Textbook Gods

Edited by

Bengt-Ove Andreassen [+–]

University of Tromsø

Bengt-Ove Andreassen is Professor in Religious Studies at the University of Tromsø. He is also guest scholar in religious studies at University of Bergen in the period 2011-2013. One of his areas for research is themes related to religion in education and how perspectives from the academic study of religion can be applied in and to develop religion education (RE) in public school. Some publications: “On Ethics and religious culture (ERC) in Québec. Comments and comparative perspectives from a Norwegian and European context” in Religion & Education 38(3)(2011), Religionsdidaktikk. En innføring. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget (2012) (220 pages), and “Cristianity as culture and religions as religions. An analysis of the Core Curriculum as framwork for Norwegian RE” (forthcoming).

James R. Lewis [+–]

Wuhan University

James R. Lewis is Professor of Philosophy in the School of Philosophy at Wuhan University. He is well-published in the field of new religious movements. His publications and edited volumes include The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, Controversial New Religions (with Jesper Petersen), Scientology, Children of Jesus and Mary (with Nicholas Levine), and, most recently, Violence and New Religious Movements.

In recent years there has been a renewed interest in textbooks, partly because they have maintained their position as an important genre. Not too many years ago – and perhaps currently as well – many considered textbooks outdated or archaic compared with technological advances such as the Internet and different kinds of educational software. Despite these changes, textbooks for school subjects and for academic studies continue to be in demand. Textbooks seem to constitute a genre in which established truths are conveyed, and may thus represent stable forces in a world of flux and rapid changes.

Textbook Gods offers perspectives on representations of religion and religions in textbooks. The contributions emerge from different contexts, ranging from European countries, to North America, Japan and Australia.

Introduction

Theoretical Perspectives on Textbooks/Textbooks in Religious Studies Research [+–] 1-15

Bengt-Ove Andreassen £17.50

University of Tromsø

This introduction aims to provide some theoretical perspectives and to characterize textbooks in order to explain what type of texts we are dealing with. Arguments for why the textbook should be a genre of interest for research in religious studies will also be presented. Additionally, some challenges regarding methodology will be addressed.

Closed and Open Concepts of Religion: The Problem of Essentialism in Teaching about Religion [+–] 16-42

Torsten Hylen £17.50

Dalarna University

Having spent approximately 15 years as a teacher of religious studies, primarily for prospective religion teachers in public schools, I have reached an increasingly strong conclusion that many students unconsciously carry with them an essentialist view on religion, a perception that they acquired during their childhood. Additionally, through discussions with students in the teachers’ education programme who have relatively fresh experiences from their own schooling or who have interned in public schools, I have learned that many active religion teachers in Swedish schools have perceptions about religion that are more or less essentialist.2 Therefore, the present article is oriented primarily towards students who intend to become teachers of religion, as well as current religion teachers.

Establishing Religion through Textbooks: Religions in Japan’s “Ethics” Program [+–] 43-61

Satoko Fujiwara
Executive Editor £17.50

University of Tokyo

Satoko Fujiwara is Professor of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Tokyo. She has been serving as Secretary General of the International Association for the History of Religions since 2020. Her main focus is on theories in the study of religion with latest publications on the global history of the discipline and the IAHR. She has also published articles on how religions have been described in public school education.

In this chapter I will illustrate how Japanese textbooks are “establishing religion” by imposing demarcations and rankings among religions. Remarkably, the religion they are establishing is not State Shinto. The factors shaping the establishment of religion are quite complex and cannot be reduced to the single factor of the legacy of State Shinto. I will sort out pedagogical, ideological and business factors.

Bad Religions and Good Religions: The Representation of Religion and Religious Traditions in a New Swiss Textbook [+–] 62-85

Katharina Frank £17.50

Zurich University and Lausanne University

Katharina Frank is lecturer in teacher education and senior researcher at the Departments of Religious Studies at Zurich University and Lausanne University. She is interested in the representations of religions in the public sphere and in the research on religion education. Her dissertation, “Schulischer Religionsunterricht – eine religionswissenschaftlich-soziologische Untersuchung,” examines religion education at public schools and develops an empirically-based instrument to identify teaching aims. She is currently working on a on a study of religions based didactics and in a synthesis project of the National Research Programme “Religionsgemeinschaften, Staat and Gesellschaft” of the Swiss National Research

Over the last couple of years, the religion education of all pupils in Swiss public schools has been more and more institutionalized. This situation has led to a growing market of teaching materials, which all claim to serve as guides for the compulsory new school subject, which has to be a “Religionskunde.” One of these recently published textbooks is the “Sachbuch Religionen. Hinduismus, Buddhismus, Judentum, Christentum, Islam,” which was developed by a team of Christian theologians and scholars of the study of religions. This chapter focuses on the question of how religion and religious traditions are conveyed in this book. Who is speaking? Which fictive readers are addressed? What are the general aims of the texts? Which implicit valuations shape the representations of the different religions? The chapter argues that the images of religions conveyed by this textbook promote similar stereotypes as were recently identified for Swiss media and public discourse.

