This Week in Christian History: Charles Spurgeon, Supreme Court School Prayer, Council of Ephesus
Supreme Court Rules Against the Bible Reading in Schools - June 17, 1963
This week marks the anniversary of when the United States Supreme Court ruled against a public school district's policy of reading from the Bible at the start of each day.
In an 8-1 ruling, the Supreme Court concluded in School District of Abington Township, Pennsylvania v. Schempp that no public school district could require Bible reading or recitation of the Lord's Prayer.
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Writing for the majority, Justice Tom C. Clark concluded that the practice was unconstitutional in that "the State [must be] firmly committed to a position of neutrality."
"The place of religion in our society is an exalted one, achieved through a long tradition of reliance on the home, the church and the inviolable citadel of the individual heart and mind," wrote Clark.
"We have come to recognize through bitter experience that it is not within the power of government to invade that citadel, whether its purpose or effect be to aid or oppose, to advance or retard."
