The Myth of the Saving Power of Education

“Practical theologian Hannah Adams Ingram offers here a brief but dense and highly provocative analysis of America’s mythological/ideological understanding of education, with a modest but liberative set of proposed alternatives. She shows from historical research that the project of education in the United States historically has been dominated by white Christian redemptive projects that still amount to salvation by making everyone conform to white middle-class norms. Ingram gently but firmly proposes a better way forward, for Christians, educators, and America. Highly recommended!”


—David P. Gushee, professor, Mercer University, and past president, American Academy of Religion and Society of Christian Ethics





“By tracing the intertwined development of public education in the United States with white supremacist Christian theologies of salvation and missional uplift, Adams Ingram provides powerful insight into the dangers of unexamined belief in the power of education for individual or communal economic salvation. Seeking a truly liberative role for education and a more comprehensive policy response to economic oppression, her prophetic call is incisive, impassioned, and disruptive in all the best ways.”


—Katherine Turpin, professor, Iliff School of Theology





“What is the future of education? What values will be taught? Can we rely on public education to help children succeed? Do we need to create faith-based schools? Drawing on cultural studies, educational policy, and theology, Hannah Adams Ingram enriches the conversation. For people of faith, she offers directions for enhancing the support structures for education and contributing to human flourishing.”


—Jack L. Seymour, professor emeritus, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary