Taiwan, as a newly democratic and open society, has been faced more seriousproblems that religious conflicts bring about. The main aims of this thesis are to analyze the contemporary western theories of religious education, and to evaluate the importance of religious education to Taiwan society. Along with the tradition of Chinese culture, the religious tradition of Taiwan is not monotheistic, there is not any dogmatic institutionalized religion that exists in the society of Taiwan, and at the same time the folk and vernacular religion has the deepest influences that affect the ordinary lives of Taiwanese. Considering the different definitions about religions, the author of this thesissuggests that the definition "ultimate concern" of religion proposed by Paul Tillich be the most appropriate definition of religion. And when we expand the concept ofeducation as the same as P.H. Phenix''s definition about education-"penultimateconcerns, the "ultimacy " concept of religion would provide a larger framework foreducation, and the concept of education would contain more heuristic possibilities. Besides the "ultimacy" of religious education, the author also thinks that the main functions of religious education focus on the development of human nature, and not on the conversion of believers. As M.Grimmitt proposes, the emphasis on functional aspect of religious education could avoid the deficits that the religiousabsolutism and religious neutrality have, and could help us aware of the dilemma in life and actual human situation. In sum, the author of this thesis claims that religious education should concentrate on the ultimate concerns and the development of human nature, and only by way of religious education(not denominational education) including mainly the initiation of religious knowledge to students, the people could improve their cognition about religion, and the tensions of religious conflicts might be reduced to the minimal level..