Ofsted has reported this week that schools are failing to teach pupils about Christian beliefs in their RE lessons. When Christianity is taught, Christ's parables are used to explore pupils' "personal feelings and principles, but ignore any religious significance they may have." The number of classes rated as "inadequate" have doubled in the last three years.
This is of course very wrong. Inter alia, Christianity is a fundamental aspect of our
- language and literature (indeed, this is outlined in the brilliant new book, The Spiritual History of English by my friend Andrew Thornton-Norris, reviewed here in the Times)
- art
- architecture
and an understanding of Christianity - a genuine understanding - is essential to understanding all of those things. To point out the importance of Christianity in our culture, and the importance of understanding it, is not, or should not be, controversial. Rather, it is a statement of fact - it is, or should be, a statement of the obvious.
