Are We Teaching Too Much Religion?

Some time ago, I walked into an argument among several Catholic religious educators, both lay and religious, where the question was whether too much time was being dedicated to religious instruction. Before you do a double-take and ask yourself: Did I read that correctly? And, once you realize you did, you might wonder: Why would anyone think this? How can anyone argue against too much religious instruction, especially in a Catholic school or parish religious education program?

This collective group had come to the consensus that there was enough time already spent on religious instruction. They argued that the application of the religion textbook series, weekly mass attendance, adoration of the blessed sacrament, and visits by the Pastor and Associate Pastor were enough and nothing more was needed to form the student in the Catholic faith. This entire sequence reminded me of the first time I read Frank Sheed’s short but, in my opinion, profound book, Are We Really Teaching Religion, where he explained that the aim of teaching religion is that Catholics coming out of our schools should emerge with a tremendous devotion to Christ, Our Lord with an awareness of Him, a considerable knowledge of his life and personality, and a desire to increase that knowledge.[1]

It was evident that these educators were very comfortable in affording students any further religious education other than what was already provided. Worse, not one person among this group expressed an urgency to help students develop a sincere and active relationship with Jesus Christ and guide them toward a path to heaven. The entire experience was discouraging to witness because a central tenet of their position was to avoid angering parents about requiring more religious instruction for their child. Or worse, be exposed to a particular doctrinal teaching of the Catholic Church that parents may be vehemently opposed to. 

Within the educational framework of religious education, or more appropriately, catechetical instruction and formation we belong to a Church instituted by Jesus Christ, where part of its identity is to teach. Simply put, the Catholic Church was confirmed by Christ with the charism to teach. It received divine power derived from the Word of God, the Logos, and the Creed, handed down by Jesus Christ himself. The Church exists as the body of Jesus Christ on earth, whose people gather to adore and worship the Son of God, and proclaim His kingdom. What made the argument against teaching more religion more troubling was the willingness to limit what the student should know about Christ himself. There was no desire to expose the student to his/her Christian heritage or to guide the student to view the world through the eyes of Jesus Christ and the Church. Fr. Colman O’Neil, in his book Meeting Christ in the Sacraments, described the Church as

a teacher of the truth. The Church is the authorized guardian and proponent of the truth of revelation, the truth of Christ, which must be accepted by faith under the impulse of the Holy Spirit and which provides that understanding of God’s dealing with man which is necessary if there is to be a human response to the divine invitation.[2]

If the premise of religious education is to elicit a response of faith toward Jesus Christ from the student by what he has seen or witnessed, then it is imperative that the student's response be nurtured, affirmed, and strengthened, especially within the family. It is less than ironic when St. Paul VI wrote Gravissimum Educationis, The Declaration On Christian Education, he reminds us of the role of the family in religious education,

Since parents have given children their life, they are bound by the most serious obligation to educate their offspring and therefore must be recognized as the primary and principal educators. This role in education is so important that only with difficulty can it be supplied where it is lacking. Parents are the ones who must create a family atmosphere animated by love and respect for God and man, in which the well-rounded personal and social education of children is fostered. Hence the family is the first school of the social virtues that every society needs. It is particularly in the Christian family, enriched by the grace and office of the sacrament of matrimony, that children should be taught from their early years to have a knowledge of God according to the faith received in Baptism, to worship Him, and to love their neighbor. Here, too, they find their first experience of a wholesome human society and of the Church. Finally, it is through the family that they are gradually led to a companionship with their fellowmen and with the people of God. Let parents, then, recognize the inestimable importance a truly Christian family has for the life and progress of God's own people.[3]

It is interesting to read the contradiction between the argument against too much religious instruction due to a parent's anger, and what St Paul IV reminds the world about the duty of parents as the primary religious educators of their children. Anyone involved in the transmission of the Catholic faith should operate with a burning desire or disposition to proclaim and teach Christ. This would make natural sense if the subject matter within an educational setting is Jesus Christ and His Church. One would think. The identity of religious instruction is catechetical in nature due to its subject, Jesus Christ, as the method and process of delivering or re-echoing the message of Christ. The Catechism reminds us that,

At the heart of catechesis we find, in essence, a Person, the Person of Jesus of Nazareth, the only Son from the Father … who suffered and died for us and who now, after rising, is living with us forever.” To catechize is “to reveal in the Person of Christ the whole of God’s eternal design reaching fulfillment in that Person. It is to seek to understand the meaning of Christ’s actions and words and of the signs worked by him.”¹⁴ Catechesis aims at putting “people … in communion … with Jesus Christ: only he can lead us to the love of the Father in the Spirit and make us share in the life of the Holy Trinity.^[4]

In conclusion, when the process and content of education involve the salvation of the soul, there is no such thing as teaching too much religion; this is exactly what the evil one would want us to believe and promote. Let us take solace in the words of St. Augustine that our salvation depends on the integrity of our souls,

Let us be sure that when the day of judgment comes, our place will be among those who give thanks to God and have served him, and not with the ungodly who face condemnation. As for myself, I am only a sinner, not yet beyond the reach of temptation; but even amidst all the devil's machinations, I still strive to make progress and hope to attain at least some virtue, for I fear the judgment that awaits me.

St. Augustine, From a sermon On Pastors
(Cap 18:1-20, 5: Funk 1, 167-171)