Apology

I believe firmly in the authority and efficacy of the Word of God. It is what I live by, and it does not change with the winds of doctrine that blow through the church.

I was quite far along in my Sunday School education before I felt I knew much more than the most famous stories of Noah, Moses, Jonah, David, Daniel and the major events in the life of Jesus. And it wasn't until my mid-teens that I realized I knew next to nothing about the most important book on earth.

There has been some criticism of the relativistic nature of many of the "wondering" questions put forth in all the storytelling scripts, as well as the vagueness of meaning that sometimes pervades them. I agree that we are not to change the Bible or "wonder" ourselves into a place of personal interpretation. Scriptures are not to be handled that way.

As such, I am not endorsing the books that are linked to this blog, simply citing that they are resources, and that, as in all things, carefully review what is excellent and valuable, and with the breath of kindness blow the rest away. In other words, eat the meat and spit out the bones. There is a lot of great material there and where it departs from the right dividing of the Word of Truth, simply omit and carry on.

In working with the very youngest children, interpretation of parables, for example, is going to be beyond their developmental capacity. My view is that this approach is extremely compatible with the instruction of toddlers, preschoolers, and early elementary children. The basic premise of instruction (versus teaching) is, of course, that they will be exposed to this information over the course of many years, so that by the time they are able to read the Bible for themselves (for content), they will be well-oriented in the basic framework of the Scriptures.

For a peek at my real-time discovery of "godly play" and basic impression/opinion, see this post.