From the Back Cover
In the modern university, religion is often taken to school-primarily in the sense of being critiqued, disciplined and domesticated. In this provocative book, Stephen Webb steps into the middle of current controversies about the place of religion in secular high schools and colleges. Speaking explicitly as a Christian theologian, but also as one who accepts the reality of religious pluralism, Webb argues that the teaching of religion is itself a religious activity, that teachers of religion should not disguise their own faiths in the classroom, and that high schools and universities should allow more-not less-space for religious voices.
Taking Religion to School, rather than rehearse tired debates, bursts with creative insight and strategic reframings of the crucial questions about religion and pedagogy. Webb's penetrating analysis and vivid autobiographical reflections will benefit professors of religious studies, high school teachers of religion, students, seminary- and university-based theologians, and all others concerned with the many points of contention over religious education in our day.
"Taking Religion to School is an important book. It takes with conceptual seriousness the idea that teaching religion might itself be a religious activity, and in its exploration and defense of that idea offers an exciting program for the future of teaching religion in universities and colleges. The intellectual climate of higher education in the U.S. has changed considerably in the last 20 years: 'scientific' models for the teaching and study of religion are dead or dying, and Webb's book will be an important element in replacing theirs with something better." -Paul Griffiths, University of Chicago
"Stephen Webb's Taking Religion to School is full of wisdom and wit, self-effacing autobiography, and astute criticism of the educational industry. It will be useful for teachers of all sorts as they ponder what they are doing when they bring their own and their students' religions into the classroom, or keep them out." -James J. Buckley, Co-editor, Modern Theology
"In this fresh and stimulating essay into the fractitious ferment in American culture regarding religion in school, Stephen Webb provides a thoughtful and faithful argument that religious education is always 'religious.' His mildly postmodern, always passionate proposal must be taken seriously by all sides of the current debate." -Alan Padgett, Azusa Pacific University
Stephen H. Webb is associate professor of religion and philosophy at Wabash College (Crawfordsville, Indiana). His other books include On God and Dogs: A Christian Theology of Compassion for Animals and The Gifting God: A Trinitarian Ethic of Excess.
About the Author
Stephen H. Webb is associate professor of religion and philosophy at Wabash College (Crawfordsville, Indiana). His other books include On God and Dogs: A Christian Theology of Compassion for Animals and The Gifting God: A Trinitarian Ethic of Excess.
