By David Deming

A student at the University of Oklahoma filed a grade appeal and discrimination complaint after she received a grade of “zero” in a psychology class assignment. The student alleges that she was punished for her religious beliefs and for citing the Bible as a source. The course instructor, a graduate student, maintains that her grade was merited on the basis of objective academic criteria.

Some of the opinions I have read on social media regarding the Bible are concerning. There have been claims that the Bible is not a valid or accurate historical source. People have gone so far as to assert that the Bible has no place in our institutions of higher education.

Yes, the Bible is a sacred religious document. But it is also far more than that.

The Bible is the most influential and widely read book ever written. It has been a major influence on the laws, art, literature, and morality of Western Civilization. The Bible is also a fountainhead of human rights. The creation narrative in Genesis asserts that all human beings are made in the image of God and thus endowed with dignity and worth with the right to act as free moral agents. The Bible has fostered the spread of literacy, and the King James translation has been a major influence on the development and evolution of the English language. Even science has been influenced by the Bible. The icons of the Scientific Revolution, Newton, Kepler, and Boyle, were all profoundly religious and their work can be fairly characterized as an exercise in natural theology.

Parts of the Bible are accurate historical documents that have been corroborated by independent sources. The monarchs mentioned in 2 Kings and Isaiah are confirmed by Assyrian and Babylonian records. The New Testament is one of the most reliable chronicles of first-century Christianity and Roman provincial administration. Luke’s Gospel correctly names dozens of officials, cities, titles, and customs. The existence of Pontius Pilate, Caiaphas, Herod Antipas and other important persons has been corroborated by archeological and literary evidence.

The idea that the Bible does not belong in higher education is absurd. More than fifty scholarly journals are devoted to exegesis of the Bible. Courses on the Bible are taught at the most elite secular institutions, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, and the University of Chicago. Both Christian and non-Christian scholars worldwide recognize the Bible as a foundational work of literature, history, philosophy, religion, and culture.

It is profoundly mistaken to dismiss the Bible as myth or fiction. Not only is it demonstrably true in several instances, the allegorical narratives of the Bible provide profound insight into human nature and man’s relationship with God. Citation of the Bible in academic works may not only be appropriate, but can be an informed and judicious choice by an erudite author.

David Deming is Professor of Arts & Sciences at the University of Oklahoma. Follow him on X @profdeming.