Made my day!
Way back in the 1970s, I knew one dedicated high school teacher who taught a “The Bible as Literature” class. It had very strict rules, and students were expected to follow them to the letter. And every last chair was filled.
For his part, he had such a surfeit of background material that he had to limit digressions from the main topic, admitting that he could only scratch the surface, because the Bible permeated every facet of western culture.
The students were also very atypical. Some were already on their way to expertise with religious learning; others were generally well read; for some, almost everything was novel.
Unfortunately the class ended with his retirement, as no other teacher had the scholarly background, diplomacy, and dogged determination to teach it. Truthfully, I don’t blame them.
Schools/NEA banned The American Citizens Handbook (The American Creed, as it was known before the 60’s). NEA bought it from 4H in 1941 and published it until 1969, when they abruptly stopped production and reportedly buried the last 10,000 or so copies. Get one while you can. Full of great pro-American, pro-Christian, pro-morality pieces from various writers and orators.
Today’s NEA is a bastard child of what it once was.
Though I firmly believe in a Bible teaching class, you have to realize that this will open up a can of worms. You will then open the door to other religious texts to be studied as well.