(01-28-2019 11:52 AM)q5sys Wrote: (01-28-2019 10:04 AM)SuperFlyBCat Wrote: The historical aspects are pretty neat. I like watching those docs that examine the historical evidence relative to both the Old and New Testament. I think most of them are on the History Channel. There are some youtube channels that have good info also.
I mostly agree with Badger about the pitfalls.
But... that being said if this is simply a historical breakdown of the bible, I'm opposed to it as that would avoid all doctrinal debates.
However at that point I'd question the purpose. To really get anything out of any religious text you have to dive into its meaning, and that's not the sort of thing I think any High school level teacher is going to be doing. It's too much of a minefield.
I think its probably a good idea to save any philosophical analysis of religion until university where it's the students choice and the student is paying for it.
Also, religion at its best is addressing core fundamental concepts of the human condition. i'm not claiming that high school students couldn't get something out of it, but I think they would get more out of it waiting a few years and allowing their brain to continue to develop a bit more.
There's a massive difference in the capacity of abstract thought and reasoning between a 15yo and an 19yo.
To do an effective study of the Bible one would need to be able to read Greek, read Hebrew, study other ancient near Eastern languages as many of them have impacted the language usage of their neighbors, much in the same way Americans don't speak French but use deja vu and coupe d'etat. Then there are the cultural aspects which affect interpretation and much of U.S. Theology is detached from it.
If the emphasis of the course is the teaching of the stories, much like the old children's versions were, then the baseline morality is covered, but left to the interpretation of the teacher which speaks to some of your concerns.
There aren't many Ancient texts to research (Masoretic Text, Leningrad Codex, Vulgate) and those we have are hardly original and have been redacted and recopied many times. The Dead Sea scrolls are as close to an ancient original document that you will find and they are mostly fragments of texts. Modern translations, and worse paraphrase versions, are now grossly influenced by denominational bias and political perspectives. I still use the 1948 RSV because it took into account some of those archaeological finds, and got fresher somewhat less monarchically influenced translations than the KJV. And in 1948 there wasn't nearly as much political influence, or denominational influence, as most of the modern translations.
If the Bible stories are taught to illustrate the literature, highlight the moral thinking that underpins much of our law, and is tied into culture that may be the best approach.
But as literature the Jewish and African American community would strongly identify with Exodus, the 10 Commandments underpin much of Western law, Christ's condensation of those 10 into "Love God with your whole heart and your neighbor as yourself." makes it contemporary for the child. And Christ's emphasis on anything done unto the least of these (widows, orphans, sick, sojourner within your gates, and prisoner) is done unto me, all emphasize the grace and compassion that underpin social action and community service. So that approach may bring he least public condemnation.
Matters of sacraments and coming of age, are best left to the home and local church, or synagogue, or faith group. And the greater than PG13 aspects are best left to those groups as well.
Most faith groups offer better in depth study of the Tanakh, Torah, Old Testament and New Testament than the average public educator will be able to undertake without ending in confusion.
Then for those who want a deeper level of study Lexicons and volumes of independent studies and commentaries mostly done by PHD's in theological studies are available at seminary libraries, and many public ones.
