Let’s Thank the Bible for Wide-Spread Literacy

There’s a narrative out there that says the Bible is harmful to society. 

On its best days, this narrative says the Bible is “an ancient, irrelevant book.” On its worst? It says the Bible is “harmful, bigoted, and oppressive.” 

But if you’re reading this post what if I told you, you have the Bible to thank for that? 

Joseph Henrich, professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University, in his book “The Weirdest People in the World: How the West Become Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous” writes, 

“Literacy does not come to pervade a society simply because a writing system emerges…[these systems] have existed for millennia in powerful and successful societies, dating back some 5,000 years; yet until relatively recently, never more than about 10 percent of any society’s population could read, and usually the rates were much lower. Suddenly, in the 16th century, literacy began spreading epidemically across western Europe.”

What was the cause of this epidemic spread? 

According to Henrich, it was because of “a monk and professor named Martin Luther” and the Protestant Reformation which had the embedded notion that “individuals should develop a personal relationship with God and Jesus [and therefore] needed to read and interpret the sacred scriptures - the Bible- for themselves….” 

Widespread literacy started because of the Bible. 

Henrich goes on to say that Protestantism (with its emphasis on the Bible):

• “…drove the spread of female literacy first in Europe and later across the globe…Outside of Europe, the impact of Protestantism on educating girls continues to play out as Christianity spreads globally.” (14-15)

• “….inadvertently laid the foundation for universal, state-funded schooling by promoting the idea that it was the government’s responsibility to educate the populace.” (p. 14)

Concluding Thoughts

Some have said terrible things have been done in the name of the Bible. And that’s unfortunately true.

People can justify terrible things with (what’s perceived by many as) sacred literature. As it’s been famously said: “A text without a context is a pretext.”

And the misuse of Scripture itself may be enough for you to reject the message of the Bible. But if history and the Bible’s effect on people are the filters through which we judge the Bible, it would be fair to include the Bible’s positive impact as well.

And while the Bible has more positive contributions than reading, we can still thank the Bible for eager readers and countless books.