In spite of the fact that essentialist views of religion have been debated for decades in other parts of the world, e.g. in the USA, it is only recently that such ideas have been contested in Sweden. Furthermore, it is mainly in academic circles that non-essentialist ideas of religion have been promoted.
In this paper I intend to present an outline of an article where I argue that essentialist views on religion are indeed highly problematic, but are still widespread in many parts of Swedish society, not least in religious education in the schools. I will also suggest alternative views of religion and propose a hermeneutical approach to teaching religion that might help to overcome the problem of essentialism.