Children's Bible

[chriscase]

Hi Folks,
My 6 year old son is entering grade school. As an educational supplement, we have been using Bauer's The Well-Trained Mind, which has been a great resource so far.

On the reading list for the next few years are works of literature from the ancient world - fables, myths, Homer, and of course - right at the top of the list - The Bible. For most of the works Bauer gives specific translations that are at the right level for a first grader to either read himself or have read to him. However, when it comes to The Bible, she just lists it. I'm sure she wanted to stay away from the hairy problem of trying to make a recommendation which Bible to read to one's young, impressionable child.

I am trying to decide what approach to take to this. On the one hand, I tend to agree that a grade school age kid who is completely ignorant of the stories in The Bible is missing some key cultural and historical education. On the other hand, I have no interest in indoctrinating my son into a religious outlook. And when a story starts out with a line like "In the beginning, God created everything,..." it's hard to explain to a 6 year old that it's not exactly fiction OR non-fiction.

So what I am looking for is a good children's Bible that is

1) Faithful to the original (as much as can be expected).
2) Relatively free of religious interpretation and indoctrination.
3) Rich in historical and cultural context.
4) Appropriate for a small child (lots of pictures, etc.)

Any suggestions?

[boofhead]

2) Relatively free of religious interpretation and indoctrination.

That will be a little hard to find. I have a few children's bibles here and every story is about God or Jesus, if not in substance then in a very clear moral (sp?) to the story.

I have my own view on Christianity, but all I can suggest is that when they read them or are read to them you tell them each time "Some people believe this but others don't."

[chriscase]

That will be a little hard to find. I have a few children's bibles here and every story is about God or Jesus, if not in substance then in a very clear moral (sp?) to the story.

I have my own view on Christianity, but all I can suggest is that when they read them or are read to them you tell them each time "Some people believe this but others don't."

Yea, I know. And there is pretty much no way to remove the religious aspect and stay true to the original. I'm just looking for something that doesn't have extra stuff in it specifically trying to indoctrinate kids.

[Tankbuster]

Yea, I know. And there is pretty much no way to remove the religious aspect and stay true to the original. I'm just looking for something that doesn't have extra stuff in it specifically trying to indoctrinate kids.

I don't think just reading it will do your child much harm, chriscase. Kids read stuff a lot more scarier than this.
It's probably more the communion and the religion classes that really hammer it home; at least that was the case with me.

[MaximiIian]

Just reading the book won't indoctrinate the child. If that were true, then all the kids learning about Greek and Roman mythology in school would be polytheists. So, there's no reason to be worried about "indoctrinating" your kid.

[Avendiel]

Well, to be fair, the Greek mythology that kids read in school doesn't have much in it about slaughtering everyone who doesn't believe in Zeus. The OT, on the other hand...well, I think some concern for a six year old is justified.

Anyway, I'm not sure I can help you, especially with the cultural/historical context bit. They tend to leave that out of Bibles, whether for kids or otherwise, and it's something you'll probably have to provide yourself.

Most of the illustrated children's bibles will leave out a lot of the indoctrination stuff, though, I'd imagine. A quick search on amazon reveals a lot of things that seem as if they might be okay for your purposes, though if it were me I'd want to be able to flip through them first.

Example:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Childrens-Bi...ref=pd_sim_b_3

[chriscase]

I am thinking along these lines:

http://www.amazon.com/Childrens-Illu.../ref=pd_cp_b_1

Then deal with the NT separately.

[TWoxy]

The Brick Testament?

http://www.thebricktestament.com/

What could be more appropriate for a child?

[Mythre]

I would recommend just reading the Bible to your kid. Get a solid translation and just read. The text itself won't have any slant on it (or at least shouldn't) and any commentary notes you get you can ignore.

Now if you want specifically a children's Bible... I can't much help you there.

[familyguy1]

The Brick Testament?

http://www.thebricktestament.com/

What could be more appropriate for a child?

Actually that is not bad, especially if the kid is obsessed with Legos. I certainly was...

[basics]

chriscase,

Let your child grow as children do. When they need to know they will soon let you know as their own hunger for knowledge grows. Your answers are what will matter. Be balanced without being too assertive for whatever you say becomes their yardstick very quickly.

There are many books about the Bible, moreso about people in the Bible rather than ideological or theological debate. I'm not sure about the pictures though as it gives to the young mind perhaps images that can confuse, give false impression that sticks.

[I Am Herenow]

The Brick Testament?

http://www.thebricktestament.com/

What could be more appropriate for a child?

Wow, I just went onto that thing and found "How to stone your children". On closer inspection, and after reading some rather more graphic lego stories, I found this on their main site:

- CONTENT NOTICE -
The Bible contains material some may consider morally objectionable and/or inappropriate for children. These labels identify stories containing:

= nudity = sexual content = violence = cursing

So perhaps not the best choice, I would advise?

