Rector's Blog

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

The Faith Questions Kids Ask

This month we're exploring in a sermon series "The Faith Questions Kids Ask." (And the truth is they ask great ones!) Here's a note I received the other day after the first sermon. Following this parent's response is my response. What's yours?

Thanks for the great sermon today—I just thought I'd tell you about a big question I got from xxxxx (7 years old) about two weeks ago—

Each night as he settles into bed at night, he wants to talk—about anything—but the other night he asked me "How do we know the stories in the Bible are true, Mom?" As I stared at him like a deer in the headlights, he added "they were written such a long time ago, are we sure those people got them right?"

First, we talked about accepting the stories on faith and what that means. Then we discussed some of the scientific evidence historians have found to support some biblical stories. Finally, we talked about Enoch. When Enoch and God walked together, did you really see two men walking down the street? Or does that story tell us that Enoch was a good man who 'stayed close to God' by observing his law... Anyway, we talked well past bed time, but it was OK I am not sure I gave him great answers but I am sure I'll get more questions...

Hi xxxxxx, thank you for sharing xxxxx's great story. I like what you said. I think that at our best we help our kids see that all stories have truth to them, and some even have factual truth to them. Scientific and historical evidence can add to the dimensions of stories, but the stories in themselves continue to point beyond themselves, including those in the Bible. I think it's great that you helped him see that stories point to things—the story of Enoch points to a truth beyond the story itself of walking close to God. To help kids rephrase from "is this story true or not?" to "what truth does this story point to?" is holy work, and plenty of adults don't get there, either. The stories in the Bible point to a living God whom we can have faith in, and the stories may or may not be factually verifiable or correct or intended to be so (many writers aren't writing with interests in our questions about evidence), but the stories are nonetheless true. That is, the Bible doesn't give us faith in God, we can have faith in a living God and the stories of the Bible can further point us to consider his life among us.

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