Jeff Astley

Promoting positive attitudes towards science and religion among sixth‐form pupils: dealing with scientism and creationism

A sample of 187 female students, attending a sixth‐form study day on religious studies, completed a questionnaire containing four scales concerned with assessing: attitude towards theistic religion, attitude towards science, scientism and creationism. The data demonstrated a negative correlation between attitude towards religion and attitude towards science. However, this negative correlation was transformed into a positive correlation after taking into account individual differences in the students’ views about scientism and creationism. The implications of this finding are discussed in the context of the increasing support within society for the teaching of alternatives to evolution within the science curriculum. The authors argue both that it is important to challenge scientism by developing a better understanding of the role and limits of scientific methods, and that religious belief about creation should be recognised as essentially a claim about the ontological dependence of nature rather than about the details of its origins and development.

Assessing attitude towards religion: the Astley–Francis Scale of Attitude towards Theistic Faith

This study builds on the research tradition modelled by the Francis Scale of Attitude towards Christianity, the Katz–Francis Scale of Attitude towards Judaism, the Sahin–Francis Scale of Attitude towards Islam and the Santosh–Francis Scale of Attitude towards Hinduism to propose a generic instrument concerned with attitudes towards theistic faith. The scale properties of this new instrument, established among a sample of 284 (200 female and 84 male) 16–18-year-old students, commend it for use in future research.

Empirical Theology in Texts and Tables: Qualitative, Quantitative and Comparative Perspectives

Empirical theology offers fresh and stimulating insights into the concerns of both the Church and the academy. It does this by accessing relevant empirical evidence using the tools of the social sciences, and placing this evidence in the context of theological critique and contemporary debate. In this pioneering collection of focused essays, leading experts of empirical theology illustrate key perspectives within this rapidly expanding discipline. The first section of this book explores theoretical issues underpinning the main methods of obtaining empirical data, and the use of these data within theology. The other two sections displaying the role both of qualitative studies, and of the analysis of quantitative data, in exploring a range of theological beliefs and religious, social and educational concerns.

Distinguishing between Aims and Methods in RE: a Study among Secondary RE Teachers

Although current debates concerning the theory of religious education in Britain make a clear distinction between the aims and the methods of the subject, little is known regarding the way in which practising religious educators apply different methods to achieve specific aims. The present study, therefore, invited 210 secondary RE teachers to assess the effectiveness of 27 different methodological components in respect of the five aims for RE drawn from the SCAA Model Syllabuses. The findings demonstrate that religious educators perceive a clear link between methods and aim. The paper includes a detailed analysis of the teachers’ views on the effectiveness of different methods of RE for fulfilling different aims.

Ordinary theology for rural theology and rural ministry

Abstract In this paper the author describes and defends the notion of a nontechnical ‘ordinary theology’, and argues for its role as an originating source for both academic theology and official ecclesiastical theology. He relates these claims to one way of interpreting the category of ‘rural theology’, and identifies rural ministry as a context in which ordinary theology may be discerned most clearly and explored most successfully.

THE ROLE OF WORSHIP IN CHRISTIAN LEARNING

(1984). THE ROLE OF WORSHIP IN CHRISTIAN LEARNING. Religious Education: Vol. 79, No. 2, pp. 243-251.

The Relationship between Christian Commitment and Motivation to Study Religion at A-level: A Preliminary Investigation

A SAMPLE OF 304 A-level religious studies students completed the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity together with an index of motivations to study religion. The findings suggest that at A-level there is more interest in the religious studies approach than in the approach of theology. However, the students who are considering studying religion at degree level are much more likely to be motivated by faith-based considerations.

The place of understanding in Christian education and education about Christianity

The distinction between Christian education and education about Christianity is analysed in the light of a particular view of (1) the outcomes of Christian education and the significance of the ‘Christian affections’, and (2) the nature of empathetic understanding within phenomenological religious education. It is argued that the distinction, when understood in terms of learning outcomes, is best regarded as a difference of degree rather than of kind.

EVANGELISM IN EDUCATION: IMPOSSIBILITY, TRAVESTY OR NECESSITY?

While welcoming a broad conception of mission that includes elements of implicit mission alongside the explicit mission of evangelization, the author regrets the general rush of educationalists and liberal Christians away from the idea of evangelism. He believes that educators in general, and church educators in particular, should be more open to both the concept and the practice.

The influence of in-service training on teacher attitudes towards religious education in non-denominational schools in England

Abstract A sample of 221 teachers concerned with teaching religious education in non-denominational secondary schools in England completed a detailed inventory concerning the aims of religious education and provided information about their in-service training. The data highlight different in-service training needs for different groups of religious education teachers. Particular attention is drawn to the distinctive needs of those teachers who contribute to the subject, but may not be subject specialists, and those subject specialists whose initial training took place during an age when the confessional and neo-confessional approaches to religious education were ascribed greater legitimacy than is currently the case.