Lankford: Bible should 'absolutely' be taught in schools as a 'historical' and 'cultural' document

Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said Sunday that the Bible should “absolutely” be taught in schools as both a “historical” and “cultural” document.

Lankford joined CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union,” where he was asked about Oklahoma requiring schools to incorporate the Bible into lessons.

“As a historical document, as a cultural document, it absolutely should be taught in schools,” Lankford, a pastor, said. “As a religious document, that’s up to parents and to faith leaders off-campus.”

The remarks follow Oklahoma Superintendent Ryan Walters not shooting down the idea of a national mandate to require the Bible in schools.

In Oklahoma, all public school classrooms require the Bible and educators to utilize lessons on the text’s impact on American culture and history.

Lankford argued Sunday that any conversation about the Bible in schools “shouldn’t be a religious tone.”

“I’m just letting people know that my Christian faith has impacted my life dramatically and I am the primary teacher to my children of my faith,” he said. “That shouldn’t be a public school teacher to do that.”

“But to say that, the Bible is also part of Western civilization and part of our founding. Many of our founders were passionate about scripture and about the Bible and studying it,” Lankford continued.

Fellow Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R) said he believes educators teaching about the Bible is a “slippery slope” if teachers are not “believers” and argued the text should be taught by someone that “graduated from seminary school.”