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Phenomenology and the future of

religious education
a
John Marvell
a
St Osyth's College , Clacton-upon-Sea, Essex
Published online: 24 Feb 2011.

To cite this article: John Marvell (1976) Phenomenology and the future of religious education,
Learning for Living, 16:1, 4-8, DOI: 10.1080/00239707608556923

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00239707608556923

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 Meaning and Method
in Teaching Religion
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JOHN MARVELL
Phenomenology and the Future
of Religious Education
The teacher's problem
Besides the normal problems which he shares
with his other teaching colleagues, the teacher of
religious education is faced with two particular
challenges in his work. These are that he under-
takes his work in an increasingly pluralistic society
and in a progressively secular situation. Nicholls t
traces the history, since the Reformation, in which
the problem of speaking authoritatively con-
cernlng religious belief has become increasingly
difficult and, accordingly, the maintenance of
public conformity finally impossible. England has
been a plural society, in religious terms, since the
Reformation, and an increasingly secular one
since the introduction, during the last century, of
radical alternatives to religion. A number of
studies a by sociologists confirm what everyday
experience leads one to suppose, that all sections
of society are affected by the secularizing trends
at work in our midst. The influx, during recent
years, of large numbers of Commonwealth
citizens has added to the plurality of belief in
English society. One study 8 has shown that the
school can be the situation in which the young
person can meet the modem plural and the
secular world for the first time in personal terms.
Many Agreed Syllabuses still instruct the teacher
to put forward one religious outlook in an authori-
4 . Learning for Living
tative manner in the very place where doubts and
questions, concerning such beliefs, are likely to be
raised in a serious way for the first time in the
pupil's life. The teacher of religious education,
if he is unable to suspend his own convictions
and adopt an alternative approach, is in a dilemma.
Many who have entered this field from sincerely
held Christian convictions experience this dilemma
vivify.
Not only is the teacher in a position of ch'rect
disadvantage but also in a situation of indirect
disadvantage, due to the lack of religious ex-
perience in the background of many pupils. In
the past, one could assume that the majority of
the children would have had some experience, in
a Protestant Christian form, of what Otto 4 has
called the 'numinous'. At least within their own
tradition they would have gained some insight
into the source of what gives homo religiosus his
conviction and certainty. This is less and less the
given situation with any particular child. In every
other area of the curriculum the pupil has had
some experience (e.g., of time, space, social
relations, etc.) on which the teacher can build
the framework of rational understanding. The
religious educator must not only make the bricks
of reason, but also gather the straw of experience
for his children. Until this latter task is success-
 fully achieved the subject, to the student, will
continue to seem at best boring and irrelevant.
Before discussing ways in which the dilemma may
be solved it will be useful to look at the tools that
are available with which to tackle the task.
Ways of studying religion
There are three ways in which religion can be
studied: the theological, the empirical and the
phenomenological. The first method has been the
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traditional one in schools, colleges and universities.
As a method, however, it demands that one make
apriori assumptions which are largely unacceptable
in a plural and secular society, and has been
labelled by some as 'indoctrination'. Attempts
have been made to retain this method in schools
in a modified form. The 'neo-cenfessional' or
'open' approach 5 was the first to be tried. I f this
view is accepted, it is a simple step to argue that
if one faith may be presented to the pupil in such
a way that he can make a personal and informed
choice concerning it, he should also be enabled
to do the same with other beliefs, religious and
non-religious. A further development, which
seeks to retain something of the theological
stance, is seen in the 'implicit religion' approach
advocated by the Schools' Council Secondary
Religious Education Project. s This implies that
the groundroot of all life experience is, in essence,
religious. This appears to be based on Tillichian
theology. 'Concern' can be seen to be of the same
order as 'ultimate concern' and 'being is of the
same order as Being', ipsofacto anyone can accept
the view that we are all religious and that all have
religious experience through which we can
understand the rationality of theology. The work
of Loukes~ and Goldmans can be seen as based
on such assumptions. Later, it will be argued that
religion is a sui gener/s experience and that a
dichotomy exists between the sacred and the
profane which cannot be bridged by such a
method.
The second method, the empirical, has largely
been confined to universities and similar iustitu-
tious. This method asks no questions as to the
truth or otherwise of religious claims; it simply
~ m i n e s religious behaviour scientifically.This
is why it has mainly been the province of the
behavioural sciences: sociology, psychology and
anthropology, although historical and geographical
studies of religion can be included in this category°.
The argument has been put forward that as
neither the religious nor the theological a prior/
is available there is a case, nevertheless, for young
people in schools to understand the part that
religion has played in their cultural inheritance.
