BJU Press
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BJU Press (formerly Bob Jones University Press), founded in 1973, publishes textbooks for the Christian school and home school movements as well as trade and children's books.
Although Bob Jones University published its first trade book, a history of fundamentalism, in 1973, BJU Press originated in the need for textbooks in the burgeoning Christian school movement. Walter Fremont, Dean of the School of Education, was an "enthusiastic supporter," and much of the early academic direction of the Press was provided by the University's provost, Philip D. Smith.[1]The Press also published the University's magazine, Faith for the Family from 1973 until publication was discontinued in 1986.
The first textbook published by BJU Press was George Mulfinger and Emmet Williams, Physical Science for Christian Schools in 1974. Initially the Press had planned to publish only a few texts in areas where philosophical disagreement with secular texts was substantial, but shortly the Press developed a full range of K-12 texts and materials. An early decision was that the BJU Press would not simply repackage "traditional" secular texts, as its competitors had done, but would create new books from a Christian viewpoint.[2]
As the home school movement began to grow in the 1980s, the Press decided to accommodate to the difficulties of selling small quantities of its publications to home school families. This marketing strategy proved so successful that by 1988, the BJU Press was the largest textbook supplier to home school families in the nation.[3]
BJU Press is the largest book publisher in South Carolina, and more than a million pre-college students around the world use BJU textbooks.[4] The Press music division, SoundForth, produces Christian musical arrangements and recordings in more traditional styles than do most contemporary music sources. The Press also publishes trade books for adults and biographies and fiction for children and young adults, including wholesome books with no specific Christian references.[5] Besides SoundForth music, the imprints of BJU Press are JourneyForth Books and ShowForth Videos. The Press has approximately 2,500 titles in print.[6]
In August 2008, a California judge ruled in Association of Christian Schools International et al. v. Roman Stearns et al. that the University of California could reject high school credits for courses that had used certain BJU Press texts.[7] The judge accepted the argument of two University of California professors that United States History for Christian Schools was inadequate because it claimed that the Bible was "the unerring source for analysis of historical events," attributed "historical events to divine providence rather than analyzing human action," and provided "inadequate treatment of several major ethnic groups, women and non-Christian religious groups." The judge also ruled that the book did not "encourage critical thinking skills and failed to cover 'major topics, themes and components' of U.S. history."[7]
[edit] References
- ^ Daniel L. Turner, Standing Without Apology: The History of Bob Jones University (Greenville, S.C.: Bob Jones University Press, 1997), 283, 304. ISBN 0-8908-4930-7.
- ^ Turner, 265, 437n. 18.
- ^ Deb Richardson-Moore, "BJU Press Has Quietly Risen to Top in Homeschool Publications," Greenville News, 26 May 1996.
- ^ Greenville News, 20 September 2006, 9A.
- ^ Turner, 265.
- ^ Literary Market Place, 2006, 38.
- ^ a b "Judge throws out religious discrimination suit". North County Times. August 9, 2008. http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/08/08/news/californian/murrieta/za3f1fe48ff6b8872882574a0000ff96d.txt. Retrieved 2008-08-24.
