Questions tagged [religious-education]

Questions regarding the teaching of Christian beliefs, doctrines, rituals, customs, rites, and its varied aspects.

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4 answers
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From a Fundamentalist Church standpoint, what is its equivalent of a catechumen?

From a Fundamentalist Church standpoint, what is its equivalent of a catechumen? In many denominations (Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Anglican, Episcopalian), there is a concept called a ...
2 votes
1 answer
115 views

Are Papal Encyclicals in Effect Unless Revoked (e.g., Acerbo Nimis)?

In the 1905 papal encyclical (Acerbo Nimis) of Pope St. Pius X, one finds, for example: I. On every Sunday and holy day, with no exception, throughout the year, all parish priests and in general all ...
4 votes
0 answers
217 views

On a Quote of St. Augustine Pertaining to Education

Education is the food of youth, the delight of old age, the ornament of prosperity, the refuge and comfort of adversity, and the provocation to grace in the soul. Does anyone know in which of his ...
15 votes
4 answers
12k views

What is the difference between a Bible College and a Seminary?

I see some Christian education institutions refer to themselves as "Bible College" and some as "Seminary" and some as "Bible College and Seminary". What is the difference between those, if any?
4 votes
1 answer
312 views

Can or do Catholic religious education curricula teach children about other religions?

Catholics are not excluded from studying other religions. In fact several Catholic scholars have become experts on Buddhism and Islam. But should a child study other religions? Is there any advice ...
2 votes
2 answers
346 views

Are there any denominations that teach their members how to hear God's voice better, as exemplified by the Apostles in Scripture?

From time to time I have come across people who claim to have heard the voice of God speak to them in various circumstances. To someone who has never experienced this firsthand, this may sound a bit ...
6 votes
2 answers
923 views

Pre-Vatican II Latin Prayer

I'm new here, I was just wondering of someone knows what books were used for English catechesis prior to the 1960's in English speaking countries. I'd like to teach my CCD kids a few prayers in Latin ...
5 votes
4 answers
12k views

How trained are the elders in the Jehovah's Witness denomination?

Jehovah's Witnesses are known to have no pastors or priests, because having pastors or priests would go against their theology. Instead, they have "elders". From an outsider's perspective, elders ...
7 votes
2 answers
2k views

When did the use of formal, seminary-type education begin and why?

When did it become the norm for church leaders to get a formal Christian education and why did that process begin? When I say formal education I'm not talking about the mentor/mentee style that Jesus ...
1 vote
1 answer
244 views

In Mormonism, do persons ordained as Teachers in the Aaronic Priesthood have actual teaching duties?

In the LDS faith, the offices of the Aaronic Priesthood are Deacon, Teacher, Priest, and Bishop. Current practice in the LDS church is to ordain most teenage boys in the church to the first three ...
5 votes
5 answers
1k views

Are there any denominations that do not require pastors to be college educated?

I am curious if there are any denominations that do not believe in college education for church leaders such as pastors, missionaries, etc. There are many churches that do. I am asking because I do ...
3 votes
1 answer
102 views

What is the Catholic Church's position on a divorced man attending services

I would like to join a Catholic church with my 13 year old son. I am a 47 year old man that was divorced in 2006. If I’m able to, I would like to find a Catholic church for my son and to attend ...
8 votes
1 answer
836 views

What's the source of the "new world religion" memorandum signed in Strasbourg?

There is a document which is shared on the internet these days. I saw it in Romanian language and then searching a bit, I found it in English as well: it's a "memorandum" signed in ...
6 votes
1 answer
2k views

Was Arianism spread using musical jingles?

I found an interesting claim in Bruce Shelley's Church History in Plain Language, regarding Arius's methods of promoting his theology, Arianism: [Arius] put ideas into jingles, which set to simple ...
0 votes
2 answers
2k views

What do Christianity and Judaism have in common? [closed]

Most Christians relate to Judaism more than to Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism, or any other religion. So, my question is, what do Christianity and Judaism have in common so as to make them so related to ...
5 votes
0 answers
116 views

What happened with the schools of Luther and Melanchthon?

I know that Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon tried to oppose the school system introduced by the Catholic Church (according to Luther, Oxford and Cambridge model was influenced by the Paris ...
1 vote
2 answers
1k views

How do young Catholics remember a set of prayers in order to pray the rosary?

