The religious contexts in which early Christian communities grew were important factors in the first-century development of Christianity, affecting what it meant to become a Christian--either as a convert from a background in Judaism or as a convert from a background in Greek, Roman, or Egyptian cults. Surrounding religions and cultural norms…

Educators today are accustomed to discussing concepts of multiculturalism, race, class, and gender, but when it comes to religion, most new teachers and many seasoned teachers are confounded. This article provides a critical look at the treatment of religion in public education in the United States, and the potential marginalization of…

Recognizing the influence of religion on people's worldview and daily lives, we wondered if elementary and secondary social studies preservice teachers knew enough about religions not only to be culturally responsive in a classroom but also whether they knew enough to teach about these religions within the appropriate curriculum. We used questions…

On September 9, 2009, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that officials from Everett School District #2 in Mill Creek, Washington did not violate student Kathryn Nurre's constitutional rights to free speech by denying the Jackson High School Wind Ensemble the opportunity to perform an instrumental version of Franz Biebl's "Ave…

This multi-level, longitudinal study investigated the ecumenical worldview development of 13,932 students enrolled in one of 126 institutions. Results indicated that the final hierarchical linear model, consisting of institution-and-student-level predictors as well as slopes explaining the relationships among some of these predictors, explained…

Faced with America's stratified religious landscape, colleges and universities work to embrace spiritual diversity through inclusive discourse, initiatives and programs. Nationwide, some campuses have focused on the rise in religious diversity and mending the religious fractures that persist. They have crafted programs aimed at letting a shifting…

Despite 15 years of sporadic efforts, religion today in Bosnia and Herzegovina is more of a hindrance than a help to promoting peaceful coexistence among the region's various ethnic and religious groups. Polarization and extremism make religions other than one's own even more distant, strange and threatening. Physical interaction that existed…

This paper explores whether the field of sociology harbors a dismissive attitude towards religion. Specifically it examines whether introductory sociology textbooks present the classic secularization theory over the more recent religious economies explanation of religious change. The classical secularization thesis suggests that religion is…

This article attributes the impact of Urban II's call to arms to the events and issues of the times, as well as to Urban's unique shaping of a new image of redemption for an audience saddled by guilt. The address also appears to fit a discernible pattern of war rhetoric. (JMF)

Teaching about religion has never been expressly forbidden to public schools. Article presents a program for teaching and establishing the academic study of religion. (GB)

Advocates students being afforded the same privilege and extended the same opportunity to attain spiritual development as they are given in other areas related to student development in college. Suggests offering prayers by persons in their own traditions at major college events. Claims risk of offending worth benefit of celebrating a spiritual…

Points out the problems and potential of teaching the Bible as literature. (JL)

Notes that many young blacks view the black church as the place where unintelligent blacks go to sing and shout about another world, because they cannot do anything to change this world. (Author)

Today, Zambia has a comparatively unified, somewhat exceptional, approach to religious education despite a wide variety of predominantly Christian denominations. This article retraces the history of the development of religious education from when it was entirely confessional to the present time when it has become largely educational. In so doing…

By tracing and connecting significant shifts in Baptist political and theological rhetoric to trends within the larger culture, this rhetorical transformation can be seen as establishing and maintaining these groups as significant forces in American culture. Before 1800, Baptists were against infant baptism, regarding baptism as a matter of…