The Empirical Science of Religious Education draws together a collection of innovative articles in the field of religious education which passed the editorial scrutiny of Professor Robert Jackson over the course of his impactful fourteen year career as editor of the British Journal of Religious Education. These articles have made an enormous contribution to the international literature establishing of the empirical science of religious education as a research field. The volume draws together, organises and illustrates the contours of this emerging field and is an essential compendium which covers work in: teacher education and teacher experience; student understanding, attitudes and values; varieties of religious schooling, and; worldview and life interpretation Organised into ten thematic sections the contributors cover the field comprehensively and bring with them an international and reflexive approach to their research. It is an essential resource for those practitioners and researchers who wish to access original and innovative research undertaken by way of ethnographic fieldwork, practitioner research, life-history approaches to research, psychological scales and measures, and large surveys. Particularly interested readers will be studying PGCE and masters level programmes in religious education, as well as qualified religious educators undertaking continuing professional development.

The key issues facing rural life and the rural church today are worth serious thought, serious theological reflection, and serious empirical evidence. The twenty-eight articles drawn together for the first time in this reader illustrate the significant contribution made to these debates over the past decade by the journal Rural Theology. The articles concentrate on the themes of perspectives from the Bible, perspectives from ordinary theology, theological and sociological perspectives, historical perspectives listening to visitors, listening to the community, listening to churchgoers, listening to church leaders and satisfaction and stress in ministry. The authors include voices from the Anglican, Baptist, Methodist and Pentecostal Churches, from England, Scotland and Wales. Rural Life and Rural Church provides an invaluable resource for clergy and lay Christians involved in rural ministry initial and continuing ministerial education and formation Christian men and women living in the countryside.

The key issues facing rural life and the rural church today are worth serious thought, serious theological reflection, and serious empirical evidence. The twenty-eight articles drawn together for the first time in this reader illustrate the significant contribution made to these debates over the past decade by the journal Rural Theology. The articles concentrate on the themes of perspectives from the Bible, perspectives from ordinary theology, theological and sociological perspectives, historical perspectives listening to visitors, listening to the community, listening to churchgoers, listening to church leaders and satisfaction and stress in ministry. The authors include voices from the Anglican, Baptist, Methodist and Pentecostal Churches, from England, Scotland and Wales. Rural Life and Rural Church provides an invaluable resource for clergy and lay Christians involved in rural ministry initial and continuing ministerial education and formation Christian men and women living in the countryside.

Religious educators today are called upon to enable young people to develop as fully-rounded human beings in a multicultural and multifaith world. It is no longer sufficient to teach about the history of religions: religion is not relegated to the past. It is no longer sufficient to teach about the observable outward phenomena of religions: religion is not restricted to practices, artefacts, and buildings observable in the outside world. It is also necessary to take seriously what religions believe about themselves, and what religions believe about other religions. Seen from the inside, religions deal in the currency of truth. For the religions themselves, truth matters. Truth-claims can lead to harmony and peace, but they may also engender discord and violence. What ultimately counts is how one set of truth-claims confronts or embraces the truths claimed by other, different voices. Therefore those who teach religion cannot avoid dealing with the theology of religions. In this collection of original essays, religious educators shaped by both Christian and Islamic worldviews discuss the problems and opportunities that now face educators and believers alike, as they are confronted by the challenge of teaching religion and teaching truth. The discussion nurtured at the sixteenth conference of the International Seminar on Religious Education and Values is here developed further, to stimulate wider reflection and shape good local practice.

Following the events of September 11th 2001, public focus has been on the power of religion in world politics. This book addresses the role of religious education in a polarised and globalised world where terrorism has impacted on western democracy. Through an analysis and evaluation of all the different models of religious education across the western world, the book considers if religion is part of the answer or part of the problem. Internationally, religious educators have been required to face the challenge of developing and justifying their subject matter in a world keen to combat terrorism and to promote peace. This book demonstrates that while some claim religious education inflames fundamentalist sensitivities and in some cases lead to sectarian violence, it also has the counterbalancing capacity to inform and enrich communal life.