The history of education is intertwined with the history of psychology, and influential thinkers such as Johann Herbart, William James, John Dewey, Jean Piaget and Jerome Bruner employed psychological perspectives when developing their ideas on knowledge and learning. This connection however appears to be weak in contemporary studies on religion and education, despite the expansive progress seen in both psychology and the cognitive sciences. This paper introduces areas where cognitive perspectives can be useful in developing a broader understanding of religion and education. Such gains both pertain to the theoretical understanding of how to develop religious literacy among pupils and students, as well as didactic aspects of the work conducted in classrooms. The ideas presented in the paper are centered around ‘learning by doing’, the role of emotions in enhancing memory, narrative didactics, and how experiences support the understanding of others and may bridge between pupils with differing identities. By involving cognitive perspectives, we can complement the understanding of the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ with comprehension of ‘why’ certain topics and methods provide more profound insights and learning outcomes than others.