Back in September while speaking at the Museum of the Bible as part of a Religious Liberty Commission meeting, President Donald Trump pledged to protect the rights of all students to express and live out their faith on or off campus.
“For most of our country’s history, the Bible was found in every classroom in the nation,” Trump reflected. “Yet in many schools today, students are instead indoctrinated with anti-religious propaganda, and some are punished for their religious beliefs. Very, very strongly punished. It is ridiculous.”
Tragically, just a few days later, Charlie Kirk, another strong proponent of the Bible in public schools, was assassinated in Utah.
Charlie has long championed the idea of the Bible as not only an evangelistic book, but also an historical document for teaching about civilizations and human nature.
“It is inarguable the impact that the Bible has had on the world even in the capacity for solving human problems and analyzing human behavior,” Kirk stated. “The problem is that teachers and professors, mostly high school teachers, feel like they can’t teach the Bible because they can only teach it through a religious lens.”
He continued:
“There’s actually some really, really strong historical stories, but there’s also the archetypical stories to tell. The stories of strong women like Esther, the stories of betrayal and greed with Joseph in Genesis 40 though 52. There’s amazing stories to tell young people how to properly act, and how to properly interact in society.”
It’s in this spirit of boldness and conviction that Focus on the Family is once again spearheading Thursday’s Bring Your Bible to School Day – a nationwide celebration designed to empower and encourage young people to live out their faith in the classroom.
Last year, over 1.2 million students across 70,000 schools participated in the annual observance. We received inspiring testimonials of children not only bringing their bibles – but also opening and reading them at their desks and in the cafeteria. There were spontaneous prayer gatherings and candid and heartfelt conversations between believers and non-believers.
Students who participate are respectful and inclusive. They see the Bible as a gift to share. Its timeless contents tell miraculous stories. In this era of cultural confusion, it provides clarity. For those struggling with anxiety, it brings peace.
The late Dr. Adrian Rogers, a longtime Focus board member, famously observed, “The Bible is shallow enough for a babe to come and drink without fear of drowning, and deep enough for a theologian to swim in forever without touching bottom.”
In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, there have been hopeful reports of Americans who previously didn’t attend weekly services, going to church. Charlie bravely and courageously shared his faith in hostile environments – especially public schools. There is no better way for students to honor his memory and pay tribute to his witness than to bring their bibles to school on Thursday October 2.
It was Kirk who urged students, “If you believe in something, you need to have the courage to fight for those ideas.”
You don’t have to fight to bring your bible to school, but the act may require a degree of courage given some of the hostile actors in today’s public-school systems. On Bring Your Bible to School Day 2025, honor and witness to the power and saving nature of the Lord by bringing your bible into the classroom.
