ABSTRACT
Religious instruction in this country must consist largely, if not entirely, of instruction in Christianity, because that has been the predominant religion in this part of the world and has been interwoven with our culture. This chapter argues that the cultivation of a sensitivity is the prime aim of religious education. The idea that the purpose of religious education in schools is intended to convert children to the Christian faith is widespread. The churches reveal that they see it this way in the frequent demands that only those who are committed Christians should take part in it, and the occasional grumbling at its failure to produce instructed churchgoers. To regard religious education as aiming at conversion is to prevent its being influenced by this educational advance, and to base it on ecclesiastical rather than educational principles.
