Scholar's report finds Texas Bible classes bogus.

Many Texas public schools are sponsoring Bible courses that wind up being tools to proselytize, a recent study finds.

The Texas Freedom Network (TFN) studied more than 1,000 public school districts in the Lone Star State and found that 33 had provided some type of Bible course during the 2000-01 school year.

The report, "Reading, Writing and Religion: Teaching the Bible in Texas Public Schools," revealed that many of those courses were riddled with factual errors and advanced specific religious views. Only three school districts were found to be providing courses that did not violate the Constitution.

Mark Chancey, author of the TFN report, asserts that many courses fail to meet minimal academic standards. Chancey said many of the teachers are not properly trained and some districts allow local clergy to offer the instruction.

"Many schools portray their Bible classes as social studies or literature courses," Chancey said, "Yet, intentionally or not, most are really courses about religious beliefs of the teacher or minister leading the class or of those who created the course materials."

Chancey, a biblical scholar at Southern Methodist University, discovered that a lot of the courses present the Protestant version of the Bible as true and make other sectarian assumptions. The Bible, he said, is often presented as literal truth and the stories in it as factual. Judaism is viewed through a Christian lens as a faith that was "completed" by Christianity. Other courses have been used to prop up creationism and bogus "Christian nation" historical views.