Use of Bible in Christian Education

do we teach the Bible to the children at

aw home or in the
Howdo
we relate the Bible to adults? Honestly speaking, beforechurch?
a child
arns
even lea to speak properly, parents and
elders are over
ambitious to
teach them Bible verses. Parents are excited when they hear their
children mumble and recite the Bible words happily even though the
children do not understand wha they uttered. Teaching them the Bible
fn the right moment is more important. In Sunday schools, where biblical
taching is to be carried out properly, teachers narrate the content of the
te
Rihle story with factual questions and answers from the story without
nowing how effective it is to the learners. The traditional pattern of
relling a biblical story with its application to the learner's life does not fit
often to the meaning of the Bible or the life situations of the learner.
Often, parents at homes and teachers in Sunday school dump big
theological jargons without realizing what small children can understand.
Similarly, the same problem arises in Christian worship as to how far
preaching or the interpretation of the Word of God touches the lives of
the congregants. It should not be mere content learning of the Bible but
reflecting on experiences and internalizing biblical teachings in life
situation. Weneed to teach the Bible diligently for information, formation
and transformation. The concern of this chapter is on the use of Bible in
Christian education, keeping in mind the stages of development and
contextual realities of the people.

1. The Place of
Scripture in Christian Education
DiDleis the pFimary source and authority for Christian faith;
Dle-welearn who God is hew God acts and what God throughthe
humans expects from
has and.creations.
revealed
The authority isbased on the
conviction that God
God-self through the history of the Hebrews and more
 174
lesus Christ. The
ere is a
decisively in thelife death and resirrectionof
between God and human and theBi is arecordof itocBible
dialogue
of the people of God.
It is the Word
God
Contains the experiences
in a human
document in re.al historical settings. The Bibleiis
Christian community and the personalreligio
preser

the gathered lous

essential for and other hvmns are
life of its members.
Scripture readings, psalms,
as the primary source and
inteeral part of liturgy. Hence, Bible functions
basis for Christian
foundations that sets the standards and provTdes-the
of Christian teaching derived from the Bible
educationand the content
means by which God speaks to the learners, then
If the Bible is to be the
content appropriately for application in
the learners must be taught its
their lives.
Besides the Bible as primary source for our faith, we also need to

acknowledge and recognize our religio-culturalresources because Bible

is read from different cultural contexts by different peoples. India has
multi-religious traditions with their own holy scriptures and oral religious
traditions which provided spiritual support and ethical guidance for
centuries. We need to acknowledge that in India, the Bible, and other
scriptures and oral religious traditions of other faiths co-exist. By
embracing Christian faith and the Bible, we should not alienate ourselves
from our culture. There is a need to affirm the centrality of scripture but
it should not be used to limit various ways of communicating the gospel
to different people. We need to connect the Bible with our religious
resources to make Bible relevant and meaningful to contextual realities.
Bible isour primary sourceand authority, yet wealso needtointegrate
scriptures and oral traditions of other faiths which can help enrich our
understanding of the Bible.' Therefore, reading the Bible requires
interculturaleducation.
The purpose of Christian education is to lead the learners to encounter
God which eventually will lead to transformation of their lives.The goal
ofteaching the Bibleis for information and transformation of the people.
Knowing the facts about the Bible is important because such information
is a critical starting point. But teaching the Bible is more than that; it
invites the people to encounter and transform their lives with God.
Curriculum planners should alwaysmake provisian for the learners to
make the appropriate application for them and to make themessage of
the Bible to come alive in the present experiences of the people.
 2. Types of Literature in the
Bible
le contains
avariety of iteratures. These include
and the history of Israel
lifeand ministry of Jesus Jesus-movement in- carly church,
afChristian churches in the book of
formationof
Acts. It has prophetic
literaturesand
poetry legislation, parables, wisdemliteratures, apocalntic
Letters are filled with teaching-theological
writings.
a admonitions for living as
Christians
understandings:as
in the church
as
and in the
wider community. The prophets centering on messages of warning have
aunigue place in biblical literature. Psalms are poetry, liturgical materials,
and personal prayers of petition and thanksgiving. Stories can be real or
fiction or myths. Bible also contains many violence, wars, conflicts, feuds
and bloodsheds, and also constant refrain of the
Creator's overarching
love, the promise of redemption and restoration, the assurance of
God's
mercy and justice. The reason is because Bible is a book which
contains
living experiences of the people of God in the past. The wealth of
resources available indicates that teachers need
to avail themseluves from
richmaterials to help them better understand the environment from
which
thebiblical books.came. Teachers need to make the most of the
resources
available because the Bible consists of many literary forms. It is this
variety that gives liveliness to the Bible and enlivens the teaching. All
these must be interpreted with the use of critical interpretation tools
keeping its_charaeter-as-wettas the-context of the hearers today.
The issue of concern here is, how do we select the content of the
Bible in Christian education? Over the years the use of Bible in Christian
education became selective and thematic studies, particularly in Uniform
Lesson Series which we have adapted in many churches today. Even in
Worship, reading the Bible is always selective. We hardly put equal weight
and value to all parts of the Bible. We tend to acknowledge that same