The empirical approach would provide a satis-
factory vehicle for accomplishing this task. It
would, however, fail to introduce the pupils to
that experience which is the essence of religion.
The third method of studying religion is the
phenomenological. This was developed originally
in continental and Scandinavian universities and
has found its basis in the work of the philosopher
Husserl and his successors. It is concerned
primarily with elucidating the universal essences
and structures of the religious subject in 'his
knowledge-of-the-~)bject'. It seeks by way of
'bracketing out' one's own understanding and
experience to enter sympathetically into the
'knowing situation' of the other person. Three
key scholars, whose works illustrating the method
are available in English are Kristensen t°, van der
Leuw zt and Ellade is. A recent article by Sharpe 13
describes the history and essence of the method
simply and clearly. Otto ~4 has argued that re-
ligious experience is unique and sui generis.
Religion in all its forms is a response to the
experience of a revelation of the 'numinous.' This
is an argument with which most phenomenologists
of religion would agree. A secondary textbook
using the phenomenological method and based
on Otto's idea is Turner's Liz~ing Tribal Religionsis.
In a straightforward and uncomplicated manner
Turner demonstrates the universal structures and
essences of primal religion in terms of the subject's
experience of revelation and response.
The classroom situation
Phenomenology of religion, then, is concerned
with a 'presuppositionless' approach to that which
is essential and unique to the essence and mani-
festation of religion. Thus, unlike the empirical
approach it does not avoid the central issues, nor
ask, as does the theological approach, that certain
a prior/ assumptions be made which are not
universally acceptable. Theology, when used as
the vehicle of religious education, is concerned
with what Otto ~e would describe as a particular
schematization of the 'holy'.It assumes a particular
form of the 'semis numinis' as the childrens'
normative experience, and the curriculum is
Learning for Living . 5
 concerned with a rational and logical exposition
o f the particular schematization, i.e., it seeks to
expound a theology which 'explains' the ex-
perience. In a pluralistic sodety we can neither
expect a particular experience to be accepted as
the normative, nor, indeed, that any one person
would accept that any experience of the numlnons
was possible. Phenomenology, seeking that which
is universal and by 'bracketing out' our own
presuppositions, allows us to go back to what
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Otto and Turner z~ would call the raw experience
of the Numinous. This raises the question as to
whether children of all or any ages are able to
'do phenomenology'. Concerning the experience
of the numinons Otto zs writes:
'The reader is invited to direct his mind to a
moment of deeply felt religious experience, as
little as possible qualified by other forms of
consciousness. Whoever cannot do this, whoever
knows no such moments in his experience is
requested to read no f u r t h e r . . . ' .
Otto appears to be suggesting that 'deafness' to
the sense o f the 'numinous' is as fatal to grasping
what the reality o f religion is, as deafness to pitch
is for grasping the reality of musical experience.
Turner TM has questioned Otto's absolute in this
instance. It would appear that the vast majority
of people, and therefore children, 2° are capable
of experiencing the numinous, as Otto describes
it, even if they do not accept it as establishing
any kind of metaphysical truth. Such ability is
sufficient for the religious educator. In the past,
it was assumed that the young person was con-
nected in some way with a Christian religious
body and would have had opportunities of
experiencing the numinous within that framework.
Educators can no longer assume that the young
person will have any kind of religious experience.
The task of encouraging young people to 'bracket
out' their own conceptions and of entering,
sympathetically, into the religious experience of
others is a difficult one, within the limits of what
is possible within the school. One must start
with what is at hand; this will be more varied in
urban areas, particularly those with multi-racial
populations. If, where necessary, any prejudice
on the part of the student can be overcome, it is
the religion of his own culture which is the easiest
for him to enter into and from that into others.
Implicit in the preceding paragraph is the idea
that the central aim of religious education should
6 • Learning for Living
be to enable the learner to understand, not only
cognitively but also affectively, that which is
central to religion: the essence of the experience
of revelation and response, as known by the
religious person. When this has been achieved
the young person will be in a position not only to
understand the religion of others but to make an
authentic and personal decision as to his own
position. The question then arises as to how this
can be achieved.
The universals of religious experience
The author believes that a two dimensional
approach is required. Firstly there is a horizontal
dimension, which technically could be called typo-
logical phenomenology. This will be an examina-
tion of the universals of religious experience. The
religious educator will no longer rely on the
child coming to him with an initial understanding.
