My daughter asks about the Bible

laverite

My 9 year old asked me yesterday about the Bible. Some of her friends in school last year spent a lot of time talking about Hell and it really scared her. I dealt with it with her, so she is reassured and comforted and realizes she doesn't need to worry about going to Hell. But interestingly, these kids also talk about having Bibles at home and reading the Bible. We don't have a Bible anywhere in our house. So she asked about why that is and if could get one to read.

All I could do was answer her honestly, and say that I didn't think it was a book that would appropriate for little kids to read. She asked why, and I said there are so many bad things in the Bible that are very frightening, especially for children. I let her know that there are things just too inappropriate for kids to read, and that I wasn't going to buy one.

She said "ok" and left it at that. She comes up with lots of questions out of the blue that I never anticipate ahead of time!

Gopher

It sounds to me like you're doing very well by answering the questions as they come up.

The Bible is definitely engrained in culture, and depending on where you live it can be even more so (like the USA's deep south). So just to be knowledgeable, children even in unchurched families (as I assumed yours is) would be helped by knowing the basics of the Bible and/or a few Bible stories that people believe (David and Goliath, virgin birth). With my older daughter who's old enough to talk about this, I have used the phrase "some people believe" when describing certain outlooks held by Christians and Jews.

Mum

If you want to teach your daughter something about the Bible, I recommend my ex-husband's curriculum. He taught Bible as history on the high school level. His entire curriculum is at TeacherWeb.com. His self-created syllabus, workbooks and quizzes are there, too. Everything is printable.

Google "teacherweb Bible history," and it should pop right up. This is an excellent way to learn a lot about the Bible without indoctrination.

Terry

Tell your daughter what my son told his classmates.

"Only people who actually BELIEVE in Hell end up there. I don't."

Truth seeker 674

Good point Terry LOL.

jgnat

The bible is still part of our cultural heritage, and I think it would help if your daughter understood the stories and the message in context. Under your supervision of course. You could go over a story together and discuss it afterwards. You give her the freedom to declare, "Well, that's just silly!" I figure inoculation is better than abstinence. If you make it a big mystery her curiosity will only grow. How about a comic book bible? I've read a review and it seems the best is:

1. Manga Mutiny : Covers the first two books of the Bible (Genesis and the first half of Exodus).
2. Manga Melech : Covers the second half of Exodus as well as the book of Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Chronicles. (Please keep in mind that some parts are covered more in detail than others).
3. Manga Messengers : Covers Parts of 1 Kings, 2 Kings, Jonah, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, 2 Chronicles, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Ezra, Esther, Malachi, and Nehemiah. (This book focuses on the Old Testament prophets)
4. Manga Messiah : Covers the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in great detail.
5. Manga Metamorphosis : Covers the Book of Acts mostly and slightly dabbles in the other New Testament books.

"However in my opinion the best comic book Bible out there is a comic book Bible series by Tyndale! It consists of five separate books entitled: Manga Mutiny, Manga Melech, Manga Messengers, Manga Messiah, and Manga Metamorphosis. The reason I love this series so much is because it goes more in depth into the stories of the Old and New Testament than any comic book series out there! Plus I like the fact that they made all the Bible characters look really personable and friendly with a slightly Japanese anime vibe to it. It also contains the bible verses on the bottom of every page that support the stories that are depicted. In my opinion, it carries a perfect balance within it for younger children, as well as teenagers and young adults alike , since it doesn't leave out some of the more mature content like the Action Bible does, yet it is still finds a way to deal with the subject matters in a tasteful way, but it is certainly not as adult-themed as Good and Evil."....by D. Torres.

freeflyingfaerie

Agreeing with jgnat's view, to not make the bible a taboo subject. It can be put in a similar category as other stories of myth. Ancient Greek and Roman stories and myth can also be quite intense (Oedipus, for example)...much of the bible stories resemble classic good vs evil, fate/destiny vs free will...your daughter will learn about other myths also even in school...

I have found softer versions of mythology that my little ones and I read together...nothing scary, but so great for the imagination..

good luck with your daughter! enjoy!

mP

free:

There are no good v evil stories in the BIble. For the heroes telling the stories everyone else is evil just because they say so. THe heroes themselves are some of the most vile, evil men and no different form their contemporaries. They never help anyone, they dont care about women or orphans its always about their power, wealth and ambition. King David is the perfect example, every other page in his stories hes killing someone. He never does a single act of kindness to anyone. They invented God to give themselves legitimacy and to scare the locals. The only problem is GOd never saves them when someone bigger than them comes along, like the Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Assyrians etc. I guess you can tell lies in stories but you cant lie your away when a bigger army shows up.

jgnat

I grew up on a complete set of Grimm's Fairy Tales, Aesop's Fables, and Hans Christian Andersen's tales. That kind of puts a perspective on ancient stories.

HowTheBibleWasInvented

I have done over 60 videos covering why I feel the bible is not for children. (YouTube- HowTheBibleWasMade)

However the bible SHOULD be read by teenagers as it is a basis for alot of western culture.

Besides being the world's most distributed literary work it also gives us a cross-slice of ancient Judah and Israel that fillsin the gaps in archeology.

However the bible is violent, sexually open, discriminating, indictive, and even has BAD moral stories. (Ex. Samson or Judah/Tamar) It is NOT for children. It IS for teenagers and adults.

BTW as to not having a bible in the home.... Every translation possible can be found online.

My daughter asks about the Bible

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