Bible bill fails veto overturn in State House

JACKSON, Tenn. — After a 43-50 vote in the Tennessee House on Wednesday, the so-called “Bible Bill,” seeking to make the Bible the official book of the state, has reached the end of the road.

It’s a bill local Rep. Jimmy Eldridge voted for twice.

“People will hear about the Bible that may not be familiar with the Bible, so a lot of good came out of it, but it was a good democratic process,” Eldridge said in a phone interview Wednesday after the vote.

Church leaders said while they understand what lawmakers were trying to do, they’re more concerned about how the Bible is presented to people across the state.

“I think that most people determine how they feel about scripture, it has a lot more to do with the way they’ve seen scripture used and the people who introduce scripture,” said Jeff Brown, preaching minister at Skyline Church of Christ. “At the end of the day, I think as people of faith, it’s important to remember that our faith and our hope and our trust is not in the Bible. It is not in a book — it’s in the God who inspired the Bible.”

As for the bill being reintroduced next session, “More than likely, I wouldn’t expect a bill like that to come back up again, but you never know. All a person has to do is file the bill.”

In the last 37 years, Tennessee lawmakers have successfully voted to override a combined 20 vetoes from three different governors.