INTRODUCTION
This unique handbook
is designed for teachers of religion in the subjects of
“Religion-Christianity” and “Religion-Islam”.
Why, according to its editors, is it needed? As
it is well-known, religion (Christianity, and respectively, Islam) as a
subject has been introduced in the syllabi of the public schools as a
required elective; it is evident by their curricula that they have a
confessionally bound character. Their objective is not only to inform
children about the main doctrinal and ritual points of a certain
religion but also to “initiate” them to this religion and
to win over them for the sake of it.Such
an approach to religious education has its advantages and disadvantages
depending on the point of view. From one side, it provides
opportunities for a publicly financed, methodologically and
professionally prepared and ideologically responsible introduction of
students to the spiritual world of Christianity or Islam which is quite
welcome by those parents who would like to transmit their faith to
their children. On the other hand, teaching religion in a
confessionally bound way is related to some difficulties. It cannot be
carried out in the form of an obligatory course because of the
principle of freedom of conscience found in the Constitution. However,
the status and the prestige of the elective disciplines in Bulgarian
schools, are basically not very high. This factor is further enhanced
by the initial distrust and even suspicion on behalf of the educational
administration, the teachers’ staff and the parents. Thus in many
cases the possibility to form groups for the teaching of religion in a
certain school that suffice to cover the teaching class minimum for a
teacher, decreases. A
significant argument for such distrust is the fact that children are
being separated into groups on the basis of religious grounds.
Furthermore, from the point of view of an “external
observer” the teaching process in the religion classes seems to
be veiled in mystery – especially when the teacher is not
permanently appointed by this school i.e. is not part of the teaching
staff and has graduated some of the Christian Faculties of
Theology or the Higher Islamic Institute. It is true that teaching is
carried out under the methodological guidance of the Ministry of
Education and Science, including also the regional Educational
Inspectorates. The textbooks and the other handbooks have to be
approved by the Ministry and the training of teachers is carried on in
legitimate higher educational institutions. Still, there is a certain
space left for suspicion that in some places children are being
indoctrinated in a spirit of hostility towards the secular ways of life
and the people of other faiths during the religion classes.In
this aspect the issue of tolerance is of particular importance. As it
is known, each one of the great monotheistic religions to which
Christianity and Islam belong too, defends firmly its position of
supremacy regarding other religions and beliefs. How then we could be
free of anxiety that in the classes on “Christianity” or
“Islam” children would not be incited against each other?
Therefore it is necessary that in the school syllabus and the
methodological regulation of religious education the issue of religious
tolerance is presented appropriately. If it is present there in a way
that convinces all the participants in the teaching process i.e.
students and teachers alike, as well as for the large public, then a
positive change in the public image of the courses in
“Religion-Christianity” and “Religion-Islam”
could be anticipated. This would consequently result in their
establishing as attractive and significant elective
disciplines. What
is the new element of contribution to the achievement of this goal by
the present edition? Undoubtedly the issue of tolerance is treated in
the textbooks and other materials related to religious education to one
extent or another, in one way or another. The humane attitude towards
man – regardless of his faith – commanded by the sacred
texts of Christianity or Islam is emphasized upon, information is
provided about the different religions, about their temples and
festivals. Yet, what is asserted by a certain author about the religion
of the Other is always directed to his fellows in religion. Thus, for
example, the handbooks on “Religion-Christianity” whenever
some or other foreign beliefs are commented positively, are meant to be
used by teachers and students in the field of the above-mentioned
discipline. We face a similar case with the handbooks in
“Religion-Islam”. Of course, there is no obstacle for any
reader to get acquainted with these texts for they have no esoteric
character. But practically speaking, the issues of religious tolerance
are discussed only in the framework of the circle “author –
teacher – students” which does not exceed the boundaries of
the definite confession. Therefore they are perceived in a monologue
way. In
our country there are, of course, academic publications by Bulgarian
authors as well as translated foreign ones on the issue of religious
tolerance but they (it is quite another issue whether they are in a
form accessible to the large circle of readers) are of mainly a
super-denominational nature. In other words, if a teacher would like to
deepen his knowledge on these issues in order to help his students to
enter deeply into the specifics of their own faith without opposing
meanwhile people of other convictions, then he (or she) should work
with either texts written by people standing on the same religious
positions or such written by people occupying positions external to
religion altogether. Without
underestimating the necessities and advantages of these two approaches
to religious tolerance, we are trying through the present handbook to
outline a third, more dialogue-oriented approach towards building
mutual trust and acceptance among people differing in their faiths. In
this edition texts were collected to present Islam and Christianity
from the point of view of the “insider”. This means that a
teacher of “Religion-Islam” will be able of getting
acquainted with the history, doctrine and cult practices of
Christianity by reading the relevant chapters of the handbook written