He must, as was suggested earlier, gather the
'straw' of experience. It is therefore useful to
begin with that which is nearest to hand and
closest to the pupil This will depend on the ethnic
and cultural structure of the class and the local
community. One teacher takes his first year
secondary remedial class on visits to local churches
of various denominations (what better place to
gain a sense of the numinous ?). In a multi-racial
area this would include non-christian places of
worship. A list of topics which would enable
pupils to explore the universal experience of
revelation and response in religion would include
such titles as: sacred places; sacred persons
('numinons' visitors to the class ?); sacred times;
sacred books; prayer (one teacher has voluntary
meditation in class). A perusal of the books by
Kristensen, van der Leeuw and Eliade, mentioned
earlier in this article, will give the class teacher
many further topics to explore.
The history of religion
Secondly there is the vertical dimension, which
technically can be called the history o f religion.
This is the study of specific religions and the
forms which these have taken at particular times
and places. Here again, one would start with what
is at hand and nearest to the child's experience.
This will obviously vary from class to class, district
to district, and the teacher would be called on to
exercise his professional judgment as to what is
best in a particular situation. In this country
 some examination of Christianity in its various
forms seems necessary but the emphasis on
varying interpretations of Christianity would
dmuge according to location, and home back-
grounds. Study of other religions, past or present,
would be dictated by the ethnic origins of the
class and by its interest, linked to the teacher's
own expertise.
Non.religious ideologies
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The Schools Council Secondary Religious
Education Project zl has adopted, in part, a type
ofphenomenological method. Although the project
is a step in the right direction, there are certain
things which one would wish to question. Firstly,
the idea that ordinary experience is the fight
starting point for religious education. This is
implied by what the project calls the 'implicit'
approach to religious education. The view
expressed in this article that religious experience
is unique runs counter to this, and also to the
view that secular ideologies can be termed 'reli-
gions', because they start from the same life
experience and only differ from what is normally
called religion in that they have a different
rationale. This is not to say that the study of non-
religious interpretations of life have no place in
the school curriculum, or that this should not be
taught by the staff responsible for religious
education, but that a clear distinction should be
made between the two forms of knowledge. It is
perhaps as important as in the case of religions
that non-religious ideologies should be studied
phenomenologically, if their inner reality is to
be understood.
The 'dimensions' of religion
Secondly, one is led to question Smart's six
dimensional model for the phenomenological
study of 'Explicit' religion. It has been argued
earlier that the central feature of religion is
revelation and response. This appears to equate
with Smart's experimental dimension, which
should, perhaps, be seen not as separate but as
integral to every dimension. Looking at the other
dimensions they seem to be nearer to a sociological
analysis of religion~ than a phenomenological.
If'we need to look for broad headings, the divisions
of van der Leeuw or Kristensen, which could be
summarized as the object of religion, the subject
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The University of London Institute of Education
offers a course in Religious Education leading to
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1. The history and philosophy of Religious Edu-
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2. A study of curriculum development in the
subject.
3. One of the following options:--
(a) The psychology of religion
(b) The philosophy of religion
(c) A study of selected major belief systems
Applicants, who must possess the normal qual-
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of religion and the object and subject in their
reciprocal relations, might be more useful.
Conclusions
I f the phenomenological approach is adopted
for religious education, three points should be
borne in mind. First, the teacher will be concerned
with man's religious experience and that this is
distinctive from any other form of experience.
This means that he will be concerned to give
even the youngest child an understanding of
religion, and that life themes, as developed from
the work of Goldman ~a, and the life problems
approach as developed from the work of Loukes2~
are unlikely to achieve this end. 25
Secondly there is the need to develop new
teaching materiaIs. One research ~s has shown,
that for one multi-racial group at least, sacred
places were particularly evocative of the numinous.
A whole series of phenomenological themes need
to be studied and developed in relation to the
English situation, and teaching materials for
different ages of children developed and tested.
It is most important that that which is universal
Learning for Living . 7
 in religious experience should be demonstrable
from that which is to hand. Similarly, materials
needs to be developed which expound p a r t i o l l a r
'schematizations'. Some of the units developed
by teachers for the Schools' Council Religious
Education in Secondary Schools Project form the
t e n t a t i v e b e g i n n i n g s o f b o t h o f t h e s e tasks. M u c h
remains to be done, particularly in the former area
with regard to scholarly research so that the basic
material for the construction of curriculum content
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is available. Material is becoming more widely
available in the latter area from publishers, at
least for the secondary age range.
Lastly, teachers of religious education need to
be equipped. Very few have been trained for
anything but the theological approach, both in-
service and initial courses, in the future, should
equip the teacher to understand and be able to
communicate to others that which is universal
in religion and that which is particular to various
times and places.