To Learn about the Other and to Get to Know Him: Judaism and the Jewish Community of Quebec as represented in Ethics and Religious Culture Textbooks [+–] 86-97

Sivane Hirsch,Marie McAndrew £17.50

University of Québec at Trois–Rivières

Sivane Hirsch, a Professor at the Department of Education at the University of Québec at Trois–Rivières (UQTR), holds a dual Ph.D. in Sociology (Paris-Descartes) and education (Laval University, Québec). Her thesis analyzes the perception university students in Québec, France and Israel have of contemporary spirituality as well as the way they integrate it in their daily lives. She furthered studied the role of religion in education as part of a postdoctoral research at the University of Montreal, within a larger project that analysed the role of education in the relations between the Jewish community and other Quebecers. This included, at one hand, the representation of the community, its history and its culture in the curriculum, and on another hand, the articulation of the Québec’s Education program with the specific educational project of Montreal’s Jewish schools. Her current research concentrates on the treatment of religious and cultural diversity as well as other acute issues regarding religious markers in classrooms, studying mostly the challenges and opportunities associated with these teachings and its contribution to the relations between ethnic communities within schools.

University de Montréal

Marie Mc Andrew is a professor at the University de Montréal where she holds the Canada Research Chair on Education and Ethnic Relations. She has published numerous articles and books on minority education and intercultural education in Quebec, Canada and around the world.

The “Ethics and Religious Culture” (ERC) program, recently (2008) introduced in all primary and secondary schools in the province of Quebec, has been a subject of numerous analyses and debates (Estivalèzes 2009; Milot 2007; Racine 2008). Its opponents, religious and non-religious alike, dispute the acknowledgement in the classroom of religious pluralism within society. They also emphasize that transmitting beliefs about diverse religions in the classroom is an impossible task for teachers who do not necessarily share them. Even those who support the programme worry that, in order to fulfil its objectives—notably to allow youth to discover the different influences on their society’s history as well as on contemporary culture and values—teachers will need to access considerable information and acquire deeper understanding of diverse doctrines, philosophies and beliefs. The immediate and universal establishment of the programme in all classes, without a transitional period, has heightened the role of ERC textbooks in providing that information not only to the children learning from them, but also to the teachers using them. The study of Judaism and the portrayal of Jewish communities in these textbooks will be the subject of this chapter.

Researching Materials Used to Teach about World Religions in Schools in England [+–] 98-116

Barbara Wintersgill £17.50

Independent Scholar and Consultant

Barbara Wintersgill has a BA and MA in theology from the University of Exeter and a PhD from Warwick University. Her varied career includes: teaching RE in London, Advisory Teacher for RE, Chief Examiner RS, Officer for RE at the National Curriculum Council (NCC) and the School Curriculum and Qualifications Authority (SCAA), Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI) and National Adviser for Religious Education, working at the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted), and author of many NCC, SCAA and Ofsted publications as well as academic articles. Dr Wintersgill is now an independent researcher and education consultant.

This chapter is a report on research into materials used in religious education teaching conducted by the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit (WRERU) throughout the academic year 2008–2009. The research considered a wide variety of resources but this chapter considers only the findings that relate to textbooks. In relation to books specifically, the research identified both value and concern with respect to accuracy in detail; authenticity, coherence and balance in representations of religions; recognition of the internal diversity in religions and of their numinous and transformative power; the complexity of religions and the relationships between them. Several publications caused concern in these areas.

Representations of Indigenous Australian Religions in New South Wales (NSW) Higher School Certificate Studies of Religion Textbooks [+–] 117-133

Carole M. Cusack £17.50

University of Sydney

Carole M. Cusack is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Sydney, Australia as well as Visiting Fellow at the Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard Divinity School. She trained as a medievalist and her doctorate was published as Conversion Among the Germanic Peoples (Cassell, 1998). She now researches primarily in contemporary religious trends and Western esotericism. Her books include Invented Religions: Imagination, Fiction and Faith (Ashgate, 2010) and (with Katharine Buljan)
Anime, Religion and Spirituality: Profane and Sacred Worlds in Contemporary Japan (Equinox, 2015). She edited (with Pavol Kosnáč), Fiction, Invention and Hyper-reality: From Popular Culture to Religion (Routledge, 2017).

