Bibles for Children
Hello, dear Friend,
I have been thinking about the role of the Bible in the development of children and have come to conclusions that it is important to introduce Bible to kids as it teaches them not to be violent and to love other people. Anyway, it is necessary to think what Bible to recommend. The main points that have to be taken into consideration are translation and content. It is important to understand that a study Bible recommended by the leading priest of the church cannot be good for a child or a student at school or college, and the Bible that adults like most of all may not teach a child what we want and expect. A study Bible, based on popular concepts, does not teach people, especially children, to grow beyond habits and prejudices. As for me, children need such a Bible in which everything is written clear. Since they have many questions about the Universe and God, they need to get the answers without being confused.
I have analyzed a few Bibles and can make several conclusions about them and give some recommendations. The first Bible was The Children of Color Storybook Bible, written by Nia Publications. It is an African American owned company, situated in Atlanta, Georgia. This Bible tries to connect African presence in the Bible. The text was taken from the International Childrens Bible. It is an edition of the translated Bible that is called the New Century Version. The given book does not contain archaisms and is relatively modern. Children can read and understand it easily. This Bible teaches children valuable things such as that people who work bring peace into the world and feel happy. It is a preschool variant and contains many colorful pictures. The text is written in a simple manner that allows children of all ages and their parents to read it aloud. This book has 62 stories from the First and Second Testaments. Some stories are smoothened especially for children. Moreover, bright pictures help children distinguish these stories from the text of the Bible. Besides the stories about creation of Adam, Eva, and universe, there are other ones about Africans. The editor has added a lot with watercolor-like pictures of people to every story. The main idea of the creator of the book was to teach children about the sanity of Gods word and about human faults. The given Bible also is valuable for teaching children about main Bible stories. Although it is created mostly for African children, other nations can use it for their children. Reading this Bible, children, who come from different nationalities, gain valuable knowledge about Gods word and the Ten Commandments. The creator of the book has designed the Bible in such a way to make children interested in religion and religious stories. Such stories teach them to be kind to each other, to love relatives and other people, not to behave violently, and to be afraid of committing sins. As for me, I recommend this Bible to children as it is really worth of reading.
Another book that I have analyzed is The Extreme Teen Bible. Its creators are specialists in teen ministry, but not in Biblical teaching. They cannot be considered as scholars or theologians. Three of them are writers, including one pastor who teaches counseling and psychology. Based on the analysis of this book, it is possible to say that the approach of these writers in creating of this Bible is evangelical, but they do not include the best of evangelical materials. All the main issues are quite simplified. According to the introduction, it becomes clear that a reader has to understand passages from the context, but the book's structure gives a reader some suggestion that it is possible to understand verses separately. The best example of this tendency is the Quick Reference Finder. It has seventeen pages of questions about ethics, life problems, and theology (Bailey, Hearon, Higginbotham, Steussy, & Allen, 2012). Using this section, a reader has to find the answers to the questions in verses. Every answer is in one separate verse. Other features of the given Bible include the fact that it is written easily for teens understanding. The pictures are bright, and the lexicon is oriented on teens. The authors use such teen words as bite-sized, awesome, and bad vibes (Bailey et al., 2012). In general, this bible begins with an introduction and continues with different boxes of stories. The authors also substitute the world moral by the word purpose, and do not mention any discussion of critical scholarship in the book. Additionally, there are different dates of writing without any explanation of their origin. Nevertheless, the authors use special boxes with small explanations of ancient customs, theological discussions, and advices of radical devotion. There is also a page with description of all Biblical characters and their profiles. With the help of these profiles, teens are encouraged to some actions. As for me, I cannot recommend this Bible as it contains little information for children of scholarly value. It is also oriented on theological and motivational teaching, not on exegetical. Moreover, this book tells stories that teach teens to trust God in the extreme, but it is not correct. The Bible has to develop love and trust to God gradually and to teach children to believe in God in good and bad times.
To conclude, it is necessary to choose the Bible that will teach children the main religious principles and commandments and give a full understanding of the creation of the world and Gods role in the peoples life. The text has to be simplified to be accessible for young children as well. The Bible has to be written like a fairy tale to catch the attention of young readers and to impress them with bright pictures.
About the author: Samantha Jones is a master in Literature at New York University. She is currently working as one of the best writers at https://writer-elite.com/questions-answers-writing/ She also studies male psychology.
