This monograph offers an overview of the various ways conversations about religion and religiously informed scholarship are increasing among scholars in secular and church-related colleges and universities. Specifically, it addresses the history of secularization in American higher education and scholarship, the general models of faith and…

Henry Ward Beecher was America's most prominent 19th century liberal preacher and a major spokesperson for New England Transcendentalism. His philosophy integrated four fundamental themes: the creation of a moral code based on the internalization of values and peer group pressures, the establishment of the reform ideal of the impartial nonpartisan…

One of the most important myths in education is that of progress. The idea derives from a specifically Western messianic tradition and contains the belief in the growth and the development of an organism. That belief emerges from Greek and Hebraic thought, is modified in Christian theology, and then is secularized in science. The persistence and…

Argues Fukayama's assertion of "end of history" must be seen as attempt to establish new civil theology to guide political deliberations. Asserts Fukayama thesis is based on Hegelian view of ideas becoming real through human imagination and will. Claims end of era is not identical to end of history and that socialism will be reborn in…

This survey investigates how the students of social philosophy modify their criteria on basic questions of social justice. A questionnaire of 30 questions, with 5 options, was developed. The five answer/options correspond to the following five schools of social philosophy (five ways of thinking): (1) liberal individualism; (2) humanitarianism; (3)…

Asserts that western civilization's belief in the differentiation between object and subject impedes a true multicultural discourse. Praises the postmodernist approach, that self-evident reality is actually a politically constructed text, as being useful in identifying subjectivity. Argues for acknowledgment, rather than displacement of,…

Observes the philosophical and methodological aspects of Religious Studies. Considers the limitations of approaching religious thought and experience from a rationalist-scientific perspective. Includes a historical overview of the phenomenology of religious education with brief summations of leading theorists. (MJP)

Proposes a mode of religious education that accentuates the self-actualizing, humanistic aspects of religious thought while downplaying the exclusionary and confrontational pathologies. Maintains that the power of spiritual commitment, devoid of rancorous judgments, can be a force for positive global transformation. (MJP)

Criticizes the notion that secular humanists and religious educators can equitably agree on a common or middle ground. Maintains that the so-called middle ground is often primarily secular ideology with a token acknowledgment of the validity of religious thought. Argues for a more open discussion with both positions receiving equal consideration.…