"Education, Religion and Society celebrates the career of Professor John Hull of the University of Birmingham, UK, the internationally renowned religious educationist who has also achieved worldwide fame for his brilliant writings on his experience, mid-career, of total blindness. In his outstanding career he has been a leading figure in the transformation of religious education in English and Welsh state schools from Christian instruction to multi-faith religious education and was the co-founder of the International Seminar on Religious Education and values. John Hull has also made major contributions to the theology of disability and the theological critique of the "money culture."
This volume brings together leading international scholars to honour John Hull's contribution, with a focus on furthering scholarship in the areas where he has been active as a thinker. The book offers a critical appreciation of his contribution to religious education and practical theology, and goes on to explore the continuing debate about the role of religious education in promoting international understanding, intercultural education and human rights education. A possible basis for integrating Islamic education into Western education is suggested and the contribution of the philosophy of religion to pluralistic religious education is outlined. The contributors also deal with issues relating to indoctrination, racism and relationship in Christian religious aspects, and examines aspects of the the theology of social exclusion and disability.

Dennis Bates has lectured in, and held post of responsibility for, religious studies, religious education and continuing professional teacher education in the former Humberside College of Higher Education (now the University of Lincoln) and Manchester Metropolitan University. Recently retired, he is an honorary research fellow in the University of Birmingham School of Education.

Gloria Durka is Professor of Religious Education at Fordham University, New York and has served as the President of the Association of Professors and Researchers in Religious Education.

Frierich Schweitzer is Professor of Religious Education and Practical Theology at the Protestant Faculty, Tübingen University.

Part 1. Religious Education, Pluralism and Global Community Introduction 1. Religious Education and International Understanding2. Intercultural Education and Religious Education: A changing relationship3. The Contribution of Philosophy of Religion to Religious Education4. The Teaching of Human Rights in Religious Education: The case of Genocide5. Open Minds, Ongoing Heritage, Open Future: The educational theology of John HullPart 2. Current Issues in Christian Education and Practical Theology Introduction 6. Christian Education and the Charge of Indoctrination: A German perspective7. Telling a New Story: Reconfiguring Christian education for the challenges of the twenty-first century8. The Concept of Relationship and its Centrality to Religious Education9. Perceiving Self Deception in Teaching and Learning10. From Conflict to Community11. Does the Church Need the Bible? Reflections on the experiences of disabled people Part 3. Religious Education: Theory and Practice Introduction 12. Children as Theologians: Developmental psychology and inter-religious education13. Strangeness in Inter-religious Classroom Communication: Research on the 'Gift to the Child' material14. Playful Orthodoxy: Religious education's solution to pluralism15. The Role of Dialogue in Religious Education: A Russian perspective16. Is there a Place for Youth in Religious Education?17. Religious Education and the Life-World of Young People: Psychological perspectives