SOCIAL FUNCTIONS OF THE TEACHING OF RELIGION (CONTENT ANALYSIS OF TEXTBOOKS ON RELIGION, ORTHODOXY AND ISLAM)

Abstract

The article emphasizes the role of religious education in the formation of attitudes and behavior towards oneself, parents, siblings, the whole family, the people in their surroundings, friends, relatives, the religious community, the people and the country in which one lives. Social religious education projections could be revealed by clarifying the religion`s social role, expressed in functions related to its essence, which represent methods, direction and influence level on society, its elements and the individual. The research is based on a content analysis of the textbooks on Religion Orthodoxy and Islam for the third grade in the Bulgarian public school.