The Attentiveness-Based Account of Religious Literacy

This paper argues for a revised account of religious literacy and reveals its implications for teaching in the public school system. I begin by exploring religious pluralism to show that 21st century students are learning in a diverse, multi-religious society. I highlight religion's role in conflicts to stress the need for cross-cultural literacy. Section 2 defines the term ‘covenantal pluralism’. Section 3 reviews previous approaches to religious literacy, focusing on the knowledge-based approach, the analytic-based approach, and the skills-based approach. In Section 4, I highlight the shortcomings of these accounts and in Section 5, I offer a revised approach to religious literacy. Specifically, I argue for an attentiveness-based approach to religious literacy. Ultimately, I argue that combining my revised account of religious literacy with key virtues can enable covenantal pluralism. Achieving this, however, requires rethinking how we cultivate religious literacy in students.