‘Knowledge about Religions’ and Analytical Skills in Religious Education: Reflections from a Norwegian Context

Abstract

Religious education appears in many different models and varies between educational systems and national contexts. Theoretically, religious education is usually divided into confessional and non-confessional models. However, as several researchers have pointed out, the non-confessional models can be ‘marinated’ in confessional religion. In most national contexts, regardless of the model on which it is based, religious education is intended to serve the promotion of social cohesion by way of promoting knowledge and understanding of the new multi‑religious world. However, in official documents and scholarly literature, there is a taken-for-granted relationship between ‘knowledge of religion’ and such general aims. In the article, critical questions concerning this relationship will be raised.