Några centrala judiska begrepp i de finlandssvenska religionsböckerna för grundskolan

Authors

• Karl-Johan Illman Åbo akademi

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30752/nj.69400

Keywords:

Education, Schools, Textbooks, Education -- Curriculum, Christianity and Judaism, Antisemitism in literature, Finland, Religious education, Swedish language, Zionism, Judaism -- History

Abstract

A thematic study of Judaism appears on the curriculum only in the 7th of the 9 grades in elementary school. To this rather short course one has to add much of the material on the Bible, especially what is said about Judaism at the time of Jesus. Here a whole series of key concepts turn up already in the first two grades. In this connection much relevant and also correct information is given. However, also the supposed old contradictions between e.g. the concept of God and the ethics of the Old and the New Testament respectively, appear already in the teaching plans and teacher’s guides regulating the materials and their use. This can be seen as a consequence of the fact that religious instruction is confessional, that is, should correspond broadly speaking to the views held by the church in question. However, one should not overstress the impact of the Lutheran perspective.