The communication of faith requires a full personal response not required to the same extent in other branches of human knowledge. Because of this, teaching methods designed for the arts and sciences must be adapted for use in religious education. Because religion focuses on God, the absolute transcendent, religious education has to do with mystery. Knowledge of the transcendent depends on symbols embedded in the Bible and the traditions of the Christian community. In the framework of this symbolic approach Christian faith may be described as a personal commitment to the joint meaning of Christian symbols. For Christian faith, the central symbol is the figure of Jesus Christ. Religious education must deal with the centrality of these symbols while it serves three major functions: (1) to exhibit the credibility of the Christian religion; (2) to communicate the contents of Christian belief; and (3) to socialize the individual into the community of faith. Crucial to all of these are acceptance of dogma, the importance of liturgy, and the acceptance of the Church's authority. (IS)