First published in 1984. John M. Hull was a leading figure in the controversies which had surrounded religious education since the late 1960s. This book brings together in one volume 21 of his published papers and articles, which had previously appeared in journals, conferences, reports and books in Belgium, Australia, Canada, the United States, as well as the United Kingdom. This book is essential reading for all teachers, clergy, parents and students seriously concerned with the issues confronting religious education and Christian upbringing in our secular and pluralist world.

The most frequently asked question on homeschool forums is, "How do I do this?" and the number one complaint is, "David won't do (fill in the blank). How can I get him to do it?" God Schooling answers these questions and more. Parents gain the insight and confidence to teach their own children as they learn from experts, Biblical references, and the author's own experiences from nearly fifteen years of homeschooling.

TEACHER You Are Enough and More supports and uplifts educators in the demanding world of education, including strategies, exercises, and tools that align teachers' spirits with God to stay at peace while teaching. Educators Claire Rachel Maghtas and Karen Jean Epps' intention is to energize other educators and give them tools for handling stress and persevering through the difficult times. This inspirational guide includes invigorating verses from the Bible along with personal testimonies to help teachers cope. Teachers will learn strategies to stay in balance while enhancing students' achievements and well-being. Finally, Claire and Karen provide phrases of confirmations, gratitude statements, and a space for journaling to help each teacher personalize their journey and achieve peace.

The distinction between "insiders" and "outsiders" in religious studies has become an area of fruitful discussion in recent years. This anthology aims to extend that discussion by gathering newly commissioned essays from a diverse range of scholars, spanning a variety of disciplines and approaches, including ethnography, anthropology, theology and education. The result is a book that is at once accessible and readable, while remaining scholarly. The Insider/Outsider Debate has implications for numerous methodological issues in the study of religion, such as the emic/etic distinction, the distinction between religion and spirituality, the notions of "believing without belonging", the claim to be "spiritual but not religious" and the existence of multiple, complicated, contesting religious identities. A particular focus of the volume is providing critiques of these methodological issues within the most recent academic approaches to religion - particularly models of lived and vernacular religion.

The fascinating story briefly told, plus the famous "miraculous" prayers and devotions along with the Litany to the Infant Jesus. (5-1.00 ea.; 10-.80 ea.; 25-.70 ea.; 50-.60 ea.; 100-.50 ea.).

This book draws upon ethical dimensions of Muslim education as a means through which to address contemporary issues, such as social and societal conflicts, exclusion and marginalisation, and violence. It argues that an ethical Muslim education is underscored by the practice of autonomous, critical and deliberative engagement that can engender reflective judgement, compassionate recognition and a responsible ethical (Muslim) community. Such a community is not only capable of cultivating human relationships based on non-coercion, truthful and peaceful human coexistence, but can also quell the stereotypes and forms of dystopia and exclusion that are pervasive in contemporary society. Put differently, Muslim education extends the neo-Kantian view that ethical human conduct can be rationalised in terms of achieving morally worthwhile action towards forms of engagement that are potentially disruptive.

The last 150 years of biblical scholarship have revolutionised the understanding of the four Gospels. The revolution remains, however, largely unknown to the general public. Paul Laffan's The Fabricated Christ argues for the wider dissemination of this knowledge and tasks those engaged in biblical criticism with greater honesty and frankness about the results of their research.

he Faith of Friends series is part of Breakwater's religious education series for children in grades 4-6. This educational series introduces children to the underlying beliefs of the world's major religions, and it teaches young students the value of being understanding and other perspectives and showing tolerance for those who have beliefs that vary from their own. This series employs a unique approach to religious education in that it seeks to inform students about a broad range of religious faiths without using the perspective of one specific religion, and without promoting any one religion.