The author examines the presentation of Indigenous Australian religions in current textbooks used in Australian secondary schools in the New South Wales Higher School Certificate (matriculation) course, Studies of Religion. Cusack argues that the majority of textbooks for this course, and the subject syllabus they reflect, continue to manifest the dominance of the “world religions” paradigm and the normative status of Christianity in defining religion. Aboriginal religion is generally treated cautiously and with respect, reflecting the aura of “political correctness” surrounding discourses about Indigenous Australians in the twenty-first century.

Visual Engagement: Textbooks and the Materiality of Religion [+–] 134-156

Mary Hayward £17.50

University of Warwick

Dr Mary Hayward is an Associate Fellow, Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit (WRERU), University of Warwick UK, where she completed doctoral studies on the representation of Christianity in Religious Education in England. She has held RE related posts in the Universities of Leeds, Warwick and – earlier in her career – Lancaster and was for 13 years Deputy Director of York Religious Education Centre. She is a member of the International Seminar on Religion and Values (ISREV); has served on the Executive Committee of the Association of University Lecturers in Religion and Education, and is Reviews Editor of the British Journal of Religious Education.

In her article, Mary Hayward argues that more attention has been paid to the analysis of the written text than visuals in textbooks, and suggests that imagebased research has low status. She argues that scholars in religious education have paid too little attention to the materiality of religion and to images in textbooks. Hayward further argues that interpreting what is seen is a multi-layered task; different images require different kinds of questions and varied pathways of research, and therefore must receive attention in religious education. Her article thus opens with a reflection on religion and materiality in general, before turning to a discussion of images of Christianity and Hinduism in English textbooks for religious education

Cartographic Representations of Religion(s) in Norwegian Textbooks [+–] 157-176

Suzanne Anett Thobro £17.50

University of Tromsø

Suzanne Anett Thobro is a Fellow in the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø.

The point of departure for this study is the general tendency in Norwegian textbooks to describe religions as abstract objects, with no relations to time or space. Analysing cartographic representations in Norwegian textbooks for upper-secondary schools in the period from the 1930s to the present, the author describes how the use of maps has developed. A basic premise in her analysis is that the moment one visualizes religion(s) cartographically, spatialization occurs, albeit still as abstract object(s). Depending on the map’s view and on where the different religions (or adherents) are placed on the map, the different religions are made local, regional or world religions, and more or less affixed to specific areas.

A Reservoir of Symbols: On the Conceptualization of “Religion” in Introductory Books for RE in Teacher Education in Norway [+–] 177-197

Bengt-Ove Andreassen £17.50

University of Tromsø

The author draws attention to textbooks in teacher education at university colleges and universities in Norway. He argues that religion is presented as something solely good and as a valuable source for human development. The topics of religion and conflict or religious violence are not included. Such topics are most likely regarded as a disruptive force within the broader project of promoting religion as something good, and confessionally oriented religious education as something positive for children.

Stones and Bones: Indigenous African Religions and the “Evolution” of World Religions [+–] 198-211

James R. Lewis £17.50

University of Tromsø

James R. Lewis is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Tromsø. He is well-published in the field of new religious movements. His publications and edited volumes include The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, Controversial New Religions (with Jesper Petersen), Scientology, Children of Jesus and Mary (with Nicholas Levine), and, most recently, Violence and New Religious Movements.

James R. Lewis examines the portrayal of indigenous African religions in world religion textbooks. The chapter is an updated version of an article originally published in 1990. In this volume the article is updated by examining the structures of the texts currently available for world religions survey courses. Thus Lewis’ article addresses a tendency which has been stable for over 20 years. The most significant criticism levelled in his survey is the implicit evolutionary structure reflected in the order of chapters, so that smaller-scale traditional religions, such as the aboriginal religions of sub-Saharan Africa, are typically placed at the beginning of these texts as if to suggest that such religions represent an earlier level of religious development. Lewis argues that almost all relevant textbooks continue to embody this structure, but not every survey text groups currently existing peoples together with prehistoric peoples, and not every such book discusses the religions of contemporary indigenous peoples prior to discussing the dead religions of the classical world. Lewis also comments on how textbooks are perpetuated by being reprinted in new editions and gives examples on how outdated misinformation continues to be reproduced in twelfth and thirteenth editions.

