III. Teaching Children the Bible
Bottigheimer, Ruth B. The Bible for Children: From the Age of Guttenberg to the Present. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996. 338 p. $50.00
This beautifully produced book is a scholarly study of printed children's Bibles, many of them now rare. The author's central thesis is that, while presenting themselves as faithful, child-oriented renditions of biblical stories and teachings, these Bibles reflect, in both their text and illustration, the distinctive social mores of their time and place. Two chapters especially relevant to this year's spiritual growth study address the character of God, as portrayed in the Bibles, and parent-child relationships.
Coles, Robert. The Spiritual Life of Children. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990. 358 p. $14.00
Noted child psychiatrist, Robert Coles, reflects on religious dimensions to the conversations he has had over the years with children. Though it is mostly children's own religious thought and experience that are featured here, the Bible surfaces as an influence in, for example, how children understand the face and voice of God. A closing chapter presents children as pilgrims on a spiritual way that includes us all.
Cully, Iris V. The Bible in Christian Education. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995. 144 p. $11.25 [An earlier version was published by Westminster Press in 1962]
This book is written with an awareness that all members of the church, whether clergy, professional educators, or lay adults, have potential impact on children's religious learning. Though the author has learners of every age in mind, the two central chapters focus on children and adolescents. Informed by such theorists of child development as Jean Piaget and Robert Coles, Prof. Cully considers how children of different ages respond to the Bible. Prof. Cully was Professor of Religious Education at Lexington Theological Seminary at the time of writing.
Davidson, Robert. The Bible in Religious Education. Edinburgh, Scotland: Handsel Pr, 1979. 64 p. Out of print.
These highly readable essays, first presented as lectures at the St. Andrews Conference on Religious Education, in July 1977, address a range of questions on teaching the Bible to children: how do we cross the cultural gap separating today's children from Bible times?; to what extent should children be encouraged to read the Bible as literature (rather than as religious canon)?; is the Bible itself or the child's own life the appropriate starting point for connecting the two? The answers may be less important than the perennial issues raised.
Fairly, John L. and Arleene Gilmer Farily. Using the Bible to Answer Questions Children Ask. Richmond, Va.: John Knox Pr, 1958. 99 p. Out of print
This book is structured around thirteen questions that children 8-years old and under are likely to bring to the Bible. The questions, which include queries about God, prayer, suffering, evil, and death, are examined from four vantage points: the reasons that children ask them, the concepts that lie behind them, the Bible's answers to them, and adult interpretations of the biblical answers suitable for children. John Fairly was editor in chief of publications for the Board of Christian Education of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.; Arlene Fairly was a kindergarten teacher.
Fewell, Danna. The Children of Israel: Reading the Bible for the Sake of our Children. Nashville: Abingdon, 2003. 224 p. $26.00
From Books in Print: "Through stories, vignettes, and notes, Danna Nolan Fewell provides imaginative readings of selected scriptural texts that raise adult consciousness and responsibility toward children. This book is designed to unsettle, to plant suggestions and questions, and to create space for reflection and conversation. It is an experiment to see if a postmodern reading of the Bible can provide a credible ethical vision that can inspire us to do a better job of caring for our children…. Danna Nolan Fewell is Professor of Hebrew Bible, Drew Theological School."
Furnish, Dorothy. Exploring the Bible with Children. Nashville: Abingdon, 1975. 174 p. Out of print.
The premise of this book is that the cultural shifts of the past several decades, including our increased awareness of violence, of pluralism, and of expansions in knowledge, must affect how children relate to the Bible. Children are strangers to us in the sense that they experience changes at a more rapid rate than their parents did. The author links our understanding of modern child development to a critically informed appreciation of the Bible. A concluding chapter explores some models of intergenerational Bible study.
Griggs, Patricia. Opening the Bible with Children. Nashville: Abingdon, 1986. 108 p. $15.00
From the publisher's catalog: "Bible skills are important … because they remove barriers to the meaning of scripture and allow children to explore and understand the Bible. The author shows church school teachers how to integrate Bible skills into the church school curriculum."
Pardy, Marion. Teaching Children the Bible: New Models in Christian Education. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1988. 224 p. $12.95
From a review published in the journal, Religious Education Fall 1989, by Donald Gowan: "Focuses on the question of the authority of the Bible in the church…with specific references to traditions of authority in her own United Church of Canada, intending to consider how these views affect Christian education…. Pardy's own position grows out of consideration of the work of Hans Georg Gadamer on hermeneutics and of Piaget on child development. [She advocates] a continuous process of question and response, as interpreter and text are encountered by each other."
Person, Hara E. and Diane G. Person. Stories of Heaven and Earth: Introducing Children to the Heroes of the Bible. New York: Continuum, 2005 [scheduled for publication in Feb. 2005]. 288 p. $29.95
From the publisher's catalog: "This scholarly but accessible book is an examination of Old Testament stories as depicted in children's literature. These stories have been adapted by a great number of children's authors and illustrators in fascinating and inventive ways.….Each of the major books of the biblical canon are studied in this lively and jargon-free book, which shows how children are allowed to dream of themselves as heroes while their moral and ethical development are also aided." Hara Person is a rabbi, and Diane, a children's librarian.
Smither, Ethel L. Children and the Bible. New York: Abingdon, 1960. 183 p. Out of print.
Though dated, this book acknowledges what is probably always true, that different parts of the Bible become optimally accessible to children at different ages. ("Any Bible story that confuses, frightens or debases the child's idea of God … should be reserved for older children"-p. 53) After a survey of methods of teaching the Bible, including the use of music, drama, pictures, and story-telling, the author focuses on the content of Bible instruction most appropriate to each age level. The author was director of children's publications of the Methodist General Board of Education (pre-UMC).