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INTRODUCTION TO CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

THE IMPORTANCE OF LEARNING CRE

Definition of Christian Religious Education (CRE)
Christian Religious Education is the study of God’s revelation to human beings through
scriptures, the persons of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Why do schools study CRE?
There are many reasons why schools study CRE. Some of the reasons are to:
i. Enable you to develop a better understanding of God.
ii. Help you to acquire basic principles of Christian living.
iii. Help you to develop a sense of self-worth and respect for others.
iv. To enable you to use the knowledge and attitudes you acquire to think critically and make
appropriate social, moral and spiritual decisions.
v. To appreciate your religion and that of others.
vi. Contribute to the moral and spiritual development of students.
vii. Help you to us to live new lives in Christ
viii. Help you to identify answers to situations of life, including death and Eternal life.
ix. Help learners to identify answers to life’s questions.
x. Promotes international consciousness.
xi. Enable you to acquire a better understanding of God.
xii. To help form a bridge for further studies and career development.

How the learning of Christian Religious Education in secondary schools promotes the goal
of national education.
i. Christian Religious Education encourages the learner to have a positive attitude towards
work/hard work is encouraged.
ii. Learning Christian Religious Education helps the learner to acquire virtues/moral values
which promotes economic development.
iii. Christian Religious Education discourages vices which hinder national development.
iv. Learners are equipped with knowledge/skills which lead to career development.
v. Learners are taught their duties as human beings and the need to develop the
environment.
vi. Learners are taught the need to use their talents for the development of self/others and
nation.
vii. Christian Religious Education stresses the importance of peace, love and unity which
contributes to favourable working environment.
viii. Learners are taught to appreciate their culture and that of others to promote national
cohesion.

THE BIBLE
The Bible is the sacred book containing God’s revelation to people. It is the inspired word of
God. It is the book through which God communicates with His people.

Reasons why the Bible had to be compiled into it’s present form by early Christians
i. The eye witnesses of Jesus Christ were being killed.
ii. In order to prevent information from getting lost
iii. Due to the expansion of the church and the increased in number of believers who needed
materials to refer to
iv. To counteract false teachings/teachers who were confusing the believers
v. To ensure that same doctrines/beliefs were being taught to all Christians
vi. To reach out to the Jews in diaspora/Gentiles
vii. To preserve an orderly account of biblical themes/avoid distortion
The Bible as the word of God
The Bible is the word of God because:
i. The written scripture contain God’s word.
ii. Through the Bible God communicates his will to humans.
iii. It contains word written by inspired authors such as the prophets who were sent by God.
iv. God himself took part in the writing of the Bible. E.g. God is believed to have written the
Ten Commandments
v. It contains the history of salvation realized through Jesus Christ.
vi. The prophecies/promises made in the Bible are being fulfilled.
vii. It reveals the actions done by God.
viii. Through the bible God guides people in their daily lives.
ix. God speaks to human beings through the bible.

The Bible as a library

The Bible is referred to as a library since it is a collection of inspired scriptures or books. The
Bible contains 66 books. The Bible is divided into the Old Testament and the New Testament.
The Old Testament contains 39 books while the New Testament contains 27 books. However,
the Ro-man Catholic Church accepts additional books referred to as Apocrypha or Deutero-
canonical books. The word Apocrypha means hidden or secret.
They are;

Tobit
Judith
Ecclesiaticus
Baruch
Maccabees I
Maccabees II
Reasons why the Bible is referred to as a library
i. The Bible contains (66) book just like a library has many books..
ii. The books were written by different authors
iii. The books were written at different times/situations in history.
iv. The Books written contain different topics.
v. The books were written for different audience/readers
vi. The books are systematically arranged/order
vii. It’s a reference book for theology.
THE BIBLE: MAJOR DIVISIONS AND ITS BOOKS
Major divisions of the Bible
The bible is divided into two major divisions. These are the Old Testament with (39 Books) and
the New Testament with (27 Books). The word Testament means covenant or agreement with
God.
The Old Testament books are divided into:
a. Law books or the Pentateuch or Torah.
b. Historical books.
c. Poetic Books
d. Prophetic books.
Law books or the Pentateuch or Torah
The books of law are
(i) Genesis iv)Numbers
(ii) Exodus (v)Deutronomy
(iii) Leviticus
Moses wrote these books. They contain the law of God as it was given to the people of Israel
through Moses. They also contain the history of the Israelites from creation to the time they
entered the Promised Land. The author Moses is regarded as a lawgiver, teacher and prophet.
Historical books
There are the 12 consecutive books from
(i) Joshua
(ii) Judges
(iii) Ruth
(iv) 1 Samuel
(v) 2 Samuel
(vi) 1 Kings
(vii) 2 Kings
(viii) 1 Chronicles
(ix) 2 Chronicles
(x) Ezra
(xi) Nehemiah
(xii) Esther.
These 12 books record the history of the Israelites.
They also contain information about the life and achievements of some prophets, for example,
the life history of Elisha and Elijah.
Poetry Books
The books are poetic in nature. The poetic books contain wise sayings, songs, and prayers. The
poetic books are
(i)Psalms (which was written by David)
(ii) Proverbs
(iii) Ecclesiastes
(iv) Song of Solomon (written by Solomon) and
(v) Job.
Prophetic books
These are divided into major and minor prophets. A prophet is a messenger of God, or God’s
spokesperson. A prophet is a mouthpiece of God. Prophets pass information and messages from
God to the people. They are messengers from God. Their messages from God concern the future.

