Aesthetic Approach in Religious Education; Why and How?

The present study aims at investigating the role of the aesthetic approach (with its origin in creating inner requirements in committing to values) in religious education. The research method is descriptive-analytical that aims at seeking to find out why one must use aesthetic approach in religious education, and what part of piety is realized through this approach. It also seeks to know how aesthetic approach is realized in religious education. Thus, to answer the first question, the aesthetical goals of religious education are explained. They are as follows: tending to one’s nature, stressing on sincerity, stressing on inner tendency, creating the feeling of God’s presence and His supervision, and stressing on sensory (natural) and imaginary (artistic) aestheticism. To answer the question on the aesthetic approach in religious education, it studies (while investigating various approaches to aesthetic education) the most proper one in religious education – i.e. the perceptive approach. To explain how to apply this approach in religious education, various stages of this approach have been investigated. They are as follows: decoding by educator (mentioning the inner beauties of religious phenomena), receiving beauties by one’s nature, discovering the inner beauties of other religious phenomena by the educated, encoding by the educated.