Journal of European Baptist Studies, 2017

theology, certain features of religious education in Arab evangelical churches seemed to indicate the plausibility of at least some indirect influence. 107 Arab churches in the study tended to express very conservative views on Scripture, resembling a dictation theory of revelation. 108 Shaw also observed binary valuations of their prioritisation of religious educational topics, 109 as well as high prioritisation placed on Bible memorisation. 110 In the eight years I have been ministering in Arab churches and theological education, I have observed a hesitancy to study controversial or difficult theological topics with youth and young adults. These topics were perceived as too difficult and therefore unimportant and non-essential. In my own teaching, I find many of my students initially have difficulty when I do not offer rational explanations for the profound mysteries of Christian faith. While there are a number of other influences possibly contributing to these dynamics, we cannot ignore the correspondence with features commonly attributed to al-Ghazali’s educational thinking. The apparent relationship suggests that efforts to develop theological education in contexts where traditional Islamic education is dominant ought to carefully evaluate the theological significance of educational practices in that setting. Another implication raised by Sabra concerns the interaction between western theological education and traditional Arab society. 111 Both theological methodology and content in much of Arab theological education draws on the logic and tools of modernity. Protestant theology and theological method, especially, is fundamentally shaped by individualism and criticism of absolute authority. 112 This kind of critique is emphatically rejected in the traditionalism that develops after al-Ghazali. Within al- Ghazali's educational system, the use of reflective inquiry was reserved for only a few, particularly gifted scholars, and only at the very highest stages of education. To what extent does critical reflection facilitate the task of, or is it necessary to, Christian theological education? 113 The question raised by 106 Perry Shaw, ‘Muslim Education: An Introduction to Philosophy, Curriculum, and Methodology with Reflections on Its Impact on the Evangelical Churches of the Arab Levant’ (unpublished doctoral research. Pacific College of Graduate Studies, 1995), p. 46. 107 Ibid. 108 Ibid., p. 41. 109 Ibid., pp. 43-44. 110 Ibid., p. 45. 111 George Sabra, ‘The Challenges of Theological Education in the Middle East’, International Review of Mission, 89 (2000), 70-75 (p. 71). 112 Ibid. 113 Current thinking in theological education is reflected in the following by Charles Wood: ‘The aim of theological education ... is not to form Christians, but to form the habit of critical reflection on one's formation. It is not to mediate the content of the Christian tradition, but to equip one for theological