Utah students will be required to analyze specific Bible passages referenced or “alluded to” in U.S. historical documents as part of the state’s sweeping new social studies curriculum.
That’s under HB312 “School Curriculum and Standards Modifications,” which Gov. Spencer Cox signed into law last week.
Exactly which passages would need to be studied has yet to be determined, but the Utah State Board of Education has until the 2028-29 school year to decide.
The measure directs public schools to incorporate the Bible as a historical and literary text that influenced early American thought into core social studies instructions.
It also requires a comparative analysis of certain “philosophical traditions,” including “Enlightenment philosophy, Protestant and Catholic thought, deism and natural law theory.”
Students in grades three through 12 are subject to the standards.
That all means educators will be teaching pieces of the Bible but not the “Bible as a whole,” said Jennifer Wadsworth, a policy advisor with USBE.
Read Carmen Nesbitt's full story at sltrib.com.
This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.