Ends and Means in Religious Education 39
gle person or community. The mutual influence of different
traditions is evidence that the religious spirit is not as ab-
solutely disparate in diverse faiths as much sectarian teach-
ing has alleged. Indeed, no fair appraisal can ignore the di-
vergence of interpretations of human destiny and ultimate
meaning which appears in the history of religion. However,
this acknowledgment may lead, positively, to the rejection of
uncritical dogmatism as well as the acknowledgment of
the importance of faith for the whole life of man.
In the end, a comprehensive philosophy of religious edu-
cation is impossible apart from a critical judgment of the
nature of religious truth itself. It is sometimes argued that
religious interpretations are so diverse and contrary as to
preclude the possibility of any authentic knowledge. Such
agnosticism not only disregards the large common legacy
of the religious traditions, but generally ignores the positive
insights of philosophy as well. The philosophie. perennis is
neither reductionistic nor agnostic in its appraisal of reason,
persons or ideal values.10 More than one conclusion can be
drawn from the fact that religion often breeds diversity.
Variety sometimes signifies profundity of meaning rather
than lack of insight. In religion, diversity may be explained
not only from the varied response of the human spirit, but
from the richness of God himself. Most classic theologies
acknowledge that the limited character of religious knowl-
edge arises in part from the historical context in which it
appears.
A thoroughgoing agnosticism must hold ultimately that
the opinion of one person or sect is as good as that of any
other. It precludes any authentic knowledge by presuppos-
ing that all claims to religious truth are equally relative.
Many alleged “objective” views reveal the bias of an ar-