Faith and Culture: The Construction of a Christian Identity in Interaction with the Other World Religions in Education

No one would seriously doubt that religion classes constitute one of the most important forums for religious communication in our time. In order to practice religious education in an appropriate manner, it is crucial that teachers and students have high-quality, useful materials at their disposal. Time and again, there arises a demand for a correct and balanced representation and treatment of non-Christian religions and cultures, especially Islam. In practice, this can give rise to two extremes. In the one case, pages from older textbooks whose value has long since been proven are transferred almost verbatim without everyone ever asking whether what was said at that time can still be literally translated to the contemporary social and religious constellation. At the other extreme, one anxiously rejects any remnants of the approach taken by older textbooks, in an attempt to make religion more attractive to today's youth, without ever asking whether the traditional choice of materials and its organization might still have something to contribute to today's teachers and students. Although this book is not a tract but a synthesis of historical, theological, anthropological articles, it might help to clarify the topic and approach.