parts are more relevant and vitalthan others t0 our present experience.
problem of selectivity is more acute while teaching children. There
The children to passages ofthe Bible
1S probably little gain when introducing
even though they may
which they cannot relate to their own experience,
Israelites wars with neigbouring
enjoy them as stories. For example,
and Abel etc., these types of
lessons
bloodshed, Cain
countries, killings and children about w a r s and
negative impression on the
may give a
we allow our
selection to be dictated
On the other hand, if
bloodsheds.
we may end up with a
what the child is able to appreciate
purely by of the Bible as a whole. We cannot
selection which is unrepresentative
 used selectively or without selectirit.
that Bible should be
sav

of tcaching the Bible 1S to make the learners underd

y but the
purpose
truth of the Bible. We need to construct the language in such stand the
a way in
to communicate the
whole truth of the Bible.
order

3. Biblical Hermeneutics and Christian Education

Teaching the Bible in the church is always an intercultural

Therefore we need to have some understanding of intercultural
cation.
education. The Bible itself is the product of cultures that have been
en
historically and geographically far removed from us. The Bible took shane
over hundreds of years, during which time cultures have
constantly
changed.We know that the culturesefeur medern-world-and the cutures
of biblical times are different.
Peoplein each of these contexts speak,
behave, believe, relate, and organize their lives in very different wavs.
Not only that, our modern cultures are
very complex and plural. In
order to engage scripture in
move into another
meaningful ways, we have to be able to
culture, engage in it and learn from it. Unless we
become aware of the cultural lens that we
risk imposing our own cultural bring to the biblical text, we
to misunderstand of
viewpoints on the Bible and thereby lead
the text." Such
distort the meaning of biblical texts. misunderstandings can lead us to

interpreting the scripture is important inTherefore,

the art or science of
use critical
Christian education. We need to
biblical scholarships for
teachers need to apply teaching the Bible in the church and
the learners.
hermeneutics to derive the correct
meanings for
Scientific Analysis and
a) How do we connect the
Interpretation A Hermeneutical Circle
past to the present
do we relate our
present experience with
experiences? How
task of hermeneutics our faith story? The
is to connect the
biblical culture and derive present culture with the
the meaning
Past <Bible> Present without diluting the truth.
b) We connect
of the Bible
historical and cultural
(past) and audience context in relation to authors
differences and worldviews (present) because of cultural
of the
Bible is the past and present.
Past <
midpoint
Its context Bible >
Us
Our contexts
 Use of B
actualy say? What did this mean to the
/hat docs the passage
c) readers in
this context?
original
A biblical text can be understood by reflecting on its author, the
eircumstances addressed by the author, and the author's
audicnce.
What is mny context today? What does the passage call me to do
d) in relation to my cultural context? Atext relating to contemporary
readers.

its contemporary
be understood if and when it relates to
A text can
readers; who they are, what they value, and what they bring to their
readingofthe text. Meaning of the text will be affected depending o
who the reader is. Readingis contextual localand pluralistic. Giving too
much attention to the past faith story and too little meaning for the present
becomes text oriented/content oriented. Too much emphasis on present
realities and too little attention to the text distorts the meaning of the
text. There needs to be a balance between the text and present, which is
the task of the interpreter. Interpretation is a process and the interpreter's
personal frame of reference, experience, understanding level, motifs,
language, culture, and presuppositions will also influence the process of
interpretation. The use of sources too influences the biblical interpretation
- the Bible as the primary source and our religio-cultural traditions. The

Bible is central to Christian education. But it will be interpreted differently

byeach generation-and within each cuturebecause Giod's Word is heard
in many ways in different contexts by different people.
Matters of biblical interpretation affect all who are involved in the
educational work of the church. Teachers use different approaches and
methods of interpretations like literal, historical-critical, rhetorical,
narrative, socio-cultural approach of readings. Teachers need to keep in
mind the following principles while using approaches to teach the Bible.
Be aware of and be intentional about the interpretive approaches
we use in teaching.
Be aware of the interpretive approaches used by those whom
we teach.
Be respectful of the different interpretative approaches our
students use.

The use of multiple interpretative approaches is vital.

 178 Christian
Istian Education
attention to the
Give careful thought and
used initially
interpretive approach
Remember that the ultimate goal of teaching the
transformation.
Bible is

