Local Phenomenon, Local Support. -- As far as we have been able to determine, Hamilton County, Tennessee, is the only community in the nation with an asset like Bible in the Schools. Public schools in other communities offer Bible courses. However, we know of no other school district that offers its students a biblical educational opportunity of the scope provided by the Hamilton County Department of Education.

What are the aspects of our local program that make it unique?

Two advocacy groups filed a federal lawsuit on May 16, 2007 against a West Texas school district on behalf of eight parents who say a Bible course violates their religious liberty.

The American Civil Liberties Union and People for the American Way Foundation sued the Ector County Independent School District, asking the Odessa school system to stop teaching the course. The Ector school board approved the course, a high school elective, by a 4-2 vote in 2005.

When one thinks of smoking, there is one hazard that doesn't come to mind. Wolfgang Polzer at Assistnews.com reports that the Chinese craving for cigarettes is responsible for rising paper costs in Bible printing, according to the business manager of the German Bible Society, Felix Breidenstein.

Because of the rising demand for cigarette paper in China the special thin paper used in Bible printing is getting more expensive, as Breidenstein told the German news magazine Der Spiegel.

You think you know the Bible?

• "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son" is a well known passage, but who was Jesus speaking to?
• According to the Psalmist, 'the entrance of thy words giveth _____". What's the next word?
• On which mountain did the angel of the Lord appear to Moses from the burning bush?
• What was Abraham's name before God gave him his new name?
• Which king was forced to throw Daniel into the lions' den?
• Name one of the rivers that flowed out of Eden.
• What was the second plague on Egpyt?
• Who wrote 'The King of the Jews' above the cross of Jesus?
• Ruth appears in the book of Ruth and also one other book. Which one?
• What color was the priest's robe of the ephod?

According to News@HebrewU, the long search for Herod the Great's tomb has ended with the exposure of the remains of his grave, sarcophagus and mausoleum on Mount Herodium's northeastern slope.

Herod was the Roman-appointed king of Judea from 37 to 4 BC, who was renowned for his many monumental building projects, including the reconstruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, the palace at Masada, as well as the complex at Herodium, 15 kilometers south of Jerusalem.

A half-sized replica of the biblical Noah's Ark has been built by a Dutch man, complete with model animals. Dutch creationist Johan Huibers built the ark as testament to his literal belief in the Bible.

The ark, in the town of Schagen, is 150 cubits long - half the length of Noah's - and three storys high. A cubit is about 45cm (18in) long.

Visitors are stunned. "It's past comprehension," Mary Louise Starosciak told the Associated Press.

For those of us over 30, we can remember sitting through an "Uncle Harry's" vacation slide presentation. "You should have been there!" was the frequent exclamation.

Well, we can't always go where "Uncle Harry" went. But we can travel the world through the Internet.

If you're ever looking for outstanding pictures of Israel, the State of Israel Museum of Tourism's website is filled with over 1,600 high quality photographs that you can download and use in your Bible studies.

Chuck Norris, the star of more than 20 films and the long-running TV series "Walker, Texas Ranger," isn't shy about his position on the need for Bible history classes in our public schools. His latest WND commentary clearly defines his passion.

If the Bible was endorsed by our Founders as a textbook, how can we not follow suit by doing the same? The fact is, to leave out of educative curricula the most influential text in Western civilization, including in American history, law and literature, is a blatant and biased withholding of proper public instruction.

It's time to answer in the affirmative the question of Fisher Ames, who assisted in the creation of the First Amendment and was also chosen, but declined (for health reasons), the presidency of Harvard University in 1805, "Should not the Bible regain the place it once held as a school book?"

The New England Primer, first published in 1690, was an educational textbook which was published in colonial and the early days of United States history and the first textbook to be printed in the 13 colonies. The 90-page pamphlet contained mostly religious maxims, alphabetical assistants, acronyms and moral lessons. Many of its selections were drawn from the King James Version of the Bible