Readiness for Discarding? — An Examination of the Researches of Ronald Goldman concerning Children's Religious Thinking

Abstract

THIS ARTICLE EXAMINES the assumptions underlying the influential researches of Ronald Goldman into the religious thinking of childhood. The Piagetian base against which Goldman's theories were developed is analysed before a full investigation is made of Goldman's researches, his methodology, notions of childhood and confusions concerning what children appeared to know and what they had the potential to understand. The article concludes with an examination of Goldman's own ideas of religion and its language-use. It is concluded that his work, like that of Piaget, is essentially romantic, although disguised in empirical methodology. It is argued that the content of Religious Education in primary schools ought to be reviewed as a matter of urgency since the work of Goldman has contributed to a serious underestimation of pupils' potential for understanding scriptural narrative.