How can anyone completely answer the difficult questions that children ask: Who created God? Will there be another flood? Is the Bible true? But then, we adults have questions too: With so many options and Bible translations, where can I go for help? What is the best Bible for my child? How do we talk about miracle stories, healing stories, and the creation stories? What about violence? When kids ask about the relevancy of the Bible for today, what do we say? How we read and interpret the Bible with children may mean the difference between whether or not it will continue to be an important source for their faith development as they become young adults. Written by an expert in children’s ministry, I Wonder is a resource for adults who want to explore ways to help children read, engage, wrestle, and grow into deeper understanding of the Bible. It is for those who come to the Bible with souls open to be fed and who want their children to seek faith and wisdom. It will also help readers address timeless questions and issues including recent biblical scholarship, literary analysis, reading the Bible from their social location and reading the Bible in a multi-faith world. Help the Bible become your child’s life-long companion for faith and spiritual growth. Elizabeth Caldwell teaches as Adjunct Faculty in Religious Education at Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville, TN. She recently retired as Harold Blake Walker Professor of Pastoral Theology and Associate Dean of Students and Academics at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. She is ordained as Minister of Word and Sacrament by the Presbytery of Chicago. She was also the Common English Bible Readability Editor and wrote the “Life Preserver Notes” in the Deep Blue Kids Bible. I Wonder Engaging a Child's Curiosity about the Bible By Elizabeth F. Caldwell Abingdon Press Copyright © 2016 Abingdon Press All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4267-9992-1 Contents "Acknowledgments", "Introduction", "Chapter One" What Story Does the Bible Tell?, "Chapter Two" How Can We Use Children's Natural Curiosity to Help Them Read the Bible?, "Chapter Three" What Bibles and Bible Storybooks Do We Read with Children?, "Chapter Four" Stories That Form Us for a Life of Faith, "Chapter Five" How We Support Families with Children, "Appendix 1" A Wondering Model of Questions, "Appendix 2" Evaluating Children's Bible Storybooks, "Appendix 3" Bible Storybooks for Children — A Recommended List, CHAPTER 1 What Story Does the Bible Tell? When I write for children about the spiritual, I strive to create such stories, stories that use language in ways that are clear, filled with metaphor and symbolic images, concrete and personally relevant to children's experiences, and open to ongoing questions and conversations. I imagine that these kinds of narratives have the capacity to help our youth and children grow up. Whether or not they are literally true, good stories have the power to help us better understand who we are and what we believe. — Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so." This familiar childhood song reminds us of a basic theological concept. It's in the Gospel stories where we first hear and learn about Jesus. Moreover, we learn about love as it is first experienced at home in relationship with family members. We connect the love spoken about Jesus with our experiences of being loved by those around us. Beyond singing this beloved song with its simple affirmation of faith, what else are children learning about the Bible? Why We Tell the Story of the Bible and Our Hopes in Keeping This Story Alive with Our Children From 2002 to 2005, The National Study of Youth and Religion interviewed more than three thousand American teenagers (ages thirteen to seventeen) and found that a majority of youth reflect the religious faith of their parents. In this study, Melinda Lundquist Denton and Christian Smith discovered that mainline Protestant youth who attended church with their parents were "among the least religiously articulate of all teens." They found that the youth they interviewed were inarticulate with regard to speaking about their faith "because no one had taught them how to talk about their faith, or provided opportunities to practice using a faith vocabulary." A faith vocabulary is first shared and practiced at home as parents and other family members raise a child in the Christian faith. Reading the Bible, becoming familiar with its stories and the themes that are woven throughout is one of the most important ways for children to learn a vocabulary of faith. In their reflection on The National Study of Youth and Religion study and its implications for the religious lives of teenagers, Smith and Denton identified several conclusions that are important for our thinking about the role of parents in the religious formation of their children. They found that parents have the most influence in t