Holistic Religious Education - is it possible? - The complex web of religion, spirituality and morality

Book Cover

Preface

Acknowledgements

Contents

Introduction

Holistic religious education or bits and pieces

The meaning of holism

The main question and the main problem

The child and the process of making meaning

The art of holistic religious education

Holistic education and the complex web of religion, spirituality and morality

I The child and the process of making meaning

1 Where it all starts: Children as spiritual subjects, and the meaning of time and space

Theoretical backdrop

‘Time and space for wonder’

A narrative approach to meaning

Kindergarten A: Ordinary time, infinite space and heaven

Kindergarten B: Empathy and rules of conduct

Kindergarten C: Time and space for wonder

Children’s meaning-making, spirituality and different educational environments: summary and outlook

2 The concept of ‘child’ and the question of identity formation

A new concept of the child?

The paradox of the new child paradigm

The new child paradigm and religious education

The power of a traditional Christian view of the child

The child concept has changed in times of crisis

The ‘identity’ concept

Identity and personal memory

The child, the church and the family: some trends and issues in a Nordic perspective

Summary and outlook

3 The child in theology – and as theologian?

A family of related concepts

The Child Theology Movement

The Kindertheologie network

Child theology in Norway

Child theology and a ‘broad and complex view of children’

Summary and discussion

4 Children’s faith – a matter of morality?

Conceptual and methodological challenges concerning children’s faith

Faith and ‘childhood learning’

Children’s faith is existential trust

Faith and morality interrelated or mixed

5 Children’s meaning-making as spirituality

A rumour of angels

The paradoxical interest in the spiritual in late modern society

Two roots in research on spirituality

Religious and/or spiritual development?

The point mode and the line mode

Spirituality is not a matter of either religious or secular worldviews, but of being connected or alienated

Which spirituality are we looking for?

Recent research and new trajectories

Hermeneutics of spiritual education for young children – an attempt

Back to the angels – and down to earth

II The art of holistic religious education

6 Education as a spiritual process, and the meaning of religious nurture

The dynamics of spirituality in education

How can religion and religious education relate to education in general?

The meaning of education

Religion in spiritual education

A Norwegian example

Religion in spiritual education and political ethics

Conclusion and outlook

7 Religious education and the pedagogy of wonder

Three kinds of wonder

The beginning of knowledge of all kinds

Wonder increased or replaced by knowledge: Two strands of understanding

Wonder in the New Testament

Platonic and Aristotelian influences on Christian theology

From religious wonder to aesthetic wonder

Wonder in religious education – philosophical, religious or both?

What is the significance of wonder in religious education?

The object of wonder is particular events, not only universal issues

The subjective aspect of wonder involves open-ended philosophy

A language of wonder has ethical aspects

Wonder and the question of truth in religious plurality

Summary

8 Religious education and religion as culture

A functional or substantial approach to religion and culture

Religion understood in terms of cultural relativism or constructivism

Religious culture and the issue of cultural or religious identity

The power of religious culture and possible consequences for religious education

Summary and outlook

9 A holistic approach to the art of religious education

Eight principles of holistic education

Religious education in the town square, in the narthex or on a pilgrimage?

Making meaning of the complexity of religion, spirituality and morality

References

Index