Part 2: Who Should Arise, And Declare Them Unto Their Children
At this stage in the series, perhaps it is worth remembering one simple thing about our children’s spiritual education – the gap between divine wisdom and human wisdom of which Isaiah speaks (55:9) is not diminished by the child’s tender years. True, a child has no preconceptions to ‘unlearn’, but on the other hand it lacks some of the mental equipment which is essential if it is to make sense of certain aspects of biblical teaching.
In this article we intend to look at some of the problems we are faced with in developing a child’s understanding of Scripture.
How to read
At the end of the last article we promised to address the question of “how to read” in this issue. What do we mean by that? We are faced with a number of problems when. we sir our children down with a Bible to do a reading, some emanating from their nature and some from the nature of the book itself. All children are different, of course (our two oldest children vary vastly), but it is generally true that they have a shorter attention span than an adult and may have very little recall. Their moods can swing very quickly and, especially in their early days at school, they can be very tired by the time the evening comes round.
All of these things suggest to us that it is best to try to keep formal bible reading time fairly short. To spend 15 minutes looking at a few verses (we often read no more than around 12 verses together) and to ensure that the child has a full grasp of what is being said in those verses, seems to us much better than to spend half an hour reading two chapters which leave the children knowing no more than when they began. We have found that sometimes the children get very interested in discussing a particular point which comes out of the reading. By the same token, sometimes the concentration is clearly not there and it is better to spend less time than usual; but make sure that the child has at least learnt something. We do feel, however, that it is very important that the children should understand that we will never abandon the reading if they are being difficult – that would only encourage them to be difficult more often.
So much for the problems which emanate from the children themselves. What about the problems caused by the nature of the Bible itself? We don’t pretend that we can list them all, but the more obvious ones are:
- The sheer volume of material which it contains. Reading 12 verses a night
means that you will move at a very slow pace through a book that spans a huge time period. - Complexity – we discussed archaic language in the last issue, and this is not
what we mean here. Whatever version of the Bible we use, we have to face the fact that the Bible uses language in ways unfamiliar to children. Parables are a good example of this. we often fondly imagine that parables are accessible to children – easy little chunks of stories which the infant mind will be able to grasp and remember. But the fact that parables contain a meaning other than the one which appears on the surface is one which, in our experience, takes some explaining. - They take things literally. we might think this is a good thing, and often it is; but sometimes a child’s misunderstanding can cause confusion: in the gospels Jesus says, “Suffer little children …” Unless we explain it, how is the child to know that “suffer” here means something different from its normal meaning? heading Genesis on one occasion, Tim (our second child) challenged me to explain how it was that Abraham was allowed to swear, and it was alright; but he (Tim) was not allowed to.
- They are unfamiliar with the cultural content of the Bible – for example, the Bible’s use of agricultural figures (such as winnowing, tending vines and animal husbandry) would not have posed a problem to people brought up in agricultural communities – for many of us, and particularly for our children, the agriculture has to be explained before we can grasp the metaphor.
Coping with the problems
How should we tackle these problems? Obviously, it helps if we are aware that they exist; but we believe there are specific things we can do which will make the whole process easier.
In the case of the volume of material in the Bible, for example, it will help if we put any reading we are doing in its broad context. Children may get lots of Bible stories, but they don’t naturally get an over-all picture of how God’s plan fits together. They compartmentalize information, and often fail to link related elements unless we do it for them. For example, if you ask them to tell you what they know about Egypt, they may well say, “Nothing”, even though they may know the stories of Moses and Joseph very well. Also, they do not think things through for themselves (even quite old children are guilty of this). They may know the story of Daniel, while being totally unaware of what he was doing in Babylon – thus failing to make the link with the Babylonian sacking of Jerusalem in Bible history. It is vital that all our reading takes place against an understanding of the historical content of the passage itself.
Obviously, this context can be told to the children. But perhaps a way of reinforcing context would be a visual chart. lounger children, for example, could colour in a little picture relating to the readings which you are currently doing and stick it onto a wall chart, which might span the time from creation to the Lord Jesus Christ. As different stories were tackled, each would be put into its broad context by seeing where it fits on the chart. It is better for us to build up the chart in this way ourselves, rather than choose one of the “off the peg” charts you can buy – firstly because these tend to be too cluttered and complicated, and would confuse rather than clarify; and secondly, because we are generally better at remembering things which we have done ourselves.
What should we do about complexity – for example, parables? Children have difficulty with symbology, and so find interpreting parables very difficult.
One response to this is merely to teach children the parables as described above – as little ‘stories’ which Jesus told his disciples, without attempting to uncover their meaning. This certainly avoids ‘confusing’ the children with ideas they find difficult to grasp. but it unfortunately also avoids them ‘understanding’ in the sense of knowing the holy scriptures used in the verse in Timothy which we looked at earlier in the series) Jesus’ words, which were clearly intended to be interpreted or translates from symbolic language to uncover the meaning.
If we want them to ‘understand’ we must explain what parables are, and What they mean – because then they will be equipped to interpret them themselves. Now, it cannot be denied that children will differ in their ability to cope with symbols (as will adults). In our case, our older child had much less difficulty with the idea of parables than the younger. The first child understood the principles behind parables very quickly, while the second still has trouble understanding what purpose they serve, even after it has been explained several times. That is not, in our opinion, a good reason to give up.We should not apply different criteria to our children’s spiritual education than we apply to their school work, and which of us would argue with our children’s teachers that they should ‘give up’ trying to learn to manipulate abstract ideas (as in mathematics) because they find it too challenging?
The passage which the sub-title of this article quotes (Psalm 78) teaches us that this ‘exposition’ of parables is indeed the responsibility of the parents: “Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth” (Ps.78:1) teaches the general principle that God’s people must give attention to his Word. out look what follows: “I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old” (v.2). What was to be the people’s response to this? It was to near and know (or understand) the teaching: “Which we have heard and known”. How had they heard and known them? “Our fathers have told us ” (v.3). And then, “We will not hide them from their children, showing the generation to come the praises of the LORD.”(v.4) The outcome of this, which we pray will be the outcome of our efforts to impart understanding to our own children also, is to be found in verse 6:
“…that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born: who should arise and declare them to their children: that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments.”
Fellowship with the Maker and Brethren