Freedom and Authority in Religions and Religious Education

Abstract

In this shapely, demanding, honest volume Brian Gates has organised his collaborators to offer a service to a far wider readership than would normally buy books on religious education. Their book's shapeliness lies as much in its carefully ordered structure as in its coherent, though very occasionally patchy, development of its main theme. This long-awaited volume of essays, celebrating 20 years of the Shap Working Party on World Religions in Education, offers clearheaded, honest reflection on the place and function of religions in our present world, thoughtful, demanding perspectives on how such reflection might affect education in Britain, and studies of children's experiences in six religious traditions. As its title suggests, the book falls into two parts: the first deals with religions, the second moves to religious education. Each part begins with a substantial essay by a notable contributor. John Bowker opens with a tightly-written piece which makes the best argument for good religious education (at every level of education) that this reviewer has met. Put simply, Bowker insists that religions can be profoundly dangerous beasts and that our world is the more dangerous because most politicians are ignorant of religions' role and power.