Hi Panentheist,

What is it about loving God and loving your neighbour as you love yourself that you feel would have a negative impact upon your children's behaviour?

So are you advocating that the Bible is simply a science/history textbook that is out of date or could it be something else altogether?

Is the purpose of either creation account in Genesis to build a literal understanding of the world around us or is it to impress upon us that God is responsible and God can be trusted?

Is it the information contained within or the interpretation of said information which is the real problem?

Sounds like you operated out of a literalist model.  I would say that if that is the case you have made some errors.  Nature tends to deviate to the norm from generation to generation.  Whatever errors you may have made will likely be corrected later.  Of course, it is just as likely that what you offer as corrective now might be tomorrow's error.

Passing on one's faith is something that one generally does with honesty and integrity.  If you aren't demanding that those who listen believe as you do or they are doomed things should work out well.

Grace and peace to you.

John

Your take?

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Russ, I get the question!! When I'm approaching children's time, I worry: will I give them something enduring, or am I leading them down a wrong path?  The fact I'm aware of the responsibility gives me hope, and I trust the Holy Spirit to work with me and keep me honest and open.  But they are impressionable and we see the results of kids being given the wrong sense of God all the time! Here on this site!! How many disillusioned young people are there, who 'bought it' for a while and then threw it out?  Like Shadow, who 'used to be a Christian?'  Her questions indicate she was brought up through a very conservative religious system.  What hurts most is that, when the kids begin to question what they've been taught,  instead of just throwing out that SYSTEM of understanding things, they throw out the whole idea of faith and the wisdom of the Bible.  If they're getting a good education, they'll learn to think for themselves, to read a variety of opinions, listen to a variety of voices, and consider why faith and belief remain so important to humans.  If you teach kids to think, as you're giving them the information you want to offer, they'll be o.k.  But they have to be encouraged to listen, and to think.  I sure don't like to hear parents say they're not taking their kids to church, because they want them to decide for themselves what they believe when they grow up.  That would be like giving them the keys for the car, without them ever having been in one or having any idea what it's for and how it runs.  You wouldn't do that. You teach, and teach, and teach, and encourage them to learn, and learn, and learn.

weeze

Greetings!

Just bought the book "The Heart of Christianity" this fall - haven't gotten around to starting it yet.

When it comes to issues of faith, I think we teach our children what we know or understand at that time . . . in other words, we do the best with what we know.

If my faith belief is that the story of creation in Genesis is true, then that is what I am going to teach my children.  If I believe it is just a story or a myth, and that the evolution theory is true, then that is what I am going to teach my children.  If I believe that both are true, in the sense that it took 14 billion years for us to get where we are, but it all started with God, then that is what I am going to teach my children.  This would be applicable to any personal belief one has.

Unfortunately, maybe as young parents we don't know that our faith is a living, changing thing, that changes as we learn, grow, mature, and are exposed to more of life.  I know that there were things (various life issues) that as a young mom with young children I told them I believed a certain thing.  Now as I am older and I find changes in my understanding, knowledge and relationship of God and life, I sometimes go back to them (now adults) and say "remember when you were young and I told you _______ about ________, well, I don't think that way anymore and explain why.

When we are raising children we do the best we know how at the time . . . hopefully we don't make too many mistakes . . . if we do, or find we have . . . then we need to go back and let them know.

As times, knowledge, and understanding are constantly changing, I think it must be hard for a minsiter, Sunday School teacher, children's time story teller to decide about a certain faith belief how they are going to present it to the children . . . again for example creation/evolution . . . the minister (or other) may be of a different understanding than that of the parents in the pews . . . hard job!

Hope, peace, joy, love . . .

We have to teach our children something, and it usually is what we think is best. If we also teach them they themselves must discern what is best for them later in life, and that their best may be different from the best we taught them, then we can't go too wrong. Knowledge continuosly advances and evolves, and so does wisdom.

If we assume the universe to be in a state of synthesis--as I think it is--then any analysis thereof is an arbitrary creation. Then we are creating our world of concepts as we go, and our children do the same, and hopefully create better concepts than we.

We act according to what we think. If we think well, then we'll act well. "We are as gods, and might as well get good at it!" was a slogan originating from San Francisco's Zen Center in the seventies and early eighties. "We are as gods" is a momentary insight, but "getting good at it" requires a lifetime of effort. So far, we humans have messed up badly. We better "get good at it" soon, or else God will snuff us out in a blink of ITS triadic eye. We can't continue to act foolishly and self-destructively, and expect God's love to keep us going despite our follies.

Hello Pan..........God bless you.......

I agree with beloved we do the best we can to teach children what we have ourselves learned....but along with teaching the young it is not the words that stay with a child but our actions...if we are living by faith in God...then this example will be passed on by experience...if we teach children instead of being worry for example we teach them to pray and believe in what works for us....being an example is easy when we apply the word of God to our lives.....I believe it will be the example of what we do in the teachings that will make a difference....do we apply the words to our own lives...do we tell them about the times God has intervened in our lives and thus changed us ....

Teaching is a great tool.....but applying the teachings to be an example is what I believe is the most important....for the younger generations to come...Praise the Lord for He is the Way..Truth, Light..and this is what I want to pass down to my generations to come....and that God does work in my life....

IJL:bg

PAN:

Q: have we done our children any harm, or no? Have we burdened them with knowledge which is based on incorrect information? If so, what is my responsiblity?

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I can think of only five things to teach children:

1) to seek truth without ever thinking or proclaiming that they possess it.

2) to think well (critically, independently and honestly)

3) to observe closely

4) to develop discernment

5) to fear nothing

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The 'information' you have to hand will always depend on the questions you've asked (or what you've intellectually ingested). It is always 'your' information, no matter who or what has provided it. "Correct"? What a ruthless notion that is. I believe we do not incur guilt by simply being wrong; we incur guilt by not giving a damn.