This is a quantitative textbook analysis aimed at examining how lived versus taught religion perspectives are described in three different textbooks used in swedish religious education for grades 7-9. In each textbook, the chapters on the five world religions have been analyzed, and the descriptions are used to provide an overall picture of how the chapters present the religions. This is done using a hermeneutic interpretive approach. The study is based on the problem that some students do not recognize themselves in the way certain textbooks convey a particular religion, as these descriptions are perceived as generalized and based on secular, preconceived notions of what it means to be religious. The textbooks have been reviewed and analyzed based on seven dimensions to describe lived religion and a substantive definition of the concept of religion for the taught perspective. The results have then been interpreted from a hermeneutic perspective, aiming to compare text segments with the whole. The findings show that the textbooks vary in which perspectives are included and to what extent, with differences identified both between the textbooks and between the chapters.