Faith, reason and religious education: an essay for teachers of religions in a sceptical age

The following paper gives an abbreviated account of the argument in the recent book 'Challenges for Religious Education: is there a disconnection between faith and reason?' In paying particular attention to the perceived opposition between the systematic development of religious faith, on the one hand, and, on the other, the central educational aim of developing the rational basis of knowledge - especially within a more secular culture - so the book (and therefore this paper) identifies major challenges to be met by religious education in schools. Those are explicitly identified in the penultimate chapter of the book and briefly summarised in the final section of this paper.