The Need for GOD Back in Schools

Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was regarded by John Adams as one of America’s three most notable Founding Fathers, alongside George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. However, Rush’s contributions to America extended beyond politics, even though his political efforts were highly significant.

He is often referred to as the “Father of American Medicine.” He was a founding member of America’s first Bible Society and played a significant role in initiating the American Sunday School movement. Additionally, he helped organize the country’s first Anti-Slavery Society and was a prominent leader in the national abolition movement. He held multiple professorships at various universities and is recognized as “The Father of Public Schools Under the Constitution” for his advocacy of free public education for all youth.

As families nationwide prepare for spring break for the over fifty-five million children, it’s a good time to reflect on the original intent behind America’s educational system: to provide students with a solid academic education grounded in GOD’s Word. In 1791, Dr. Rush wrote a comprehensive piece outlining numerous reasons why America should continue teaching the Bible in public schools. (To view a portion of the letter as it was printed by the American Tract Society in 1830, please visit website https://www.americanantiquarian.org/dating-american-tract-society-publications.)

A Defense of the Use of the Bible in Schools

The following is part of the transcript from Dr. Rush’s letter written in 1791, which was published by “The American Tract Society in 1830.”

Dear Sir: It is now several months since I promised to give you my reasons for preferring the Bible as a schoolbook to all other compositions. Before I state my arguments, I shall assume the five following propositions:

1. That Christianity is the only true and perfect religion; and that in proportion as mankind adopt its principles and obey its precepts, they will be wise and happy.
2. That a better knowledge of this religion is to be acquired by reading the Bible than in any other way.
3. That the Bible contains more knowledge necessary to man in his present state than any other book in the world.
4. That knowledge is most durable, and religious instruction is most useful in early life.
5. That the Bible, when not read in schools, is seldom read in any subsequent period of life.

My arguments in favor of using the Bible as a schoolbook are found in the constitution of the human mind.

1. The memory is the first faculty which opens in children’s minds. Of how much consequence must it be to impress it with the great truths of Christianity before it is preoccupied with less interesting subjects.
2. There is a peculiar aptitude in the minds of children for religious knowledge. I have constantly found them, in the first six or seven years of their lives, more inquisitive upon religious subjects than upon any others. An ingenious youth instructor has informed me that he has found young children more capable of receiving just ideas upon the most difficult tenets of religion than upon the most straightforward branches of human knowledge. It would be strange if it were otherwise, for GOD creates all HIS means to suit HIS ends. There must, of course, be fitness between the human mind and the truths which are essential to its happiness.
3. The influence of early impressions is very great upon subsequent life; and in a world where false prejudices do so much mischief, it would discover great weakness not to oppose them by such as are true. I grant that many men have rejected the impressions derived from the Bible; but how much soever these impressions may have been despised, I believe no man was ever early instructed in the truths of the Bible without having been made wiser or better by the early operation of these impressions upon his mind. Every just principle that is to be found in the writings of Voltaire is borrowed from the Bible, and the morality of Deists, which has been so much admired and praised where it has existed, has been, I believe, in most cases, the effect of habits produced by early instruction in the principles of Christianity.
4. By a general law of our nature, we are subject to habit. Now, if the study of the Scriptures is necessary to our happiness at any time of our life, the sooner we begin to read them, the more we shall probably be attached to them, for it is peculiar to all the acts of habit, to become easy, strong, and agreeable by repetition.

At Still Waters Community Church, specifically at Still Waters International Academy, we have observed that introducing the Bible to students transitioning from public schools leads to improved relationships with their families almost immediately. Additionally, we have noted that exposure to the Bible helps these students excel in other areas of learning. As a result, we encourage children to engage with the remarkable and enlightening Word of GOD, witnessing the significant growth and transformation that occurs. We pray that the Bible will soon be offered again in all educational institutions