State Religious Education and the State of Religious Life

This book explores recent calls to increase instruction of the Bible in American public schools. The work develops a distinctive philosophical and trans-Atlantic assessment of these proposals by critiquing European approaches to religious education and by reviewing the role of religion in contemporary democracies. The work will spark debate among political scientists, policy experts, Religious Education instructors, theologians, and social and educational theorists.""Ignorance of the Bible cuts us off from our history and our cultural heritage. Yet state religious education carries dangers, not least for religion itself. This superb book, by two authors well-versed in these problems on both sides of the Atlantic, points a way forward.""--Roger Trigg, Ian Ramsey Centre, University of Oxford""This book represents a sober and objective analysis of the movement to adopt Bible courses in the public schools. Those who are interested in the movement and church/state issues will find the work essential reading, as providing an invaluable source of information about the situation in America and Europe and a compelling argument that demands attention and some compromise from both sides of the debate in the present cultural war.""--Stephen Strehle, Professor, Christopher Newport University, VA""The use of the ''no establishment'' clause of the Constitution to expel Bible education from state schools threatens to leave Americans without the most important spiritual anchor that has been provided to them. In this strongly argued book Liam Gearon and Joseph Prud''homme mount a persuasive case not only against the misreading of the Constitution by secularist fanatics, but also in favor of the Bible, as the true foundation of America''s secular culture.""--Sir Roger Scruton, acclaimed philosopher, author of over 40 books in aesthetics, philosophy, and political thoughtJoseph Prud''homme is Director of the Institute for Religion, Politics, and Culture, Associate Professor of Political Science, and Instructor in Religion at Washington College in Chestertown, MD.Liam Francis Gearon is an Associate Professor in the Department of Education and a Senior Research Fellow at Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford. He is the author and/or editor of over thirty books in politics, literature, education, and the study of religion.