> After I gave a lecture at church recently, someone asked me, "OK, how do I
> express your interpretation of science and the Bible for my 12-year olds in
> Sunday School?
>
> That's probably the hardest question I have heard. There is no guarantee
> that it is even possible. Any takers?
Admittedly it's not easy, but also not impossible. We have to
be alert to the questions kids raise when they start to become aware
that there may be dissonance between what they learn about science
and limited ways of understanding biblical accounts which may be
appropriate to younger children but not icreasingly mature ones. As
they begin to learn that not all stories are "history as it really
happened", but still may tell them things that are true, they can be
told that the Genesis stories, e.g., are not of that type. They may be
less bothered by that than some think, and far less likely to just dump
the Bible when they learn this - unless someone has been telling them
fairy tales about biblical inerrancy. (By which I mean - the idea that
everything in the Bible is true as historical chronicle.)
George L. Murphy
gmurphy@imperium.net
http://www.imperium.net/~gmurphy