PRAISE GOD! Texas Mandates Bible Stories For Students
Texas just made history — and millions of schoolchildren will soon be reading Bible stories in public school classrooms.
The Republican-led Texas State Board of Education voted 9-5 Friday to approve a first-of-its-kind required reading list that includes Bible stories and Scripture passages for the state’s 5.5 million public school students. The mandate will begin rolling out in the 2030-2031 school year, starting with elementary grades, according to the Houston Chronicle and Associated Press.
The new list makes Texas the first state in the nation to require direct religious texts as part of a statewide literary curriculum, rather than leaving such selections entirely to local districts or teachers. Supporters say the decision restores cultural literacy and recognizes the Judeo-Christian foundation of American civilization.
“We are bringing the Bible back into schools this week,” said SBOE member Brandon Hall, R-Aledo.
Brooke Mazel, a Lubbock retiree who supported the measure, told the board, “America should celebrate our 250 years” of Christian values.
The reading list does not consist only of Bible passages. It includes nearly 200 works, ranging from children’s classics to Shakespeare, Dickens, Jane Austen, C.S. Lewis, Martin Luther King Jr., Patrick Henry, Margaret Thatcher and Thomas Sowell. But at least a dozen selections come directly from biblical stories or Scripture passages, including David and Goliath, Daniel in the lion’s den, Moses at the burning bush, the Beatitudes, Psalm 23, Ecclesiastes 3, the Prodigal Son, Job, Adam and Eve and 1 Corinthians 13.
Critics were furious. The Texas Freedom Network argued the list threatens religious freedom, with TFN President Felicia Martin declaring, “Public school isn’t Sunday school.”
Education groups also complained the list was too long and would reduce teacher discretion. The Houston Chronicle reported that Diane Miller of the Texas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts warned the requirements would consume “weeks of valuable instructional time.”
But for supporters, the vote marked a long-overdue course correction. Texas children will still read the great works of Western literature — but now they will also encounter the Scripture that shaped so much of that literature, law, art, language and liberty.
Bible stories and passages students will be required to read
According to the Houston Chronicle’s grade-by-grade list, the Bible-related selections include:
| Grade/course | Required Bible story or passage |
|---|---|
| 1st grade | Jonah and the Whale — Jonah 1:1-5, 10-17; 2:10 |
| 2nd grade | David and Goliath |
| 3rd grade | Daniel and the Lion’s Den |
| 4th grade | The Necessity of Humility — Luke 14:7-11 |
| 5th grade | Moses — Exodus 3, the burning bush; Exodus 14, the parting of the Red Sea |
| 6th grade | Do Not Be Anxious — Matthew 6:25-34 |
| 7th grade | The Shepherd’s Psalm — Psalm 23 |
| 7th grade | The Eight Beatitudes — Matthew 5:1-12 |
| 8th grade | To Everything There Is a Season — Ecclesiastes 3 |
| 8th grade | Lamentations 3 |
| English I | Parable of the Prodigal Son — Luke 15:11-32 |
| English II | The Book of Job — selected chapters |
| English III | Adam and Eve — Genesis 2-3 |
| English IV | The Definition of Love — 1 Corinthians 13 |