off the stage of faddish interest. Our culture tends to quickly move on to whatever titillates our attention in the short term, rather than giving such issues the serious thought that could lead to actual beneficial change.

That's a general statement. We suspect that you, however, take a different view. Why? Well, you subscribe to this magazine, which aims to engage you in thoughtful understanding of the Bible. Maybe you agree with us here at The Good News that Prothero is right—without true knowledge we are easily swayed by philosophies pulling from many directions. We want to see what God says, because we're disturbed with the direction the world is being swayed!

Just what does He say? What is really in the Bible? How deep is your well of Bible knowledge?

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the public education system to provide the information you need! Many nations have battled to stamp out illiteracy, knowing that a lack of education creates huge challenges for their people. It therefore makes it appalling that in the most educated nations of the world we are increasingly blinded to the moral and spiritual challenges we've created, directly due in large part to our lack of biblical education!

One of the great historical lessons in God's Word sounds very familiar today. "Hear the word of the LORD, you children of Israel, for the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land," we read in Hosea 4:1. What was that complaint? "There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land." Talking about God is not the same as the knowledge of God!

"My people are destroyed," He continues in verse 6, "for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children."

The United Church of God, through The Good News and many other publications, is battling hard to stamp out biblical illiteracy! Part of that effort is through our free, 12-lesson Bible Study Course. If your understanding of the Bible is minimal, this systematic, easy-to-understand course is for you. If your understanding is deeper, this course will challenge your knowledge of the Bible! It really is for everyone, and in one year it will help you build a solid foundation of knowledge on core topics straight from God's Word. Sign up for it, free, today! In addition, you will also want to explore our online Bible Reading Program at www.ucg.org/brp/ for more detailed commentary on the books of the Bible.

I hope you will continue with us in the quest for learning what God says in His Word, the Holy Bible. All of our material is free of charge—you have nothing to lose, and everything to gain!

I'll be back in touch next month, and until then, we wish you well.

In Christ's service,

Clyde Kilough
President
United Church of God

PS—Our World News and Prophecy managing editor, Darris McNeely, has posted a video commentary on this very topic on our prophecy magazine Web site at www.wnponline.org. You can simply click on the video commentary window on the right-hand side of the page. We hope you'll watch it.

PPS—You can also watch this week's important and timely Beyond Today video commentary titled "A Passion for Christ" on the right-hand side of the same page.