text? How do we want them to experience the Bible in the classroom and in

their lives?

With the counsel of my teaching peers in the Bible, Religion and

Philosophy Department, I've identified 11 -- just short of the biblical dozen --

emphases in our teaching of Scripture. My hope is that these points will

illustrate with integrity the reality of our in-class teaching and out-of-class

modeling. Among our goals for teaching the Bible are the following:

1. First of all, we hope to help students learn to know the biblical story,

and to recognize it as a continuing narrative of salvation.This is a desire for

basic literacy. In some classes my colleague Jo-Ann Brant and I distribute at

the outset a four- to six-page account of the Bible's primary narrative, from

the creation account through the revelation of John. This may simply be a

modified version of the Amish sermons my father remembers hearing during

his adolescent years -- all the holy highlights from the beginning to the end

of the text.

Our students come to us with varying levels of biblical knowledge.

Some, especially those who have attended Mennonite high schools or who

have regularly practiced the discipline of Bible reading, already know the

biblical story and its key figures and events. Others know many of the discrete

biblical stories but have them confused, or don't see their interconnectedness.

Still others have only limited knowledge because they were not raised in the

church, or because their church did not stress Bible-learning. Further

complicating this picture are the smattering of students who have no religious

background, or who have Hindu or Muslim or Buddhist roots. Helping all learn

the story with such diversity present provides a particular challenge. But

we're committed to developing a basic level of "head knowledge" about the

biblical narrative.