January/ February 2012
Teaching the Bible is a bimonthly e-publication of scholarly essays on the Bible and its contexts, designed for teachers in secondary school and adult education settings.

About the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL)
The SBL was founded in 1880 and is an international academic membership organization for people who teach, study, or are interested in academic study of the Bible and its related contexts and literatures. The Society's mission is to foster biblical scholarship and does not hold any denominational or confessional stance, though many of our members are religious leaders.

Comments
Send your comments to:TB@sbl-site.org

SBL Interviews
Check out our SBL Interviews page, which features audio interviews with Bible scholars discussing their research and current debates in the field.

The most recent interview is with Prof. April DeConick, of Rice University, who talks about Gnosticism.

Feature Essay

The Bible, Taught Well
By Monica Henson

In this essay, educator Monica Henson shows us that teaching the Bible in public schools can be both legal and fun – with proper awareness, creativity, and preparation.

Ask a Scholar

We invite teachers and their students to submit questions to be answered by a Bible scholar. We present here a question from teacher John Harrison—"Did Jesus teach obedience to Mosaic Law?"—and a response from renowned New Testament scholar, N. T. Wright. Send your questions to: TB@sbl-site.org

Call for Teacher Content

If you, like Monica Henson, have had successful and enriching experiences teaching biblical literature in the classroom, we invite you to share them with us in a future issue of Teaching the Bible. Send your essay, syllabus, lesson plan, or classroom activity to: TB@sbl-site.org

News

The South Dakota Senate recently passed a resolution that encourages Bible electives to be taught in public schools. See that story and more >>

Publications

If you too are concerned about legal issues around teaching the Bible in public schools, we remind you that the Society of Biblical Literature has published a helpful guide: Bible Electives in Public Schools. You can request a free copy to be mailed to you by sending an email to: moira.bucciarelli@sbl-site.org