ABSTRACT
It may be fairly argued that the history of religious education in the state system of education from the middle of the nineteenth century until today is that of a long drawn-out battle in which both religious and secular bodies have skirmished to gain control and thus to decide both the content and status of the subject in the curriculum of the county school. What is worse, the weapons employed have often been those of well-entrenched doctrinal and ideological standpoints rather than any appertaining to the necessary requirements of religious education in county schools. The result has been that a good many people have regarded the teaching of religion in schools with suspicion, often seriously questioning its educative value, and parliament has had to single it out from all other subjects and ring it round with statutory provision in Education Acts.
