Use of "Interpretive" Children's Bibles

[darinhouston]

Our son is in a hybrid homeschool/traditional-classical classroom school. This is his first year, and all is going really well. The program uses The Jesus Storybook Bible for its biblical text, and though I knew I would have a challenge balancing my views with those arising from translational issues and traditional views, I am now having to do it for real and it's a bit more challenging than I thought it would be.

Since he will be using the text in his Kindergarten curriculum in his "at-school days", I can't just ignore the text and use my favorite translation. As a 6 yr old, I'm concerned about trying to introduce him to just how widely divergent views on some fundamental issues can be. I don't want him to distrust "everything," (especially in the bible) though I do want him to learn to think critically.

The first chapter is Adam & Eve. Here's the introductory text -- I trust those here will see some of the problems (and the challenge)...

Adam and Eve lived happily together in their beautiful new home. And everything was perfect -- for a while.

Until the day when everything went wrong.

God had a horrible enemy. His name was Satan. Satan had once been the most beautiful angel, but he didn't want to be just an angel -- he wanted to be God. He grew proud and evil and full of hate. and God had to send him out of heaven. Satan was seething with anger and looking for a way to hurt God. He wanted to stop God's plan, stop this love story, right there. So he disguised himself as a snake and waited in the garden.

Now, God had given Adam and Eve only one rule: “Don’t eat the fruit on that tree,” God told them.” Because if you do, you’ll think you know everything. You’ll stop trusting me. And then death and sadness and tears will come.”

(You see, God knew if they ate the fruit, they would think they didn’t need him. And they would try to make themselves happy without him. But God knew there was no such thing as happiness without him, and life without him wouldn’t be life at all.)

As soon as the snake saw his chance, he slithered silently up to Eve. “Does God really love you?” the serpent whispered. “If he does, why won’t he let you eat the nice, juicy, delicious fruit? Poor you, perhaps God doesn’t want you to be happy.”

The snake’s words hissed into her ears and sunk down deep into her heart, like poison. Does God love me? Eve wondered. Suddenly she didn’t know anymore.

“Just trust me,” the serpent whispered. “You don’t need God. One small taste, that’s all, and you’ll be happier than you could ever dream…”

Eve picked the fruit and ate some. And Adam ate some, too.

And a terrible lie came into the world. It would never leave. It would live on in every human heart, whispering to every one of God’s children: “God doesn’t love me.”

Any pointers?

[TK]

This really isnt a response to your question, but I still have very fond memories of a book I had when i was a kid (and still have a copy that I got for my kids) called "The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes" by Kenneth Taylor. The 50s/60s/70s version was awesome, although I think the artwork and the text may have been updated for more recent editions which i think is unfortunate.

At any rate, I still think that little book gave me a great overview of Bible truths and Bible stories. It wasn't a translation, but nonetheless incredibly effective. The book you have appears to be a translation in only the loosest sense.

This blog expresses my sentiments about my old book: http://hollowayclan.blogspot.com/2007/1 ... -eyes.html

TK

[RICHinCHRIST]

Hey brother Darin,

I'm not a father so I may not have very good advice. I didn't grow up in a Christian family so I never really read a children's Bible. However, one thing I distinctly remember from my childhood was listening to my grandfather's stories. He grew up in Italy and always had amazing stories about his life during World War II and other random aspects of his childhood. He was a great storyteller, and I remember being fascinated and excited to hear him tell me a story each night before I went to bed. Perhaps you can just tell your children the stories of the Bible in your own words, or teach them fictional stories (or parables) you make up in order to teach them general life lessons that are gleaned from the Scriptures. I'm sure you would like to get them in the habit of reading the Bible for themselves, but this also may not be a bad way of introducing them to Jesus' teachings.

I don't understand why the Children's Bible distorts the text so much. Is it really that difficult for a child to understand the story of Adam and Eve as it is written? I don't think so. I think a child could understand it very easily. Hopefully their translation/interpretation of the life of Jesus is more accurate than this.

[darinhouston]

Thanks, Rich -- yes, that's how I'd prefer to do it -- unfortunately, we have to use the text since that's what they'll be using. I, too, don't get it -- the bits about satan and his origin is completely unnecesssary in the text, and the distortion about Satan telling them God didn't love them was just out of left field as far as I can tell.

Anyway, I think I worked it out ok -- I sat him down with my bible and the storybook bible and asked him what the bible was and explained that it's God's word, etc. and is true but showed him how many words were in it and how difficult it can be for a young child and adults to understand much of it and so that's why some people took it and tried to tell the same stories in a way that was fun and understandable by young children but that the storybook bible isn't exactly the bible, itself -- that though the bible is never wrong, some people confuse things when they try to tell its stories, and that my job was to make sure he learned what God had to say and that this means sometimes correcting what other people might say about the bible (even when they do it in the storybook bible) but that I will never correct the bible but only those things others might say about it. I then told him we don't really know where Satan came from, etc. I'll certainly have to pick my battles, but I don't want him to have to unlearn too many things years later like I did.

Best I can do