Sunday School Fairy Tales (or Why the Bible Should be Taught as History)

Those of us who grew up in church have many fond and nostalgic memories of the Bible stories we were taught. We remember David and Goliath, Sampson and Delilah, Noah’s Ark, Jesus and the Feeding of the Five Thousand, Baby Moses in the Bulrushes, Zacchaeus the Wee Little Man, and many others. The problem is, we often have the same fond memories of many other childhood stories like Cinderella, The Frog Prince, Jack and the Beanstalk, and The Emperor’s New Clothes. Both sets of stories were short, entertaining, and had some moral lesson. They were often surprising or funny. They had kings and miracles. Their heroes did great and marvelous deeds. Unfortunately, we may not have understood that one set of stories was completely made up while the other is entirely true historically.

Now, many of us grew up and learned the difference between truth and fairy tales. We know that the Bible is true. We take it seriously now. But some children grow up and are told (often in school or in college) that the Bible is just a collection of myths. At best, it was a collection of tales passed down for many years and full of wishful thinking and primitive beliefs (or so they are told). And if those people haven’t learned better – if they have not been shown the historical evidence for the truth of the Bible – they often fall prey to this faulty view.

To help prevent this from happening, it is important to teach the Biblical account, not Bible stories. They aren’t “stories,” they’re true. There are several very serious problems with teaching the Biblical account as stories.

1.      Inaccuracies often creep in

When you try to turn the Biblical account into a cute bedtime story, it is easy to accidentally add incorrect details or omit important ones. This can lead to an inaccurate understanding of what really happened. In some cases, this mythical version of the Biblical account can be very persistent.

For example, how many of you have heard the story of David and Goliath and heard something like this: “David was a little boy, just like you, and look what he could do with God’s help.” David was a little boy when he killed Goliath? The Bible doesn’t say that. In fact, it is quite clear that David was an adult at the time, and a very strong and tough one at that. He was a young man (and the youngest of the family), but not a little boy. He had already killed a bear and a lion with his bare hands before he fought Goliath. He cut off Goliath’s head with Goliath’s own sword after killing him. That sword, if it was anything like Goliath’s other weaponry, would have been large and heavy. And, of course, David’s reward for killing the giant was to marry King Saul’s daughter. He must have been of marriageable age. Anyway, the picture of David as a young boy of 8 or 9 when he killed Goliath is one that often persists, even among those who know the Bible well. If people would teach the account correctly, this wouldn’t happen.

There are also lots of examples of things that may not be expressly taught incorrectly, but cause misunderstanding. For example, pictures in children’s Bible story books usually show all the Biblical characters as white, Jesus as nearly effeminate (pale skin, angelic features, long hair), and Noah’s Ark as a tiny boat with animal heads sticking out every window. These views are ridiculously naïve and are certainly not what the Biblical account depicts.

2.      The Bible becomes sensationalized

The Bible does contain some amazing and miraculous events. There’s nothing wrong with teaching children about the remarkable things that God has done and marveling at His power. That is a good thing. But if the only parts of the Bible that are taught are the “exciting” or “amazing” parts, children will not get the full picture of all that the Bible teaches. They get only the sensationalized version, which sounds a lot like a fairy tale, not real life.

This sensationalization, together with inaccuracy, often leads to what my husband and I call the “Sunday School Fairy Tale” version of the Bible. It is a superficial and warped view of what the Bible says. When you come across someone who rejects the Bible as being a book of myths, you will usually find that what they object to as being so unrealistic is this fairy tale version of the Bible rather than the real thing. The problem is, they usually don’t know the difference. They don’t know how to see the Bible in realistic terms because no one has ever shown them.

3.      The Biblical account is not given its proper historical context

A big part of helping children (and others) to understand the historical nature of the Biblical account is including discussion of its historical context. Don’t just emphasize the moral lesson, talk about it as history. When children are taught about George Washington, Nero, Florence Nightingale, Genghis Khan, or any other historical figure, we talk about when they lived, their culture, their motivation, their language. In short, we put them in historical perspective and we talk about them as real people with real lives. Why don’t we do that with Biblical figures?

How often do you hear someone talk about what year the Flood happened? Whether dinosaurs were on the ark? Who Cain married? Why Eve didn’t freak out when a snake talked to her? Where the Garden of Eden was (there’s no way of knowing that, by the way)? Have you ever wondered why Jonathan didn’t hate David? Where the different races came from? Why God instituted animal sacrifice? Why Jesus came when He did? Why the particular 66 books of the Bible are Scripture and other ancient texts aren’t? These and many others are questions that today’s young people wrestle with. And they often are not getting answers.

If we neglect to talk about the Biblical account in realistic terms, we aren’t preparing our youth to answer the questions they will undoubtedly have. If they go long enough with unanswered questions, if they can’t figure out how what the Bible says can possibly make sense, many will start to wonder if it is really true. While we may not be able to answer every question definitively, we can at least have a serious discussion and offer reasonable possibilities for consideration. Without such reasonable discussion, why should they find it reasonable to believe it?

This is especially true of the book of Genesis. There are many questions that will be asked about the Biblical account of origins that are not being answered in today’s churches. Many will be unable to reconcile what they believe about the Bible with what they learn in science class. If we give a one-dimensional view of the Bible and never discuss the historical aspects, it becomes more and more difficult for them to take the Bible seriously in the face of criticism and ridicule from the secular community.

4.      The Big Picture is not shown

When we teach the Bible as a collection of “stories” we fail to convey the full scope of the Biblical account. The Bible does have individual accounts that are of use in themselves. But an important part of Biblical literacy is understanding the Bible as a single, coherent, historical narrative that gives the account of God’s work throughout history. The Bible was designed, not just to give us moral lessons or tell us how to be saved (although those are, obviously, very important), but to reveal to us God Himself. You have to get a bigger perspective of the whole Bible and its context in order to see the full message.

These four points are some of the major reasons why the Bible must be taught realistically, with its historical context, rather than as a series of stories. Not only is Biblical literacy at stake, but the very minds and souls of the next generation. Christianity is under fire. The Bible is being ridiculed in every corner of our society. Let’s not give the enemy any ammunition by contributing misinformation. Let’s not perpetuate the simplistic and unrealistic fairy tale type Bible stories. Let’s promote serious study and discussion of the word of God at every age. It is sorely needed.

Linked up with NOBH, Kids in the Word Wednesdays, Seeds of Faith, WFMW, TPT, Denise in Bloom, Proverbs 31 Thursdays, and WLWW.