Theology Lessons for Children

At lunch one day this week, Autumn brought a book with her to the table.  She actually wanted to read it instead of eating her lunch.  So, what was this book?  It happened to be a new book that's coming out on Athanasius.  Yes, Athanasius.  This book is newest release in a series written by Simonetta Carr on figures from church history.

Earlier this year, I reviewed one of the other books from the series on John Owen.  Reviewing that book challenged me to think critically about biographies and what we, and our children, learn from reading them.

There is a saying that if we do not learn from history then we are doomed to repeat it.  There are also other sayings about history and why we study it.  I always told my middle school students that we studied history so that we could learn from the past and not have to reinvent the wheel over and over.  Both of these sayings apply to this series of Christian biographies for children.

I asked Simonetta what she wants children to learn from this book on Athanasius.  She said, "Most of all, that Jesus is fully God. Hopefully, they will also realize that we don't always understand some biblical doctrines, and it's OK. They will see the importance of Christian councils and creeds, and hopefully be better prepared to face future Dan Browns (they pop up every few years)."

This was exactly what my daughter took from this book when she read it.  I listened as she gave a summary of the book to my younger daughter.  She saw that it was important for Athanasius to stand firm in his belief that Jesus was fully God and fully man (she actually said that).  

Her reading of the book opened the door to a really important discussion about salvation and the trinity.  Sometimes it's hard to know how to help children understand why theology matters.  But, it does.  It matters quite a lot.  This biography recounts a time in history when Jesus' deity was questioned.  It was challenged.  People chose to believe Arius' teaching because it seemed more logical and easier to believe and follow.  But, what is easier to believe is often not right.  As parents, this is a lesson we have to teach our children.  

Today there is a great deal of controversy about hell and whether it is really real.  Is this controversy any different than what Athanasius faced?  Perhaps not.  It comes down to questioning the Word of God and choosing to believe what the Bible says or what is easier to believe.  

Ms. Carr's hope is that understanding the past will help our children understand their faith, theology, and the Word of God better.  This equipping can help our children discern what is the Truth and what is not.  I have been watching my oldest daughter do this more and more.  I pray that she will continue to do so throughout her life.  

This review is a bit unorthodox and meandering.  I realize this.  So, let me tell you in a quick tidbit about this book.  It is a biography for children grades 3-7.  I would recommend it for 8-12 year olds rather than 7 year olds as the back cover states.  The illustrations are a mixture of paintings by Matt Abraxas (which are wonderful) and authentic photographs and artifacts from the past.  Ms. Carr tells the story of Athanasius' life and acknowledges clearly what is known and what is unknown about his life.  In contrast to many novel biographies written today, Ms. Carr has stuck to what is known and not filled in the gaps with conjectures.  This book tells the story of an interesting time in church history.

This youtube video briefly summarizes the book:

Do I think well of this book?  Is it worthy of reading and discussion?  My daughter is in agreement with me--quite definitely.  She told me with certainty today, "I love history, Mommy, and I love this book!"

Please note that I received a complimentary copy of this book for review from Reformation Heritage Books.

Teaching Our Children Church History

It's interesting to see how God begins to thread things together in my life to help me learn things and to teach my children.  I am continually amazed by how He brings to mind through conversations, articles, or things I've heard about different curriculums for me to use in homeschooling that together meet the unique needs and personalities of my children and me.

One of the subjects I've been puzzling about over the past year is history.  I have to admit that I'm still on the journey, but I'm making progress.  History is my eldest daughter's favorite subject.  She loves to read historical fiction books.  When I was a child, I read the whole set of ValueTales about historical figures.  I found a set of them while I was teaching over 10 years ago and I've saved them all this time.  She started reading them this year and it was so fun to see her enjoy the books I loved when I was a kid.

So, there have been a lot of pieces floating in my head that have started to fit together.

Here's piece number 1:
Last summer, I reviewed a book titled Church History ABCs by Stephen J. Nichols and Ned Bustard.  It made me realize how little I really know about church history and how the history we are taught in schools omits the history of the church.

Piece Number 2:
A few years before I started homeschooling, my mother in law gave me a magazine from the Elijah Company that explained that there are essentially two approaches to teaching children history.  The one that is used in public schools is to teach history from the inside out--via social studies.  And the other approach is to teach history chronologically.

Piece Number 3:
After reading Church History ABCs, I read Pages from Church History by Stephen Nicols and really learned a lot.  These two quotes from the introduction on page 13 struck me, "Hughes becomes aware of the past that has gone before, humbling and encouraging him at the same time.  he is made deeper; his life is enriched because of these connections to the past.  But perhaps the reverse is also true.  Without meaningful connections to the past, the soul does not grow deep, but constricts, growing more and more shallow.  As many have observed, our age tends to be consumed with the present, the new, and even the future."

Piece Number 4:
This article by Simonetta Carr brought together many of the conclusions I'd started to make--though she articulates them so well.  It is posted on her blog here:  http://simonetta-carr.blogspot.com/2010/11/church-history-for-children.html  

Piece Number 5:
The book I'm finishing reading about suffering has a few observations that have really struck me.  We expect life to be easy.  And we idealize the past.  But, really people in the past expected life to be hard and it is written in their memoirs (not in most of the fiction that is written about them today).  Another essay in the book noted that our faith must be strong and not conditionally based on what we think God has or hasn't done in our lives.  But, that is where the past can help both us and our children understand how real God is.

