In 2015, Augsberg/Fortress Press (fortresspress.com) began releasing titles in an illustrated series on surveys called Christianity and the Liberal Arts. They have released two titles so far (see below), each of them with a disciplinary specialist providing the text and a graphic artist furnishing the illustrations. These volumes are meant to be accessible introductions for undergraduates. Readers should expect the volumes’ authors to write from a Lutheran perspective. More information is available at bit.ly/fortressCLA.
Scott Paeth and Joseph Novak, Philosophy: A Short, Visual Introduction, 2015, $21.00 pbk, ISBN 9781451492378, 176 pp.
Caitlin Corning and Joseph Novak, World History: A Short, Visual Introduction, 2015, $21.00 pbk, ISBN 9781506402871, 136 pp.
Andrews University Press (universitypress.andrews.edu) has developed several volumes in a similar, albeit older, series, written from a Seventh-Day Adventist perspective (see bit.ly/AUPseries). Volumes published include these:
George R Knight, Philosophy and Education: An Introduction in Christian Perspective (4th edn), 2006, $24.99 pbk, ISBN 9781883925543, 317 pp.
Lionel Matthews, Sociology: A Seventh-day Adventist Approach for Students and Teachers, 2006, $9.99 pbk, ISBN 9781883925550, 145 pp.
Gary Land, Teaching History: A Seventh-day Adventist Approach, 2000, $9.99 pbk, ISBN 9781883925284, 127 pp.
Delmar David, Teaching Literature: A Seventh-day Adventist Approach, 2002, $9.99 pbk, ISBN 9781883925369, 128 pp.
With David Dockery as series editor, Crossway Publishers (crossway.org) has begun an ambitious project called “Reclaiming the Christian Intellectual Tradition.” This journal has already reviewed several volumes (in issues 20:2 and 21:3 and this issue). Find the list of volumes published so far at bit.ly/crosswayRCIT.
Forgotten Books (forgottenbooks.com) has e- and print-on-demand paperback versions of dozens of public-domain historical titles related to Christianity and education, mostly from the 1800s and early 1900s. Search “education + religion” to see a sampling of what they have available, or use this link: bit.ly/forgotbooks.
The Routledge Research in Religion and Education series aims at advancing public understanding and dialogue on issues at the intersections of religion and education. These issues emerge in various venues, and proposals are invited from work in any such arena: public or private education at elementary, secondary, or higher education institutions; non-school or community organizations and settings; and formal or informal organizations or groups with religion or spirituality as an integral part of their work. Book proposals are invited from diverse methodological approaches and theoretical and ideological perspectives. This series does not address the work of formal religious institutions, including churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples. Rather, it focuses on the beliefs and values arising from all traditions as they come into contact with educational work in the public square.
Other noteworthy titles
Michael Hand, Is Religious Education Possible? A Philosophical Investigation. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2017, $40.00 pbk, ISBN 9781350047693, 160 pp.
Michael Hand tackles an old problem concerning the epistemic nature of religious education. Philosophers of education have tended to argue that non-confessional religious education is logically impossible because religion constitutes a distinctive form of knowledge. Hand disagrees. He defends the logical possibility of teaching about religion without teaching for commitment by arguing that religious discourse is similar to the discourse that we all share about persons, and thus can be understood and appreciated by everyone, quite apart from considering whether the claims about religion are actually true. The argument of this book, first published in 2006, is complex, and will be appreciated mainly by analytic philosophers.
Note by Elmer Thiessen, Waterloo, Canada
Elmer Thiessen
Waterloo, Canada
Andrew Wright, Religious Education and Critical Realism: Knowledge, Reality and Religious Literacy. London: Routledge, 2016, £110.00 hbk, ISBN 9780415559874, 266 pp.
Dialogue between philosophy and religious education is taken as a serious academic enterprise in this monograph. Wright advocates for the potential of critical realism to provide an alternative to pedagogies that view knowledge as value free (positivism) or a human construct (progressivism). Critical realism “involves relating to reality and allowing reality itself to shape understanding…” (p. 173). Though the book is a work of educational philosophy in general terms, its primary focus is religious education. Wright argues that, by privileging an ontological commitment to truth and truthful living, critical realism is superior to other philosophies in forming religiously-literate students. The author demonstrates a wide knowledge of educational theory and religious pedagogics, and frames his debate largely within Anglo and Northern European literature. Religious Education and Critical Realism is densely written and may require prior knowledge of modern philosophy to fully appreciate its theoretical contribution.
Dissertations of note
Lydia Reid, How religious students negotiate the secular culture of a state university: A sociological study of the University of Manchester. Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2017.
Philip Stanley Davis, Spirituality and motivation among Evangelical college students. Dissertation at La Mirada, California: Biola University, 2017.
Ciara Saylor, Religiosity and depression in college students by year in school. Dissertation at Indianapolis, Indiana: Butler University, 2017.
Matthew Alan Starcke, Finding their way: The predictors and correlates of college student religious conversion. Dissertation at Raleigh, North Carolina: North Carolina State University, 2017.
Mike Waggoner of the University of Northern Iowa (mike.waggoner@uni.edu) and Karen Adler (karen.adler@taylorandfrancis.com) serve as editors of the series. See bit.ly/RRRED.
