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How the Bible functions in (Christian) education in the international discourse on religious education, particularly in the Dutch context, has rarely been empirically investigated. The purpose of this article is to gain insight into how the Bible is functioning in the context of Protestant secondary schools in the Netherlands. In addition to providing a theoretical account, it presents the results of an empirical, explorative, and qualitative study on how the Bible is used in Protestant Christian secondary education in the Netherlands, with a focus on exploring the perspectives of teachers, including religious educators. Seventeen focus group interviews with teachers and school administrators from six secondary schools revealed a variety of goals held by teachers with regard to the use of the Bible in education and identified a variety of divisions in terms of teacher-learner roles. This article reflects on these findings through the use of religious education literature and concepts from the field of Bible didactics.

How the Bible functions in (Christian) education in the international discourse on religious education, particularly in the Dutch context, has rarely been empirically investigated. The purpose of this article is to gain insight into how the Bible is functioning in the context of Protestant secondary schools in the Netherlands. In addition to providing a theoretical account, it presents the results of an empirical, explorative, and qualitative study on how the Bible is used in Protestant Christian secondary education in the Netherlands, with a focus on exploring the perspectives of teachers, including religious educators. Seventeen focus group interviews with teachers and school administrators from six secondary schools revealed a variety of goals held by teachers with regard to the use of the Bible in education and identified a variety of divisions in terms of teacher–learner roles. This article reflects on these findings through the use of religious education literature and concepts from the field of Bible didactics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]