{"id":95282,"date":"2015-12-31T00:11:26","date_gmt":"2015-12-31T07:11:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?p=95282"},"modified":"2015-12-31T00:11:26","modified_gmt":"2015-12-31T07:11:26","slug":"talking-about-adam-and-eve-to-a-seven-year-old","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2015\/12\/talking-about-adam-and-eve-to-a-seven-year-old.html","title":{"rendered":"Talking About Adam and Eve to a Seven Year Old"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

A reader writes:<\/p>\n

I wonder if you have ever seen this question addressed well, or if you would be willing to take a crack at it on your blog:<\/p>\n

My seven year old daughter is asking questions about Adam and Eve. Her naive literalism (de facto, never explicitly taught by us) is not going to serve her well much longer. One wants to protect and honor her wonder at creation and the earnestness of her faith. But also, how to help her see, with as little rupture as possible, that there are different genres in the Bible, different ways of reading, that things can be true without being literally\/historically true? I am fishing for ways to speak at the 7 year old level: good analogies, helpful ways to frame or turn a key phrase, recommendations for her to read, etc.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I wouldn\u2019t worry about it too much just yet.\u00a0 But when it comes up, remember the old medieval proverb: That which is received is received according to the mode of the receiver.\u00a0 So keep things at her level when she asks.\u00a0 You might talk about the ways Jesus sometimes tells once upon a time stories that didn\u2019t happen in real life but still show us the truth about things.\u00a0 You can then apply that to the creation narrative.\u00a0 You can also talk about how sometimes people will talk about *real<\/strong>* things in non-literal language.\u00a0 So when Dr. Seuss wanted to talk about Hitler he told the story called \u201cYertyl the Turtle\u201d.\u00a0 When Nathan the prophet confronted David about stealing Uriah\u2019s wife and killing Uriah, he told a story about a rich man who stole a poor man\u2019s lamb\u2013and David got the point. \u00a0In the same way, there was a first human family and they did sin and lose the life of God for the human race, but the story is told in mythic form so that it\u2019s easy to understand.\u00a0 That will probably do the trick for the most part.\u00a0 My book Making Senses Out of Scripture might help give you some background in case you want to go deeper.\u00a0 Also, Walking With God by Tim Gray and Jeff Cavins has a good look at the creation narrative that you might find helpful.\u00a0 You can get them both from me\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What we might do is sit and read Genesis 1 and 2 with her. Draw a picture of what happens on each day, and show how the Bible itself foregrounds two different creation accounts. Maybe that\u2019s the way to go, but there\u2019s a tinge of something in that approach that feels a bit too plodding.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It may be overkill for a seven year old.\u00a0 But I love that you are so dedicated to your little girl\u2019s formation.\u00a0 She\u2019ll be fine with you as a parent. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Many many thanks for considering this.<\/p>\n

PS We have a mutual friend in Ron Belgau. He and I have worked together on the \u201cGay in Christ\u201d<\/a> project at Notre Dame.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I love that guy! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A reader writes: I wonder if you have ever seen this question addressed well, or if you would be willing to take a crack at it on your blog: My seven year old daughter is asking questions about Adam and Eve. 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