The Faith of Friends series is part of Breakwater's religious education series for children in grades 4-6. This educational series introduces children to the underlying beliefs of the world's major religions, and it teaches young students the value of being understanding and other perspectives and showing tolerance for those who have beliefs that vary from their own. This series employs a unique approach to religious education in that it seeks to inform students about a broad range of religious faiths without using the perspective of one specific religion, and without promoting any one religion. The texts in this series comprise a religious education experience that can provide consistent, enriching experience for children over a three-year period. One of the most notable features of the series is that it uses learning strategies that accommodate "multiple intelligences" (i.e. the learning activities and exercises used are specially designed so that the series can accommodate children with different aptitudes and learning styles). This series was created to accommodate the vision of the Newfoundland and Labrador Religious Education Curriculum: "to enable and encourage students to grow religiously, spiritually, and morally into informed, caring and contributing members of society, who appreciate their own beliefs and values of others, and who understand the contribution that Christianity and other religions make to human life." Breakwater Books is proud to have created an educational series that upholds this admirable vision.

As liberal democracies include increasingly diverse and multifaceted populations, the longstanding debate about the role of the state in religious education and the place of religion in public life seems imperative now more than ever. The maintenance of religious schools and the planning of religious education curricula raise a profound challenge. Too much state supervision can be conceived as interference in religious freedom and as a confinement of the right to cultural liberty. Too little supervision can be seen as neglecting the development of the liberal values required to live and work in a democratic society and as abandoning those who within their communities wish to attain a more rigorous education for citizenship and democracy. This book draws together leading educationalists, philosophers, theologians, and social scientists to explore issues, problems, and tensions concerning religious education in a variety of international settings. The contributors explore the possibilities and limitations of religious education in preparing citizens in multicultural and multi-religious democratic societies.

The author presents a close reading of Martin Luther's lectures on Galatians (1531) and Genesis (1535-1545). It reveals that Luther employed his unique understanding of Law and Gospel to inculcate in his students the understanding and desire to faithfully live out their callings in the vocations to which God had appointed them. He provided resources to do the same in the parishes they were to serve. Though in recent years the field of Luther studies has begun to appreciate the invaluable pastoral insights of this experienced master of pastors, the research has focused primarily on Luther's early works. Moreover, little attention has been given to exploring Luther's message as he cultivated an upcoming generation of pastors in his classroom. This work seeks to address this lacuna.

Through the last century, Catholic fraternity alumni have served as German chancellors, presidents, federal ministers, state executives, and leading voices in Germany's parliament. They have played leading roles in the Catholic press, in Catholic youth groups, in Catholic civic associations, and in the German Catholic hierarchy. After World War II, Catholic fraternity alumni played founding roles in the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU), the two parties that led West Germany's transition from its catastrophic defeat ("zero hour") to the economic miracle (1949-1969). This book considers the ideas that many of these Catholic leaders encountered as college students or as active alumni in their fraternities in the fifteen years before Adolf Hitler came to power.

While courses in Bible and theology typically require research papers, particularly at the graduate level, very few include training in research. Professors have two options: use valuable class time to teach students as much as they can, or lower their standards with the understanding that students cannot be expected to complete tasks for which they have never been prepared. From Topic to Thesis: A Guide to Theological Research offers a third option. This affordable and accessible tool walks students through the process, focusing on five steps: finding direction, gathering sources, understanding issues, entering discussion and establishing a position. Its goal is to take students directly from a research assignment to a research argument-in other words, from topic to thesis.

The study discusses the Old Testament's parable of Nathan and the subsequent condemnation of King David. The intriguing episode of the Prophet Nathan pronouncing judgment on the erring King David has always attracted the interest of the exegete and various researchers have used different methods to separate the condemnation of King David from the ancient author. This study presents a synchronic reading of the canonical text that reveals the episode as the mirror image of the oracle of eternal dynasty pronounced to David by the same prophet in the Second Book of Samuel 7. It is indeed the work of the deuteronomistic writer who has adapted an oracle against the dynasty of David and trimmed it to the advantage of his hero in the unfolding of history.

