TRAINING RELIGIOUS LEADERS FOR RURAL WORK

There is no question that the 21st century has thus far been one of increased tensions between the West and the Middle East, former Soviet bloc nations, China, and various other nations. A number of these nations either are highly religious or are experiencing religious revivals. To the extent that clear secular trends are in place in the West, these developments could exacerbate these tensions. With these facts in mind, in this article it is asserted that people of faith in the West are well positioned to build bridges of mutual understanding between the West and these other nations, when perhaps secularists cannot.     

FUNDAMENTALISM AS A CHALLENGE FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

“. . . human experience is shaped, molded, and in a sense constituted by cultural and linguistic forms. There are numberless thoughts we cannot think, sentiments we cannot have, and realities we cannot perceive unless we learn to use the appropriate symbol systems ... to become religious involves becoming skilled in the language, the symbol system of a given religion.” — George Lindbeck ^{1 1}George Lindbeck, The Nature of Doctrine (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1984), 34.

“My child is not learning anything. All they do in there is play.” — disgruntled parent after observing a preschool church school class.

     

THE WORK OF THE DIRECTOR OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN THE HOME

This is a second position paper on moral education, completing Dr. Hofmann's survey of the field and providing some recommendations. See May‐June 1968 issue for the first article     

JEWISH RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

“Few would disagree that if Catholic schools are to continue to develop quantitatively and qualitatively, changes must be wrought.”     

THE PUBLIC CHURCH AS A MODEL FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

The concept of Canon in most religious traditions remains that of a static body of ideas, doctrines, and practices usually codified in a sacred book. Jews and Christians share that classical understanding; we are the people of the Book. This essay examines how Canon becomes embodied in religious communities, how that experience forms the faithful in the tradition, and how that experience modifies the Canon of that tradition. Three specific religious communities are examined: Jewish, Catholic, and Lutheran. Each faith is deeply rooted in the Book, yet each is vibrantly alive with change and renewal. Canon is a lived experience!     

LESSONS FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION FROM COGNITIVE SCIENCE OF RELIGION

Recent work in the cognitive sciences provides new neurological/biological and evolutionary bases for understanding the construction of knowledge (in the form of sets of ideas containing functionally useful inferences) and the capacity for imagination (as the ability to run inferences and generate ideas from information) in the human mind. In recent years, a growing number of scholars are making use of cognitive science to understand and explain religious beliefs and behaviors in terms of these evolved cognitive capacities and structures of mind. Based on a literature review of cognitive studies of religion, this article examines relevant themes from cognitive science studies of religion toward drawing pedagogical lessons for religious education.