Biblical Language Permeates our Conversation

Two events happen within hours of each other.

On Tuesday, August 24, 2004, on National Public Radio's Morning Edition, Tom Goldman reports on the Olympic competition in Athens, Greece. He features the U.S. softball team which has won the gold medal in a perfect tournament. In their nine games, the American women have outscored their opponents 51-1. Goldman characterizes the Americans as having played like Goliaths while winning the fans' hearts like Davids.

At noon that same day, Dr. Jack McEwen addresses the annual Kiwanis/Rotary/United Way kickoff luncheon. He makes two references to Genesis -- Adam and Eve and giants in the land. He mentions the statement in Ecclesiastes that all is vanity.

Why does reporter Goldman not need to define what he means by Goliath and David? Why is it not necessary for Dr. McEwen to explain his references to Genesis, Adam and Eve, giants in the land, Ecclesiastes, or all is vanity?

The answer is simple. Both Tom Goldman and Jack McEwen are educated Americans speaking to educated American audiences. They know the Bible well enough to be culturally literate, and they know that their audiences are biblically and culturally literate as well.

Without the study of the Bible in our schools, we run the risk of creating an avoidable deficiency in American education -- rearing a generation of cultural illiterates who will have been deprived of familiarity with the foundational document of Western civilization, the Bible.

But don't just take our word for it.