This article explores the implications for Christian religious education of the theory of moral virtues formulated by Thomas Aquinas and developed by the contemporary Neo-Thomists. The analysis is divided into two parts. The first part introduces Thomistic virtue theory and presents cardinal virtues crucial for Thomistic ethics: prudence, justice,…

The Methodist Church of Hong Kong has promoted a life education programme since 2004, and has progressively applied it in all affiliated schools. This article analyses the characteristics of the latest primary school life education curriculum compiled by this Christian school sponsoring body. There are three significant findings: 1) religious…

We report on a large-scale survey of 1,772 upper-secondary school students in 16 Church of England schools to discover their perceptions of how science and religion relate. We found that students who attend Church schools are pedagogically, socially and cognitively confined to the view that science and religion conflict. The findings are discussed…

The aim of this article is to interact critically with Matthew Clayton and David Stevens's recent critique of non-confessional religious education, constituted as a separate, compulsory subject in the school curriculum. Three different critical arguments are considered: the contention that religious education is an unsuitable vehicle for fostering…

This paper examines the pedagogical framework of Jerusalem University College (JUC) for biblical field studies in the Holy Land. JUC's program revolves around three pedagogical pillars, "Read the Land. See the Text. Live the Book," centered on geographical comprehension, biblical texts, and practiced Christianity. This mixed methods…

Christian educators recognize the value of biblical wisdom. Indeed, one of the foremost objectives of a Christian liberal arts education is that all members of the learning community would pursue and attain wisdom. Although wisdom is important as an end goal of Christian liberal arts education, this article proposes that wisdom can also serve as…

This article examines the antecedents of the 'British Values' (democracy, rule of law, equality of opportunity, freedom of speech and the rights of all men and women to live free from persecution) which it is incumbent upon British schools to teach. But it also seeks to move the debate forward by pointing to the 'British Virtues' without which it…

As Christians, we are created to be in three important relationships: (i) with God, (ii) with people, and (iii) with creation. In this study, we investigated how pedagogy related to Christian practices of relationality impacted university students' prosocial tendencies. We exercised Christian practices of gratitude and intercessory prayer,…

As our practices often shape our attitudes, pedagogical methods may help students begin to cultivate religious ways of reading. Formative assessments play a large role in how our students encounter and engage with texts, yet as much as scholars have begun considering approaches to cultivating Christian pedagogical methods, assessment methods have…

Charles Gutenson's convicting words motivated me to attempt this essay. He writes: "If we are to engage in serious dialogue about the relationship between Christian faith and our [public] commitments, we must invest more energy in bringing Scripture to bear on them" (2011, p. 9). The common good seems a common conversation these days. To…

This article explores the process of the formation of "the National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church" through focusing on disagreements amongst its promoters. It demonstrates that a discrepancy existed in the opinions of Anglican promoters concerning what an Anglican national…

The Second Vatican Council introduced a new narrative for Catholic school. Rather than serving a primarily catechetical purpose, Catholic schools were to share in the Church's evangelizing mission by embodying an ideal learning community in a manner rooted in Gospel values. This paper argues that Gospel values are not exported from the Bible and…

This article shows how discussion of the 'world religions paradigm' in integrated natural and social science teaching affects how religious plurality is handled. A concrete case study is used to illustrate how a teacher designs lessons on world religions. Based on this single case study, the article argues that the use of specific teaching…

Two studies investigated children's and their parents' reasoning about their mental and bodily states during the time prior to biological conception--"preexistence." Prior research has suggested that, in the absence of a religious script, children display untutored intuitions that they existed as largely disembodied emotional beings…

Religious identity development is highly influenced by contexts. This influence is even more powerful for young people who grew up in strict religious contexts because of the prominence of orthodox beliefs and practices in everyday life. This article presents which contextual factors were influential on the religious identity development of 18…