{"id":6718,"date":"2010-02-25T06:04:04","date_gmt":"2010-02-25T11:04:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/2010\/02\/25\/what-to-do-rjs\/"},"modified":"2010-09-06T20:05:42","modified_gmt":"2010-09-07T01:05:42","slug":"what-to-do-rjs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/02\/25\/what-to-do-rjs\/","title":{"rendered":"What to do? (RJS)"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p style=\"text-align: justify\">I received an e-mail last week and have gotten similar questions in the past \u2013 so I will put it up to you for insight or approach:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span class=\"mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Thinker.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/imgs\/Thinker.jpg\" class=\"mt-image-right\" style=\"float: right;margin: 0pt 0pt 20px 20px\" height=\"241\" width=\"161\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">I agree \u2026 that it is helpful to understand Chapters 1 and 2 of Genesis as mytho-historical.  I also believe that there are historical questions raised by a literal interpretation of some other OT passages (e.g., some of the questions raised in Kenton Sparks\u2019 book reviewed \u2026 a while back, and elsewhere), and to a lesser extent even with respect to some parts of the NT stories (e.g., differences between the gospels).  My question relates to how to handle this issue when teaching my kids the Bible stories.  My oldest is 5 yrs. old.  She doesn\u2019t have any idea what \u201cmytho-historical\u201d means.  To her, the story in Genesis 1 and 2 is no different from the resurrection story when I read it out of a kids\u2019 Bible stories book.  One is naturally as historical as the other, in her mind.  Is it better to wait until kids are older to begin to discuss these issues?  If not now, at what age, and what is a good way to raise it?  And if I wait, do I set up a crisis of faith when she later learns that I don\u2019t really view Genesis 1 &amp; 2 (and perhaps other passages) as history in the same way I view the other, central NT stories I\u2019ve been teaching her.  She\u2019s already a bit of a skeptic (when I explained that God is in heaven, but also surrounds everything we see, she asked me if God is \u201cpretend\u201d).  Any wise advice from others who\u2019ve already confronted this issue with young kids would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">On one level the Christian faith is simple enough for a child to comprehend, on another level it is complex enough to occupy Christian thinkers for millenia. <\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><i><b>How can we train our children with a faith that can grow into adulthood?<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I received an e-mail last week and have gotten similar questions in the past \u2013 so I will put it up to you for insight or approach: I agree \u2026 that it is helpful to understand Chapters 1 and 2 of Genesis as mytho-historical. I also believe that there are historical questions raised by a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":198,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What to do? (RJS)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I received an e-mail last week and have gotten similar questions in the past - so I will put it up to you for insight or approach:I agree ... that it is\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/02\/25\/what-to-do-rjs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What to do? (RJS)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I received an e-mail last week and have gotten similar questions in the past - so I will put it up to you for insight or approach:I agree ... that it is\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/02\/25\/what-to-do-rjs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-02-25T11:04:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2010-09-07T01:05:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/imgs\/Thinker.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"RJS\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"RJS\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/02\/25\/what-to-do-rjs\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/02\/25\/what-to-do-rjs\/\",\"name\":\"What to do? (RJS)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-02-25T11:04:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-09-07T01:05:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/716551d3a3f8c156aabfd47c0bce89a0\"},\"description\":\"I received an e-mail last week and have gotten similar questions in the past - so I will put it up to you for insight or approach:I agree ... that it is\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/02\/25\/what-to-do-rjs\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/02\/25\/what-to-do-rjs\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/02\/25\/what-to-do-rjs\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What to do? (RJS)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\",\"name\":\"Jesus Creed\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/716551d3a3f8c156aabfd47c0bce89a0\",\"name\":\"RJS\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/author\/rjs1\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What to do? (RJS)","description":"I received an e-mail last week and have gotten similar questions in the past - so I will put it up to you for insight or approach:I agree ... that it is","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/02\/25\/what-to-do-rjs\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What to do? (RJS)","og_description":"I received an e-mail last week and have gotten similar questions in the past - so I will put it up to you for insight or approach:I agree ... that it is","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/02\/25\/what-to-do-rjs\/","og_site_name":"Jesus Creed","article_published_time":"2010-02-25T11:04:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2010-09-07T01:05:42+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/imgs\/Thinker.jpg"}],"author":"RJS","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"RJS","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/02\/25\/what-to-do-rjs\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/02\/25\/what-to-do-rjs\/","name":"What to do? (RJS)","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-02-25T11:04:04+00:00","dateModified":"2010-09-07T01:05:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/716551d3a3f8c156aabfd47c0bce89a0"},"description":"I received an e-mail last week and have gotten similar questions in the past - so I will put it up to you for insight or approach:I agree ... that it is","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/02\/25\/what-to-do-rjs\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/02\/25\/what-to-do-rjs\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/02\/25\/what-to-do-rjs\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What to do? (RJS)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/","name":"Jesus Creed","description":"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/716551d3a3f8c156aabfd47c0bce89a0","name":"RJS","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/author\/rjs1\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/198"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6718\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}