by prominent scholars of this religion, including authoritative
Christian theologians. The same situation is faced by the teacher of
“Religion-Islam”. Thus each of them will be able to
experience the worldview of the religion of the Other, to have an idea
of the stylistics of its expression and perceive its internal order of
ideas. Together
with the articles dedicated to history, doctrine and the cult practices
of Christianity as well as Islam, the handbook also includes two
articles on more general topics which target the orientation of the
reader in the field of the religious tolerance in general and also in
the historical dynamics of the relations between the two
religions. In
its entirety this handbook has the purpose of serving the needs of the
teachers of religion by expanding their knowledge of the religion
professed by their fellow-countrymen with other faith thus helping them
to operate more “confidently” on the
“territory” of the religious tolerance. Consequently this
should provide them with the opportunity to examine more deeply and
convincingly these issues in the course of their work with students.* * * Let
us at the end present with few words each chapter of the handbook. As
we have already mentioned, the logic of presentation is to examine
shortly the history, doctrine and cult of each religion and end with a
survey of the methodological – as well as historical and
doctrinal challenges in the last chapter – faced by religious
tolerance. The
handbook is divided into three main chapters. The first and the second
chapters are dedicated to Christianity and Islam accordingly, as they
are divided into some sub-chapters and paragraphs. The third part
treats the methodological, historical and doctrinal challenges faced by
religious tolerance between Christianity and Islam. The first chapter presents Christianity.Its
first part is dedicated to the main stages in the history of
Christianity. Its author is Prof. Dr. Georgi Bakalov. The main accents
in his presentation are laid upon the significance of Jesus Christ for
the origin of this religion, some of the main processes in the history
of the Church as an institution and upon the historical specifics of
the Bulgarian church. The
second part of the first chapter – the author of which is Prof.
Dr. Dimitar Kirov – presents some of the leading ideas in
Christian doctrine. A particular attention is paid by the author to the
Christian view of man and love as a supreme virtue from a Christian
point of view. These two ideas have a direct relation to the
problematic issues of religious tolerance. The
third part of the first chapter entitled “The Church as a Place
of Spiritual Life” was written down by Major Assist. Prof. Dr.
Klara Stamatova. It targets introducing the reader to some of the most
characteristic cult practices of Islam, namely the sacraments of this
religion, the most significant Christian festivals and the veneration
of the Virgin Mary. The second chapter presents in an analogous way Islam. Its
first part the author of which is Prof. Dr. Yordan Peev covers the main
stages in its history. Four such stages are outlined. The first one is
the emergence of this religion, the ideological and dogmatic formation
of it; the second one is the Abbasid age; the third covers the period
from 1258 until the beginning of the 19th century and the fourth one
concerns its modern and contemporary history whereas an emphasis was
laid upon the reformist movement in Islam in modern times. The
second part of the first chapter has for its main subject the
conceptual fundaments of the Islamic doctrine. Its author Prof. Dr.
Tsvetan Theophanov concentrates in detail upon the Islamic attitude
towards the “Other” (a theme of particular importance
having in mind the issue of religious tolerance), on the term
“Jihad” which is so debatable recently in science and
media, as well as upon the personality of the Prophet Muhammad. The
third part of the second chapter treats the topic of the so-called
“five pillars of Islam”. Its author – the Grand Mufti
of Bulgaria – has presented the points of testifying to the
faith, prayer, fasting, the obligatory almsgiving and pilgrimage. The
last chapter – as we have already mentioned – was written
from the super-confessional points of view. The methodological
difficulties in the struggle for more tolerance in interreligious
relations as well as relations among believers and a secularized
environment face are examined by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Plamen Makariev in
the first part of the chapter. The emphasis here was laid upon the
different possible directions to realize this type of tolerance as well
as upon the conflicts which are “masked” as being religious
but in fact they have intercultural or social
natures.
In the second part of
the third chapter Assoc. Prof. Dr. Simeon Evstatiev presents the main
historical and doctrinal challenges faced by religious tolerance. The
role of education in the process of formation of religious tolerance
was clarified. The possible approaches were outlined through which in
the conditions of the secular education religion could occupy its
appropriate place of significance in the process of education and
upbringing of students in Bulgarian schools. Among the points examined
were the issues of tolerance and its borders, of antagonism in the
relations among Christians and Muslims, of the necessity of
co-operation in the social sphere among the representatives of the
different religious communities on the basis of the existing moral
values and norms shared by both Islam and
Christianity. We
hope that by the selection of this structure and thematical contents
worked out after series of discussions in the framework of the team of
authors we have answered the most urgent needs of both teachers and
students introducing explicitly the issue of religious tolerance in the
religious education. In no way pleading for any “blurring”
of the borders between the two religions of Christianity and Islam we
try to show that knowing one’s own religion in no way excludes
but even more – it could be deepened if it were situated in a
dialogical and educational paradigm.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Simeon EvstatievAssoc. Prof. Dr. Plamen Makariev