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Van Wide, J. (1999). In het atelier van de theoloog: Een instrumentarium voorinterreligieuze schoolboekanalyse. Leuven/Amersfoort: Acco. ISBN 90 334 4342 2.

Van Wide, J. (1999). In het atelier van de theoloog: Een instrumentarium voorinterreligieuze... Reviews Van Wide, J. (1999). In het atelier van de theoloog: Een instrument- arium voorinterreligieuzeschoolboekanalyse. Leuven/Amersfoort: Acco. ISBN 90 334 4342 2. Reviewed by Paul Vermeer, Nijmegen, The Netherlands This book deals with a very important subject. Considering the growing cultural and religious pluralism in the Western world, it becomes inevitable to think about the consequences that these “multicultural” developments have for the praxis of religious education. This volume does exactly that, by focusing on a very specific issue: the way religious pluralism is dealt with in schoolbooks for religious education. How are “strange” religious traditions represented in commonly used schoolbooks? Are these traditions represented in such a way that students get a clear and more or less “objective” picture of these traditions or do these books only confirm or even deepen existing prejudices? Although these questions constitute the background of Van Wiele’s study, it is not his intention to provide an answer. Instead, his aim is to develop an instrument for analyzing schoolbooks, so that the religious educator can decide for him- or herself whether a certain text deals with religious pluralism in a responsible way or not. Before presenting his instrument, Van Wiele addresses several theoretical (theological and phenomenological) and methodological (hermeneutical and content analysis) issues. Ultimately a trinitarian, pneumatological approach prevails, which enables him to affirm the particularity of Christ, as the definite revelation of God, and at the same time to acknowledge the existence of other religious traditions in which the Holy Spirit is also present. Subsequently, Van Wiele argues that with regard to religious education, schoolbooks should be analyzed from the point of view of interreligious dialogue and freedom of religion. This book may be recommended to every practitioner in the field of religious education who is truly concerned about promoting interreligious learning. It is very well documented and may therefore serve as a book of reference on this topic as well. A critical note should be sounded, however. Reading this volume one gets the impression that the theoretical and the methodological parts are not that related to each other. For instance, Van Wiele’s trinitarian, pneumatological approach is essential from a theological point of view, but it remains unclear how this approach relates to the instrument for schoolbook analysis he proposes. Certainly, this relationship needs further clarification. But this criticism should not mask the importance of Van Wiele’s study. International Journal of Education and Religion Vol. 1, No. 2 (2000), 310 © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png International Journal of Education and Religion Brill

Van Wide, J. (1999). In het atelier van de theoloog: Een instrumentarium voorinterreligieuze schoolboekanalyse. Leuven/Amersfoort: Acco. ISBN 90 334 4342 2.

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
Copyright © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
1389-9791
eISSN
1570-0623
DOI
10.1163/1570-0623-90000027
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Reviews Van Wide, J. (1999). In het atelier van de theoloog: Een instrument- arium voorinterreligieuzeschoolboekanalyse. Leuven/Amersfoort: Acco. ISBN 90 334 4342 2. Reviewed by Paul Vermeer, Nijmegen, The Netherlands This book deals with a very important subject. Considering the growing cultural and religious pluralism in the Western world, it becomes inevitable to think about the consequences that these “multicultural” developments have for the praxis of religious education. This volume does exactly that, by focusing on a very specific issue: the way religious pluralism is dealt with in schoolbooks for religious education. How are “strange” religious traditions represented in commonly used schoolbooks? Are these traditions represented in such a way that students get a clear and more or less “objective” picture of these traditions or do these books only confirm or even deepen existing prejudices? Although these questions constitute the background of Van Wiele’s study, it is not his intention to provide an answer. Instead, his aim is to develop an instrument for analyzing schoolbooks, so that the religious educator can decide for him- or herself whether a certain text deals with religious pluralism in a responsible way or not. Before presenting his instrument, Van Wiele addresses several theoretical (theological and phenomenological) and methodological (hermeneutical and content analysis) issues. Ultimately a trinitarian, pneumatological approach prevails, which enables him to affirm the particularity of Christ, as the definite revelation of God, and at the same time to acknowledge the existence of other religious traditions in which the Holy Spirit is also present. Subsequently, Van Wiele argues that with regard to religious education, schoolbooks should be analyzed from the point of view of interreligious dialogue and freedom of religion. This book may be recommended to every practitioner in the field of religious education who is truly concerned about promoting interreligious learning. It is very well documented and may therefore serve as a book of reference on this topic as well. A critical note should be sounded, however. Reading this volume one gets the impression that the theoretical and the methodological parts are not that related to each other. For instance, Van Wiele’s trinitarian, pneumatological approach is essential from a theological point of view, but it remains unclear how this approach relates to the instrument for schoolbook analysis he proposes. Certainly, this relationship needs further clarification. But this criticism should not mask the importance of Van Wiele’s study. International Journal of Education and Religion Vol. 1, No. 2 (2000), 310 © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden

Journal

International Journal of Education and Religion – Brill

Published: Jul 24, 2000

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