ABSTRACT
Religious education (RE) is in an unusual position in the curriculum. It is not part of the National Curriculum but part of the ‘basic curriculum’, and compulsory for all state-supported schools in the UK. In the context of science the word ‘concept’ sounds very neutral and disembodied, but in many religious stories and traditions concepts such as truth, love, justice and evil are presented as embodied in cultural voices, variously described as saints, bodhisattvas, gods, demons, angels. Understanding conceptual thought as a product of dialogue between living cultural voices is a common feature of oral cultures. The voices of the RE-searchers advocating differing methodological approaches are brought into the classroom for the pupils to interpret, evaluate and experiment with for themselves. The religious perspective is acknowledged as one of many possible religious perspectives, and as one which is not fixed but ever changing.