I Am Herenow

[chriscase]

chriscase
i commend you on enlightening your child about ancient myths and legends-when i was younger i loved ancient greek/norse/chinese myths and legends-especially the one with perseus; and there are a lot of great stories in there (and adult content).

if your son wishes to read the bible,i say let him read all the bibles from all sects of christianity-even the book of mormon. just a note; when i was younger, i read the bible and found it hard to reconcile the loving caring god which my religious education teachers would sing about on the guitar-and the eye gouging erm psychopath i read about in the old testament.

Hi Exarch,
Yea, that's pretty much the approach I am taking. I went to the bornagain Bible store and picked a couple out.

The kids' "I can read it myself" Bible is kind of funny. It's got "extra" questions and activities after each story. For instance, after the creation story it's got four questions along the lines of, "Who created the heavens?", etc. and then the last question is like, "Aren't you grateful God did all these things for you? Have you thanked Him for doing all these things for you???"

Still he likes to read it himself so I don't mind. I notice he has started skipping the "extra" section - I think in part because I don't get particularly excited about it, and in part because he wants to find out who the dead guy is on the next page.

The bigger Bible I bought is a nice DK children's Bible and it's got pretty different retellings of some of the same stories, as well as additional stories the "read it myself" Bible totally left out. We are only a ways in to it, but already we have found two major stories - Cain & Abel, and the Tower of Babel, that the "read it myself" Bible didn't have. So I think he is getting the idea that the "Holy Bible" is a bit of a moving target.

Don't have him read the bible at all. Honestly, it's no great miss. I've never read a page (ok, that's a lie, I have and I laughed myself silly three pages in). There's honestly no need for a bible to be part of a raising a child, and there's certainly no quintessential cultural ingredients present in the bible that one couldn't understand by just partaking in daily life.

It's a pretty obsolete book in all honesty. If you don't intend to raise your child a christian, just forget about the bible entirely.

In a way I agree with you, and if we were living on an intentional community somewhere I might even consider this approach. But there is just no way to avoid dealing with the thing. One way or another we are going to have to educate him about it, and I have learned the best way to do that is to take it head-on.

[CtrlAltDe1337]

I would say King James version, but it might be hard to understand some of the archaisms at that age. But you can always go with the New King James. Most "children's Bibles" are pretty bad translations; I'd just stick to one of the standards.

[Manco]

I would say King James version, but it might be hard to understand some of the archaisms at that age. But you can always go with the New King James. Most "children's Bibles" are pretty bad translations; I'd just stick to one of the standards.

So you're suggesting one of the worst translations out there, because some children bibles are bad translations?

[cfmonkey45]

Hi Folks,
My 6 year old son is entering grade school. As an educational supplement, we have been using Bauer's The Well-Trained Mind, which has been a great resource so far.

On the reading list for the next few years are works of literature from the ancient world - fables, myths, Homer, and of course - right at the top of the list - The Bible. For most of the works Bauer gives specific translations that are at the right level for a first grader to either read himself or have read to him. However, when it comes to The Bible, she just lists it. I'm sure she wanted to stay away from the hairy problem of trying to make a recommendation which Bible to read to one's young, impressionable child.

I am trying to decide what approach to take to this. On the one hand, I tend to agree that a grade school age kid who is completely ignorant of the stories in The Bible is missing some key cultural and historical education. On the other hand, I have no interest in indoctrinating my son into a religious outlook. And when a story starts out with a line like "In the beginning, God created everything,..." it's hard to explain to a 6 year old that it's not exactly fiction OR non-fiction.

So what I am looking for is a good children's Bible that is

1) Faithful to the original (as much as can be expected).
2) Relatively free of religious interpretation and indoctrination.
3) Rich in historical and cultural context.
4) Appropriate for a small child (lots of pictures, etc.)

Any suggestions?

If you feel that way, why not read it to him and explain it to him the way you feel is most neutral or appropriate.

[Wilder]

Do what my parents did before they read me the bible: start with the creation stories of non Abrahamic cultures. The first Creation story I ever heard, was the Kwakiutl, a tribe of Indians that lived up in B.C. My parents did not need to qualify things for me, I just began to intuitively understand what these stories are.

If your kid starts asking about your opinions, don't be shy about giving them, just be sure to be honest that they are just that. No reasonable person will become a fundie with this sort of upbringing, but there is a possibility that you child will become religious. But that is OK, kids grow up and make their own decisions, if we try and restrict that, well, we are no better then the fundies.

[The spartan]

The bible would definitely be an educational book to read. Just tell him that they are stories if you want to avoid indoctrination. Like Dr.Seuss!

[MaximiIian]

I agree with the idea of using The Brick Testament.

Also: Contemporary English Version. Uses basic English and dynamic translation to clear up discrepancies or confused wording extant in older or more formal translations. Or if you're looking for a more formal version, but still somewhat dynamic, the NRSV/NRSVCE works.

[CtrlAltDe1337]

"Dyanmic" translations aren't very good though, but I suppose it doesn't matter too much if you aren't going to be reading for serious study.