The Cold War Within American Higher Education: Rutgers University as a Case Study Book

Full disclosure - I know Debra Dean Murphy and we are part of a group that is involved in discussions that are similar to the topics in this book, so I am somewhat predisposed to agree with her thoughts.

As I began this book, I started to think it was not written for me. I am not a professional educator and I have no detailed knowledge of how Christian Education is managed in the academic world. However, Murphy makes a good case against three prominent pedagogical themes that she identifies in current religious education: Religious Education as Quest for Transcendence, Religious Education as Modern Project, and Religious Education as Responsible Citizenship. Though these chapters are not as engaging for non-academics as the remainder of the book, they are necessary to explain some of what has guided religious education for decades.

Once these first three fallacies are exposed, Murphy explores how worship should be the guiding form for religious education. As someone who has spent time in good Sunday school classes, as well as teaching Sunday school and other religious education for adults, this is where I felt most engaged. She sums up her guiding argument on p. 113: "To say that Christian education begins with the worship of the Triune God -- and not with understanding religion...or with freedom and justice...or with cultivatiog responsible citizenship...is to recognize that our coming to "know" this God requires nothing less than our moral transformation."

She then goes on to expand that argument and show us how a focus on worship can lead to discipleship. Murphy discusses the Book of Common Prayer, catechisms of various traditions and the ways in which we are shaped by these in worship. This isn't a book for a casual Sunday school teacher to pick up for tips on leading a class. It's a book for people who consider it their responsibility to walk with other followers in the way of Christ Jesus.