An invitation to the table community: A biblical and cultural image for Asian Christians' theory of religious education that takes account of religious pluralism

This dissertation is an attempt at offering a contextual theory of education in religion especially for Asia where plurality is a glaring reality. While Christian Education is a field in most Asian seminary curricula and in the ministry of Asian churches, it often uses resources from outside Asia and reflects the long inherited old missionary model of Christianizing the whole world. I believe that education in religion in Asia must be done using the approach of religious pluralism, which, in the words of Diana Eck, includes a commitment to one's faith tradition as well as an openness to learn from and with those of other faith commitments. Knowing that Christian Educators are among many religious educators, it must continue as our "first language" of faith-shaping but must also move on to Religious Education, the "second language" of dialogue and conversation with other religions. Hence, educators in religion have a two-fold task of equipping learners in their own faith traditions and enabling them to be open to those of other faith traditions.; Chapter I looks at how context shapes education theory and uses Asia as a sample of one context in need of a new theory. Chapter II includes a general history of education in religion and surveys the shifts in education theories, especially with focus on the debates, around Christian Education and Religious Education. Chapter III is a field survey of religious education theories in Asia. Chapter IV looks into the theological bases for religious pluralism, challenging some of the traditional missiological approaches with new emerging trends by trailblazing Asian theologians. Chapter V looks into the biblical support for religious pluralism and includes an Asian feminist and pluralist way of reading the Bible. Chapter VI offers the cultural bases for religious pluralism using several Asian cultural practices of mealtable sharing. Chapter VII deals with the implications of the metaphor of mealtable sharing for religious education that uses the approach of religious pluralism in Asia. Finally, Chapter VIII gives two sample theories of Asian Religious Education. An appendix is also included, giving a sample of the survey questionnaire. Finally, a bibliography is also offered.