Notes
z Nichol/s, W. Systematic and Philosophical Theology,
The Pelican Guide to Modern Theology, Vol. 1, Pen-
gain. 1969.
= Vide: Martin, D. A Sociology of English Religion,
S C M Press. 1967.
Argyle, M. Religious Behaviour, Routledge
& Kegan Paul. 1958.
Busia, K. A. Urban Ghurches in Britain,
Lutterworth. 1966.
Wilson, B. Religion in a Secular Society,
Penguin. 1969.
8 Marvell, J. The religious beliefs and moral values of
immigrant children, M.Ed., Thesis, University of
Leicester. 1973.
Otto, R. The Idea of the Holy, Oxford University
Press. 2rid ed. 1950.
s Schools Council Working Paper No. 36. Religious
Education in Secondary Schools, Evans/Methuen Educa-
tional. 197I, pp 30-34.
8 Ibid. pp 34-36.
Loukes, H. Teen~e Religion, SCM Press. 1961.
s Goldman, R. Religious Thinking from Ghildhood to
Adolescence, Roufledge & Kegan Paul. 1964.
s Examples of empirical studies which illustrate this
p o i n t are:
Durkheim, E. The Elementary forms of the Religious
Life, Allen & Unwin. 1915.
Douglas, M. Natural Symbols, Barrie & Rockliff.
T h e Cresset Press. 1970.
Allport, G. W. The Individual and His Religion,
Macmillan, 1960.
8 . Learning for Living
Thouless, R. H. An Introduction to the Psychology of
Rel'wion, Cambridge University Press. 1924.
Wright, D. A revieto of onpirical studies in the
psychology of redigion, A.R.E. 1972.
Yinger, M. The Scientific Study of ReFg,ion, Mac-
millan. 1970.
10 Kristeusen, W. B. The Meaning of Religion, Mar-
tinus Nijhoff. 1971.
ix van der Leeuw, G. Religion in Essence and Manifes-
tation, 2 vols, Harper and Row. 1963.
x2 Eliade, M. Patterns in Comparative Religion, Sheed
and Ward. 1958.
is Sharpe, E. ' T h e Phenomenology of Religion',
Learning for Living, Vol 15, No. 1. Autumn 1975.
14 Otto, R. op. cit. passim.
16 Turner, H. Living Tribal Religions, Ward Lock
Educational. 1973.
ze Otto, R. op. cit. p 45 ft.
iv Turner, H. Rudolph Otto: The Idea of the Holy---a
gu/de for students, obtainable from author, Aberdeen
University.
is Otto, R. op cir. p 8.
z. Turner, H. Rudolph Otto: The Idea of the Holy---a
g~d~atfor students, op. cit. pp 11, 12.
es, B. 'Readiness for Religion' in Smart, N. &
Horder, D. (eds) Nero Movements in Religious Education,
Temple Smith. 1975, pp 65-70 give an outline of recent
research in this country which gives general support t o
this point.
=1 Schools Council Working Paper No. 36, op. cir.
pp 34-42.
=s Smart' analysis may be compared with the following
sociological analyses of religion. The parallels are close:
Clayton, R. D. '5D or 1', Journal for the Scientific
Study of Religion, Vol 10, No. 1. Spring 1971.
Cohn, W. 'What is Religion ? An analysis for cross
cultural purposes" J o u r n a / o f Christian Educations
Vol 7, Nos 2 & 3. November 1964.
Glock, C. Y., & Stark, R. S. American piety and the
nature of religious coiiwiitment, University of
California Press. 1968.
Yinger, J. M. 'A Structural E~ramination Of Religion'
vCournal for the Scientific Study of Religion.
Autnmn 1969.
Wach, J. The Gomparativ¢ Study of Religions.
Columbia University Press. 1958. (This is a useful
comparison as it is by a scholar who straddles the
two disciplines.)
=8 Goldman, R. op. cit.
=s Loukes, H. op. cit.
=8 Vide: Turner, H. Rudolph Otto: The Idea of the
Holy--a guide to students, op. cit. p 28, where he discus-
ses Otto's idea that spiritual awareness will not arise
from moral failuxe. Similarly, if the argument in the
article is correct, awareness of the sacred will not arise
from experience of the profane, however 'deep'.
=8 Marvel/, J. Thesis op. cit. N.B., pp 137-140.
ffohn Marvell is Senior Lecturer in Religious Studz~ in
St Osyth's College, Clacton-upon-Sea, Essex.