The research and reflections in The Fourth Self come from the author's almost thirty years of interaction in mission endeavors, primarily in Kenya, starting with an evangelism and church planting emphasis, to maturing young churches, and then various methods of leadership development. Much of what the author has learned on his pilgrimage in search of the fourth self, he owes to his Kenyan brothers and sisters with whom he has shared this journey. The Fourth Self will assist the reader in sharing in this journey more fully. Given the influence of the Western theological heritage in East Africa, it is important that the value of the theological education be evaluated from the perception of the participants in the educational process. This intercultural pilgrimage has been in the making for many decades, and it has been a journey for both African and Western participants as they both learned from and taught one another. This volume articulates the voices of the participants in a theological process while engaging their cultural contexts with the gospel, searching for what Paul Hiebert calls the "fourth self", self-theologizing. Furthermore, it evaluates which factors in the theological education process and ministry experiences contributed significantly to the leaders developing their own theological understanding of scripture as it applies to their cultural and ministry contexts, that is, practicing the fourth self. Professors, especially cross-cultural theological educators, will find this text to be useful in delving into the always dynamic cauldron of contexualization, self-theologizing, and global theologizing. In addition, this volume sets a solid foundation for improvements in ministry, theological interchange, and theological education in Africa.

Through history, Islam was the dominant religion and source of legitimation for ruling entities in diverse contexts where cultures and religions thrived in harmony. Today, the presence of Muslims as citizens in secular societies poses challenges, either by belonging to minorities in Western countries with long secular traditions or by comprising minority or majority populations in post-communist East European and Central Asian societies, where secular values are being revised. As Muslims reconceive the role of religion in their lives in those contexts, Islamic education acquires importance. It assists the young, especially adolescents, in learning to identify more fully with local realities with the intention of building sense of inner connectedness through which they may truly take part in and be of service to society. The contributors to this volume explore how the religious and secular, as well as the traditional and modern intersect in Islamic educational institutions that benefit Muslims and their societies by averting extremism and promoting cohesion.

There is a great deal of popular belief in the connection between religious extremism and terrorism. There are also numerous statistical analyses that reject that connection. Upon a deeper analysis, however, both of these approaches are oversimplifications. To adequately answer the question of whether there is a significant causal relationship between organizational religions and terrorism, it is necessary to take a closer and more critical look at the ideologies and practices of both religious practitioners and terrorists. It is important to focus on the causality of the relationship, because, if there is no causal relationship between religion and terrorism, then removing adherence to religion will do nothing to ameliorate the problem of terrorism. The Root of All Evil? Religious Perspectives on Terrorism conducts this kind of analysis.

Maritain, Religion, and Education: A Theocentric Humanism Approach offers a comprehensive study of Jacques Maritain's philosophy of education as applied to the specific field of religious education. This book demonstrates that his philosophy is still relevant and that the philosophical-religious idea of the human person is an indispensable point of departure for any educational theory, particularly in the field of religious education. Maritain's theocentric humanism stresses not only the relation of God and humanity but that of humanity and the world. His thinking fosters unity - by considering the human person as unity - with religious education becoming a liberating process that conforms to the goal of religious education: to deliver persons from all obstacles to union with God by fostering the spiritual life of religious educators and society alike.

Story and Song: A Postcolonial Interplay between Christian Education and Worship examines the roles of Scripture and hymnody in a Christian community in the twenty-first century, an era marked by a growing awareness of complex issues and migrating contexts. This work identifies the divisions that have existed between these two disciplines. The postcolonial approach employed here offers insights that uncover the colonial assumptions that led to division rather than integration of worship and Christian education. Furthermore, this book seeks to employ qualitative research methods in studying a Korean-Canadian diasporic congregation and a Korean feminist Christian group. Such research demonstrates how the Gospel Story and the congregation's stories can be woven together in a particular context, while the Song of Faith can help to build a postcolonial feminist community. Readers will be equipped to mend the divisions between Christian education and worship, to respond to the needs of non-Western Christian communities, and to attain postcolonial insights. A balanced theoretical work with reflective practical descriptions, this volume will be useful to those who are looking for a text to guide Christian education and worship courses and contribute to the readings of courses in practical theology, postcolonial studies, feminist pedagogies, and feminist liturgies.