Five Major Prophetic Books

I. The major prophetic books are by
(i) Isaiah
(ii) Jeremiah
(iii) Lamentations
(iv) Ezekiel
(v) Daniel.

The books are named after the prophets who prophesied and probably wrote
them. Jeremiah wrote lamentations. These prophets are called Major Prophets
because they cover a longer period of time. Their prophecies are long, and they
prophesied over a long period of time.
II. Minor Prophets.
There are 12 books of
(1) Hosea (2 Joel (3) Amos (4) Obadiah (5) Jonah (6) Micah (7) Nahum (8) Habakkuk
(9) Zephaniah (10) Haggai (11) Zechariah and (12) Malachi.

These books are by Minor Prophets who are said to have prophesied over a shorter
period of time if you compare them with the Major Prophets.
New Testament books are:
The New Testament section of the Bible contains 27 books which are subdivided into four major
groups as follows

i) Biographical book or Gospels

Gospel means Good News. The disciples of Jesus wrote the biographical books. They contain
information about the birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They include;
(i) Mathew – Written by Mathew
(ii) Mark – Written by Mark
(iii) Luke – Written by Luke, the doctor and
(iv) John – written by John (the beloved disciple of Jesus Christ)

ii) Historical books

There is one historical book, which is the Acts of the Apostles. Luke, the writer of the St. Luke’s
Gospel, wrote it. The book of Acts tells us the history of the early church.

iii) The Epistles

There are two Epistles: Pauline Epistles and General Epistles. Pauline Epistles are letters written
by Paul.

They letters that Paul wrote;

(1) Romans
(2) 1 Corinthians
(3) 2 Corinthians
(4) Galatians
(5) Ephesians
(6) Philippians
(7) Colossians
(8) 1 Thessalonians
(9) 2 Thessalonians
The pastoral letters
(1)1 Timothy
(2) 2 Timothy
(3) Titus
(4) Philemon.
(5) Hebrews
These letters are called pastoral because of their concern for the life and teaching of the church
and because they are addressed to shepherds or pastors.
They were not actually written by Paul but they were written in his name and with his authority.
This gives them added value for the guidance of the church communities since Paul was the
greatest missionary after the death of Christ.

The Catholic Letters

General Epistles are letters written to the church by other people. The letters are 7 in number.
They are
(i) James
(ii)1 Peter
(iii) 2 Peter
(iv) 1 John
(v)2 John
(vi)3 John
(vi) Jude

d) Apocalyptic or Prophetic book

This is the book of Revelation. It is the last book in the New Testament. It is different from other
books. This is because it is prophetic of things to come. It is about the future. It was written by
John the beloved disciple of Jesus Christ.

BIBLE TRANSLATIONS FROM THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGES TO LOCAL

LANGUAGES
i. The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew.
ii. The New Testament was originally written in Greek.
iii. The Old Testament was translated from Hebrew into Greek.
iv. The entire Bible was translated into Latin by Jerome.
v. The Bible was translated directly from Hebrew and Greek into English by William
Tyndale.
vi. The Bible was translated into national languages of European countries during the period
of reformation.
vii. It was translated from English into Kiswahili by Dr Kraph.
viii. The bible has been translated into other languages by the Bible Society of Kenya.
Translation and versions used in Kenya today
Besides bible translation into several languages, there are many English translation versions,
which are commonly used in Kenya.
These are
(i) King James Version (ii) Jerusalem Bible (iii) New International
version (iv) English Bible (v) The Authorized Version (vi) Good News (vii) Revised Standard
Version (viii) New King James Version (ix) Amplified Bible (x) The living Bible (xi) The
African Bible (xii) Common Bible (xiii) Today’s English Bible (xiv) American version among
others.

Literary forms that are used in the Bible are:

i) Prose/Narratives in Genesis
ii) Wise sayings in Proverbs
iii) Prophetic speeches by Jeremiah
iv) Prayers by Nehemiah
v) Love Songs, for example, the Songs of Solomon
vi) Letters, for example Romans
vii) Gospels, for example, Mark’s Gospel
viii) Religious epics, for example, Exodus
ix) Philosophical essays, for example, the book of Job. Here note the use of metaphors and
similes in philosophical essays.
The effects of Bible translations on African languages
Bible translations:
i) Increased and deepened African faith in God.
ii) Led to increased literacy. After Africans acquired literacy skills, they read the Bible and
improved their literacy skills. Christian missionaries established schools in order to teach literacy
that helped African to read the Bible.
ii) Made it easy for missionaries to spread the gospel to the African communities.
iii) Increased the demand for the Bible. This led to writing of Books and setting up of printing
presses in African countries.
iv)Made it easy for the expansion of the church i.e. more people became Christians.
v) Led to the emergence of independent churches and schools.
vi) The missionaries and colonialists learnt the African languages.
vii) It made Africans to demand for leadership roles in the church.
viii) Helped Africans to re-discover their cultural identity. For example the use of African
instruments, dressings, and practice of polygamy, which David and other kings in the Old
Testament did.
ix) Led to the writings and spread of African languages. The missionaries learnt local languages.
x) Improved communications between missionaries and the local people because they could
understand each other.
xi) It has led to division in the church due to different interpretations of the scriptures.
xii) It has promoted ecumenical movements in Africa.