4. Designing Curriculum Appropriate

to the Stages of Development

Bibleneedsto beapplied.tothe life situation of the learners. Two issnees

confronting today in teaching the Bible are: adult-oriented approach of
teaching and traditionalview ofbiblical authority. Theearly twentieth
century brought an interest in child development and the emphasis in
education was on ways of teaching the child through everyday
experiences. The impact of this child-centred movement in education is
that we must cease treating children like miniature adults and more
importantly help them to enjoy their present stage of lifefor their own
sake. Secondly, in the traditional view of Bible teaching. it was
biblical
content orientedand lessapplicable to real lifesituations of the people.
Due to development of higher criticism in biblical studies,
approach of reading by contextual and liberative theologies, historical
tiberative
and real life situation were brought into the
understanding of the Bible.
Hence, there is a paradigm shifts towards life experience theme' rather
than 'Bible-content-centred methods." So, the content and method of
teachingthe Bible need to relate to the learners- their real
life situations.
The question is whether
every biblical story could indeed be understood
by children at any age. What does the Bible have to
stage?Adults might need broader approaches to Bible say to adolescent
a chronological studyof the Bible. What rather than having
individuals and societies message the Bible can give to
teach the today? Hence, the issue before us is how to
Bible to different
to do with groups of people in different contexts. It has
to
methods and
the stages of approaches, contents and curriculum in
to real development and socio-cultural milieu. Bible mustrelation
experiences of the people. speak
The
developmental
Kohlberg, Erik Erikson, psychologists like Jean Piaget,
James Fowler, etc., Lawrence
psychological natures of maturing a developed theories on
development. Their contributions person along with
biological
process of teaching. Ronald
broughttremendous shift in
a

Goldman,
developed religious thinking in an the
English educator in 1960s
childhood based on Piaget's
cognitive
 He also divided four stages of religious development:
deveopment. He
pne-eligious, sub-religous and religious. JHis conclusion
irnligious, pe-relr

children need nothave to deal with many Biblical stories at an

as age." bocause they havenot yet devcloped thinking. Avoid teaching
that
as

rly
thcological jargons about the scriptures which they will later
He said, "to0 much toosoon is bad Teach only what
them
unlearn.
to
have
understand in their own stages of development. Christian
can
children
alors need
educators need to know devetopmental psychology fer effective
cn-learning.Linderstandingthe biologi psycholegiealcuitural
cognitive knowledge
will enable us to teach and
of the learners
nd learners in makin meaning ofthebiblical story for their own
assist the

lives
5. Teaching the Bible to Different Age-groups

Teaching the Bible to

different age groups is tohelp the people deal with
ives asthey discover the meanings in the Bible.
the questions of their
their own peculiar needs and problems,
Different age-groups have
Derceptions and also maturation levels differ from age to age. Readiness
to learn develops
in a person's life side by side with the biological
development. Cognitive development is the basis of other areas of
development. When a person is matured enough to learn? What content
is relevant for which age group? are important to consider before teaching
the Bible. Curriculum planners need to know the capacity of learners
and the Bible. We need to plan the Bible lesson according to different
age groups.
Using the Bible with children neds special attention. The Bible is
not a children book but an adult book, written for adults. This requires
special attention when teaching the Bible to small children. Children do
not have natural readiness for all portions of the Bible. Sensitivity to
these developmental stages prompts teachers and parents to choose
biblical material carefully. Biblical stories told to preschoolers or

preoperational level will be chosen with an awareness ofthis development.

hemes like God who cares for you, trust in God, God as loving parents,
from a
etc., can be chosen. David Elkind said that the children will grow
understanding
Simple understanding of religious phenomena to a fuller
rough the reality of growing from concrete to abstract operational
need to
inking. Children learn through observation therefore, they ana
to help absorb
PCipate in the religious observances of their elders
 their lajth." Their understanding of G od s in an
Darticipale in
of CG
their understanding of
erstanding God
in a
sense, that is, wil be
be onon
understand God as an eld
anthropomorphie
experiential They
lecvel. derly person
Preoperational children haPerson
human
around with them always.
who is
the Bible in a literal way and avoid then
d
therefore, teach meanin
memory,
of the story
because it will not
make any sense to When
them. When a child
concrete operational level, he/she will be ahlo
reaches a formal and
of the Bible. This is what Goldman calld led
conceptualize the meaning
crucial period to teach religion. Thev
Rcligious" stage, the
most are
and conceptual1ze the meaning of religion
curious, and receptive to learn
abstractly. ProperBible teaching should be provided to this stage onwarde
in order to develop a deep faith in God. According to Erikson, adolescent

stage hasself-identity vs. role confusion. Piaget called them as 'formal

operational' or abstract operational thinking. Fowler categorized it as

synthetic-conventional faith.' Young people undergo a transitional period

from childhood to adulthood, from childhood faith to the lifelong task of

maturing as Christians. They are capable of thinking back and forth.

Hence, teach the Bible to develop critical thinking and reflection in their
lives is essential. Similarly, in adulthood stage, teachers need to give
sufficient and thorough teaching of the Bible through Bible study and
worship to develop holistic growth.

6. Methods of Teaching Appropriate to the Stages of Development

A variety of methods can be used according to the context, content and
age-groups. Story-telling, drama, films, movies, visual arts, discussion,
questions and answers, role play, and other participatory methods can
be used. Story telling is certainly the most used mode of teaching for
younger elementary children. A story is not a recital of facts but an
involvement of people and events." Hearers live the
story to which they
are
listening to. They become involved, and it speaks to them. With older
children use brief story with
questions and applications, use story as
didactive material.
Discussion and debate should be used for both
youth and adults. It
requires openness on the part of all involved, a freedom to
express their
disagreements and doubts as well affirm their agreement.
as to
gives space to the learners to express their opnions and makeDiscussion
their ideas and resources. use of

Learners will also be given the

opportunity to play out the stories