So, I've come to several conclusions, but not the full answer yet.  I believe it's important to teach my children about history and include church history.  But, I'm not a unit study kind of teacher.  So, I have begun to search for resources and ways to help my children gain an understanding, knowledge, and appreciation of the past.  I know this will be a search in progress and I'm praying and trusting that God will help me find the right resources for my children.

So far, the resources I've found this year that have been helpful and enjoyable to my children are
History for Little Pilgrims, a great primer on church history for 1st-3rd graders.  The illustrations are reminiscent of the 70s and 80s
Church History ABCs, has brief biographies of people in church history.  Autumn loves the humor or it and she is able to read it without too much trouble.
ValueTales are a set of biographies of people such as Helen Keller, Elizabeth Fry, Jackie Robinson, Louis Pasteur.  Each character has an imaginary friend that helps them along as they tackle the struggles they face and achieve their dreams.
Simonetta Carr's Biographies for Young Readers.  She has written books on Augustine, John Calvin and John Owen.  We have read the book on John Owen.  Ms. Carr does a good job explaining Puritans and that time period.  This is a biography though and not a partially true story like the Value Tales

I intended on starting a timeline earlier this year, but decided to let it go at that time.  I think it is the time now.  We are going to make a wall timeline and I'm also going to let Autumn record people and things that she reads in a timeline book, Sonlight's Book of Time.  One of the things that can be overwhelming in homeschooling is that there are so many resources--rather than too few!  I can spend hours searching.

This website has a picture of a wall timeline that I liked:  http://www.squidoo.com/homeschooltimelines#module4099397  It also has pictures of several other options.

I hope that this rambling post makes some sense.  It may or may not--and if it doesn't, I understand!  These pieces are jostling around in my head and I continue to try and find the right spots for them.  I think I've put a few together.  We're starting with the timeline for Autumn's reading and a wall timeline.  We're going to make our way through History for Little Pilgrims and Church History ABCs this spring.  Next year, we're going to read Simonetta Carr's biographies for Young Readers and add the information we learn to our timeline.  My hope is that our timelines--notebook and wall-- will grow over time!

A book I came Across

Yesterday, I blogged about Church History ABCs and I wished for more--more context so that I could put the stories in that book into the big picture of history.  I was reading the blog from Hearts and Minds Books in Dallastown, PA, and Byron Borger mentioned this book:

Pages From Church History: A Guided Tour of Christian Classics, also by the same author.  I read a few pages of it on Amazon and it seemed to be just what I was talking about.  I can't fully recommend it since I haven't read it (and I've definitely learned my lesson on that one), but I'm glad to know that there is a book like what I was thinking of out there!

Learning About Church History

I was excited to learn that a book about some heroes of the Faith of Church History has been published.  When I was growing up, I learned a lot about Quaker History--all about George Fox and William Penn as well as many others.  But, I didn't learn a lot about church history beyond Quaker History.  I want my children to have a more well rounded understanding of church history and more knowledge about it than I have.

Stephen J. Nichols and Ned Bustard have published a new book called The Church History ABCs:  Augustine and twenty-five other heroes of the Faith.   Here is their website for the book:  http://www.churchhistoryabcs.com/index.html  The book begins with a short introduction and then a brief page on each of twenty-five people who lived as early as 110 A.D. and died as late as 1940.  (There is a gap between St. Patrick, who died in 461 and Martin Luther who was born in 1483.)  Each letter identifies a person important to church history such as Spurgeon, Martin Luther, or Anne Bradstreet.  I was glad that several women were included.  At the end of the book, there is a long paragraph about each person that gives more description about who each person was and why they are significant--how they glorified God in their lives.  There is also a timeline list of the 25 people.  I wish there was also a visual timeline with a few historical events identified to help place these people in history (I'm going to email them and ask if they might think about posting one on their website =)).  On the website, there are several coloring pages and activity pages to go with the book.  I like the illustrations and the writing.

One question I asked myself was how could I help my kids relate to this book?  How could this book be useful to me and my kids?  I homeschool and my girls will be in 2nd grade and kindergarten.  This year I have decided to start reading through A Child's History of the World by Virgil Hillyer.  This book was recommended to me by several people.  They read the book withe their children and then had them draw pictures about what they have listened to.  One downside to using this book is that it doesn't address history from a Christian perspective or include much of the history of the Christian church.  My plan is to read each of the ABCs in chronological order as we get to that period in history in the book.  It will help bring in the history of the church for my kids as we learn about the past.  One reason I've chosen to teach history this way is that I realized I have been trying to cover too much in our homeschooling and I am trying to simplify.  I also have the ValueTales books and I am also going to integrate them into our reading in the same way I'm going to use this church history book.

If I weren't homeschooling, how would I use this book?  When would I read it?  It would be a good reference book if my kids asked me questions about who these people were.  It might spur on discussions about history and the things that happened in the early Christian church.

Honestly, I don't know of any other books on church history, so this is a unique book for children in grades K-5.  I would love more--more content, more description.  I'd love more of a timeline about history and the part that these people played in it.  In short, I'd love a great history book of church history for children.  But, this is a good place to start.

You can view a sample and excerpt of the book at this website:
http://www.crossway.org/product/9781433514722

Please note that I received a complimentary copy of this book from Crossway Books for review.