Be ye perfect? Religious ideals in education

Abstract

This article explores the meaning of ‘religious ideals’ and their possible role in education. ‘Religious ideals’ are defined as ideals that acquire meaning due to a belief in transcendence or a divine being. Two kinds of religious ideals are being distinguished, namely ideals that are constituted by a belief in a transcendent being and ideals that are being determined by this belief. These types of ideals are illustrated by means of the Christian tradition. An example of the first is devotion to God and to the second belong the four cardinal virtues. The second part deals with two issues that are particular to the education of religious ideals. First, I counter the critique that people who have religious ideals are fanatics who pursue the realization of their ideals relentlessly. Secondly, I show that educating children with religious ideals may have positive effects, namely the influence on their development towards autonomy and moral commitment.

Notes

1. This overlap can also be found in religious and aesthetic domain, when an artist aims to evoke both religious emotions like awe or wonder and an aesthetic experience of beauty.

2. I acknowledge that there is a lot of debate about this issue and that it does not apply to Christianity per se. However, although it is true that the command is only taken literally by orthodox Christians, I believe that the gist of the commandment is present in all Christian traditions. Of course, what ‘being as perfect as God’ means, is interpreted in different ways. In contrast with the perfectionist interpretation, Feinberg offers a different interpretation of the obligation of Christians. He argues, for instance, that Jesus parable about the Good Samaritan does not introduce a moral hero: ‘The parable suggests that one could meet Jesus’ ideal without standing on guard waiting with anticipation to commit a morally praiseworthy act, it could be met without risk to one’s own life’ (2004, p. 12).

3. Note that he does not conclude that the one is dependent on the other.