Curricula, Culture and Case Studies
ABSTRACT
A companion piece to the 2011 Postscripts article, this invited chapter contextualises recent discourse about biblical literacy, its decline and its desirability, by examining past statements about and measures of biblical literacy and looking at who the stakeholders are. One can usefully distinguish between those advocating knowledge of the Bible for religious purposes (the pursuit of “scriptural literacy”) and those who present it as culturally important, in terms of heritage or the ability to make sense of literary works. A final section considers how one might encourage people to take a greater interest in the Bible and its contents, drawing on observations about cultural literacy.
(First delivered as part of the Department of Biblical Studies research seminar series in 2012.)
Keywords: Biblical literacy, scriptural literacy, cultural literacy, education, literature, Coverdale.
Published in:
K. Edwards (ed.) Rethinking Biblical Literacy,
London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2015. Pp. 47-67.