“Christianity” or “the Christianity”—That is the Question [+–] 212-226

Annika Hvithamar £17.50

University of Copenhagen

Annika Hvithamar is Associate Professor at the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, History of Religions Section, at the University of Copenhagen and a sociologist of religion, specializing in the Russian Orthodox Church and contemporary Christianity. She has published textbooks in Religious Studies for upper secondary school and articles (in Danish) on the dichotomy between how religion is studied at the university level compared with how it is taught in primary and secondary schools.

Luther has not lived in vain. Not only is he responsible for one of the larger branches of Protestantism, but also the Lutheran insistence on sola scriptura has profoundly influenced the way religion is taught in Denmark. This heritage and the consequences thereof constitute the topic of the following chapter. After introducing the law and the history of teaching religion in the Danish educational system, I will discuss the Lutheran legacy in primary and secondary education, starting with the approach to the concept of “Christianity,” The basis for the discussion will be the executive orders for the topic in the education system and examples from popular contemporary textbooks. Finally I will discuss textbook material for primary and secondary education, based on religious studies didactics: To what degree is it possible to produce educational material based on study-of-religion didactics in the existing system, and what challenges are connected with doing so?

School Bible in the Service of The Danish National Church—A Case Study [+–] 227-252

Jens-André P. Herbener £17.50

University of Southern Denmark

Jens-André P. Herbener is Assistant Professor of the History of Religions at University of Southern Denmark. Previously he has worked as a project manager and editor at the Department of Oriental and Judaica Collections, the Royal Library of Denmark. His research and teaching cover especially monotheism, ancient Israelite religion, Judaism, classical Hebrew and Bible translation. He has published extensively on Bible translation from a non-confessional perspective. His publications include for example “Ny bibeloversættelse på videnskabeligt grundlag: Introduktion” (ed., 2001) and “Bibeloversættelse mellem konfession og videnskab” (2004). Currently he is working on a two-volume monograph on monotheism

In 2011 the Danish Bible Society published a huge work called The School Bible (Skolebibelen). It includes the following sections: A Bible Guide and a Bible Dictionary composed by Inger Røgild, the authorized 1992 Danish translation of the Bible and The New Agreement—the New Testament in present-day Danish from 2007, for which the Danish Bible Society itself is responsible. All together it is a work of 1.5 kilo and 2016 pages. The Danish Bible Society is a non-profit church organization. Its purpose is “making the Bible and biblical material available internationally as well as in Denmark,”1 and it is affiliated with the international organization the United Bible Societies. in the School Service of the Danish National Church (Kristeligt Dagblad 2011c). Both the author and the publisher present The School Bible exclusively as an academic publication that is tailor-made for Christian studies in the Folkeskole in Denmark. As the following review will show, this is a truth with many modifications. In fact, from an academic point of view, The School Bible is quite problematic and raises questions about the use of textbooks and translations published by religious organizations in the Folkeskole.

End Matter

Index [+–] 253-264

Bengt-Ove Andreassen FREE

University of Tromsø

Reviews

The subject matter of the book is unexpectedly stimulating. Throughout the book, there is a sense of attention to detail and accuracy of information. Looking at the book as a whole, there is a balanced presentation of data and analysis. The issues raised are not new but they are highly relevant and because they are explored in a variety of different contexts, we are able to gain fresh insight into them. Each chapter presents the data in a way that is both accessible and coherent. The analysis is often insightful and some of the conclusions offer valuable guidance for the production of textbooks within religious studies and religious education. Lecturers in Religious Studies and RE teachers who are responsible for purchasing the texts for their departments will be better informed in their decisions if they read this book. Others working in a range of educational contexts who are concerned with intercultural relations and communication will also gain much from this publication.
British Journal of Religious Education

In sum Textbook Gods provides a variety of insights into the complex discussion about representations of religions in educational contexts. Unrestricted geographically in its scope, this volume brings together various country-specific facets and does not exclude the textbook authors’ point of view.
Entangled Religions

Taking into account the field of international comparative religious education research, where boundaries between religiously motivated (theological) positions on RE and secular scholarly positions (informed by the study of religions, sociology, or anthropology) are frequently blurred or not made explicit, this book provides a refreshingly clear counterpart.
Numen

A valuable addition to comparative research on religious education.
Temenos

This volume provides an original, interesting take on how the scientific study of religion can examine specific aspects of religious education in schools.
Religion

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Books and Journals in Humanities, Social Science and Performing Arts

Genre, Text and Teaching Religious Studies

Bengt-Ove Andreassen [+–]

University of Tromsø

James R. Lewis [+–]

Wuhan University

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