Lutheran colleges and universities occupy a distinctive space in American higher education. In an age where the dividing line between sacred and secular has become blurred, Brian Beckstrom argues that their "rooted and open" approach, combined with adaptive theological leadership, could be the best hope for faith based higher education. To do so, he provides an overview of Lutheran higher education, its history, and identity, and combines surveys of students, faculty, and staff at Lutheran institutions with leadership theory and theological reflection. Leaders at Lutheran colleges and universities will find it to be helpful in understanding their mission, identity, and vocation in a secular age, and navigating the changing cultural environment that challenges the church and higher education alike.

Seit Grundung der Bundesrepublik ist die religiose Zusammensetzung der Gesellschaft heterogener und konfliktreicher geworden: Zugenommen hat die Gruppe der Religionslosen, von denen einige aktiv fur einen weltanschaulichen Sakularismus eintreten, und die der Muslime unterschiedlichen Bekenntnisses.
Dem Islam selbst und seiner komplexen Beziehung zum Verfassungsstaat sind zwei Beitrage gewidmet, ein weiterer sakularistischen (bzw. laizistischen) Positionen. Mehrere Kapitel gehen der Frage nach, wie das staatliche Religionsrecht auf die Herausforderungen Islam und Sakularismus reagieren sollte und ob es einer Neujustierung bedarf. Abschliessend werden zwei kontrare Urteile des Europaischen Gerichtshofs fur Menschenrechte (EGMR) zu einem italienischen Schulkreuz-Fall analysiert."

Charlotte Mason was a late nineteenth-century British educator whose ideas were far ahead of her time. She believed that children are born persons worthy of respect, rather than blank slates, and that it was better to feed their growing minds with living literature and vital ideas and knowledge, rather than dry facts and knowledge filtered and pre-digested by the teacher. Her method of education, still used by some private schools and many homeschooling families, is gentle and flexible, especially with younger children, and includes first-hand exposure to great and noble ideas through books in each school subject, conveying wonder and arousing curiosity, and through reflection upon great art, music, and poetry; nature observation as the primary means of early science teaching; use of manipulatives and real-life application to understand mathematical concepts and learning to reason, rather than rote memorization and working endless sums; and an emphasis on character and on cultivating and maintaining good personal habits. Schooling is teacher-directed, not child-led, but school time should be short enough to allow students free time to play and to pursue their own worthy interests such as handicrafts. Traditional Charlotte Mason schooling is firmly based on Christianity, although the method is also used successfully by secular families and families of other religions. Here in one affordable volume is her complete Homeschooling Series: Home Education: Six lectures by Charlotte Mason about the raising and educating of young children (up to the age of nine), for parents and teachers. She details how lessons in various school subjects can be done using her approach. She concludes with remarks about the Will, the Conscience, and the Divine Life in the Child. Parents and Children: A collection of 26 articles from the original Parent's Review magazines to encourage and instruct parents. School Education: Thoughts about the teaching and curriculum of children aged 9-12, either at school or at home. Ourselves: A character curriculum book written directly to children. Book I, Self-Knowledge, is for elementary school students; Book II, Self-Direction, is for older students. Formation of Character: Includes case studies of children (and adults) who cured themselves of bad habits; reflections on subjects including both schooling and vacations (or "stay-cations" as we now call them); various aspects of home schooling, with a special section detailing the things that Charlotte Mason thought were important to teach to girls in particular; and examples of how education affected outcome of character in famous writers of her day. Towards a Philosophy of Education: Charlotte Mason's final book, written after years of seeing her approach in action. This volume gives the best overview of her philosophy, and includes the final version of her 20 Principles. This book is particularly directed to parents of older children, about ages 12 and up, but is a valuable overview for parents of younger children as well, covering both theory and practice.