Belonging Before Believing: Some Doxological Reflections on Teaching Christianity

Abstract

On the whole, it is unwise of religious educators to isolate or emphasise the belief element in their handling of the Christian tradition, making it a key to understanding the whole. Belonging tends to shape believing and doxology dominates theology. There is currently some discussion1 of the proper focal point for a study of the Christian tradition: some religious educators assert that the belief element must now become a student's point of entry into understanding this tradition. In this article I propose, rather, pragmatically to affirm that approaching belief through Christian practice is both truer to most Christian tradition and makes far more sense in curriculum terms. I must also disclose my own working aim for religious education: I assume that a religious educator's purpose is to help students develop skills and insights and knowledge which both take them towards an ability to stand in a believer's shoes and, increasingly, to form their own critique of religious beliefs and practices. If, then, ...