I spent January 7 in Oxford, arriving as the church bells rang out at midday. It was “0th week”, so only a few students were about, cycling past, woollen scarves flying behind them, disappearing through college courtyards, as if through a CS Lewis cupboard. Despite the many new modern buildings, and despite the tourist busloads, the pace of the town remains 19th century. I strolled rather than ran, looked about me as I made my way from the railway station, and even found myself reading the noticeboards outside the Ashmolean and the Oxford Playhouse – something I would never do in my usual London rush. I was in town because I sit on the External Advisory Panel for Theology and Religion of Oxford University, and we were meeting to discuss how to attract more students, and more funds, to a subject that is no longer regarded as fashionable. The low numbers applying to read Theology and Religion seem preposterous, given that religion has never been more central to the politics of so many nations. How can we hope to understand Iran, Iraq or Israel, if we are religious illiterates? Our ignorance is affecting the nation’s culture, too. Paintings of Nativity scenes, references to the Epiphany or even to the Trinity, and terms such as “prodigal son” and “good Samaritan” leave anyone under 18 looking puzzled. More people know what “Dry January” means than what Lent is. I had hoped that having the national treasure Neil MacGregor explore faith with his marvellous Living with Gods programme on Radio 4 (and the accompanying British Museum exhibition) would reawaken the new generations’ curiosity about the sacred. Alas, there is little evidence of that. The joint pressures of materialism and multiculturalism have ensured that religion remains a gap in too many young people’s education. This can raise some interesting questions, as one secondary school teacher found. Last year, she told me, a pupil asked her during Ramadan whether the fasting was in preparation for Easter. I guess that is slightly better than children who think Easter is all about a bunny bearing chocolates …