One cannot reflect on centuries of accumulated religious wisdom without experiencing a deepened sense of personal meaning and purpose--a phenomenon often marginalized in progressive education. Contemporary issues have religious dimensions. The four essays assembled in this special section consider religion's role in public education from different…

Nineteenth-century common schools offered no course about religion or its role in American society. Moral education up through the mid-20th century embodied a kind of generalized Christianity. If universalized versions of the Golden Rule and the Ten Commandments prevail, educators should reconsider the merits of common-school philosophy. Contains…