How do young Catholics remember a set of prayers in order to pray the rosary? Do they have to memorize everything by rote, or do they get some help with mnemonics? Should they pray in Latin or in the ...
-1 votes
2 answers
985 views

How do new converts to Christianity learn about the Bible, Christian faith, and Christian practices?

When a person converts or decides to convert to Christianity, they might believe in Christ but not have a strong body of knowledge and understanding of the Bible. They also may know very little about ...
2 votes
2 answers
868 views

Are Convent Schools only for orphan children?

I just want to know whether Convent Schools are only for orphan children? Or can Christian children who have not lost their parents also attend such a school? Can non-Christian children attend a ...
4 votes
2 answers
2k views

What is Protestant Scholasticism?

I read a tag line advocating Lutheran Theologian Dr. Jack Kilcrease offering a class on "Protestant Scholasticism", which I had never heard of before. This seems odd to me because of Luther's ...
10 votes
1 answer
285 views

Does the Catholic Church allow a professor in a Catholic university to support an idea which is seemingly contrary to Catholic teaching?

Is there a Church law or doctrine forbidding professors at Catholic universities from having (or at least declaring) views contrary to Church teaching while employed at the university? The particular ...
6 votes
3 answers
832 views

How novel is John Paul II's theology of the family as "ecclesia domestica"?

The Second Vatican Council wrote in Lumen gentium 11 (English, Latin): The family is, so to speak, the domestic church. In it parents should, by their word and example, be the first preachers of the ...
10 votes
3 answers
2k views

What is the biblical basis/justification for requiring a pastor be educated?

As a Baptist, while I don't know of any specific requirements for a pastor, it is generally accepted that a head pastor would have some sort of seminary education, be it a Masters or even a Doctorate ...
6 votes
1 answer
125 views

How widespread is the safe environment program in Catholic Catechetical programs?

Tomorrow I get to once again do the safe environment class as directed by my diocese (Madison). I was just wondering, because I have nearly no way of knowing other than to maybe randomly get an ...
-4 votes
1 answer
92 views

What established Christian theology speaks to the question of whether or not God is contingent on his followers?

In a hypothetical, worst case scenario, where remaining humanity did not accept Christianity, turned away from it/died out/whatever, would the religion of Christianity still exist? Theologically ...
3 votes
1 answer
97 views

What is the history of the "Sunday School publishing industry"?

As I understand it, Christian education over the centuries often involved a catechism, decade after decade, where both the student and teacher memorized a long and complete set of doctrines, often in ...
5 votes
1 answer
140 views

Do Protestants believe that "Our Father" is on par with "Our Mother," or is Jesus strictly invoking a male symbol only?

According to some people calling God 'Father', without adding that God is also Mother, unfairly exalts one image for God above all others and ignores the culturally conditioned nature of all our ...
7 votes
3 answers
5k views

What is the role of a "Methodist lay pastor"?

This site makes mention of a "Methodist lay pastor." What does this person do? How is this role different from the "pastor" in the Methodist Church? What type of religious training or education does ...
4 votes
3 answers
232 views

Why do some Christian churches have classes about other churches?

The context of my question is is directed mostly toward "non-denominational" or independent Christian groups, though feedback from the perspective of more established (e.g. Protestant) churches is ...
8 votes
1 answer
301 views

How do protestant youth group ministers reach apathetic parents of religious education students?

Another year of teaching religious ed. is starting for me next week and one thing our DRE wants to emphasize, with the new diocesan norms mandating tests, of all things, is that we need more parental ...
1 vote
1 answer
190 views

Are there analogues to the Mormon/LDS high school seminary in other Christian denominations?

The LDS church has a high school seminary system where high school students intensively learn the teachings of the LDS church. This is a week-daily 1/2hr - 1 hour class taken before normal school ...
8 votes
6 answers
446 views

What arguments would you give to teenagers who are unconcerned about eternal life?

So the kids in my catechism class aren't all that into the notion of living forever. That's kind of depressing, but I don't think its anything we can't get around. However, what do you tell a kid, ...
16 votes
2 answers
1k views

What should a Catholic Religious Ed. class be taught about the Reformation? [closed]

I'd like to incorporate some information from this site in my Religious Ed. class. I teach a weekly class to 8th and 9th graders and none of them really understand what the difference is between us ...