Too many children see science and faith in conflict by an early age. A new project from the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion is addressing this issue.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://biologos.org/blogs/chris-stump-equipping-educators/new-approaches-to-communicating-science-and-faith-to-children
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I trust you will keep us posted and keep the BioLogos resource page updated with new materials as they become available.
It is kind of depressing to me that the “other side” of the science/faith continuum seems to have all the pretty books for kids. I have heard from a number of people how much they appreciated the Big Story video because they could watch it with their kids and say, “See, I’m not the only one saying this, I didn’t just make these ideas up on my own.” It’s especially meaningful for those of us who aren’t having what we teach at home reinforced or encouraged in any way in our local faith communities.
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Well, the devil does get all the good tunes. (That point comes up again and again in the program notes in operas.) Pete Enns, who was booted from BioLogos (by the former regime, not you guys) has written educational material for Christian kids. It’s too bad Biologos couldn’t provide funds for him to write some books with superb illustrations.
We have used Telling God’s Story for the last three years. (Enns did the first two years and then Rachel Marie Stone wrote year three, and year four isn’t out yet, so I don’t know who is doing it.) Peace Hill Press published activity books with coloring pages and games to go along with it. But it is a Bible curriculum, not science.
Exactly why do you need a religious science book?
I don’t want religious science books. I want scientifically and historically accurate Christian worldview books.
I would love it if there was a children’s book that explained the ancient near east cultural context of Genesis. Kind of a “this is what the world at the time believed, this is what the God of Israel said in Genesis” approach. Why? Because it’s interesting and my kids learn about Greek mythology and Norse mythology and Hindu mythology and Chinese mythology, so they can obviously handle the concept that other civilizations had different belief systems.
I would love a children’s book that explained how we get truth and meaning out of the Bible in a more nuanced way than “the Bible is our handbook for life and we believe everything it says,” which is the approach they get most of the time.
I would love a children’s book that featured the testimonies of modern Christian scientists and how they saw doing science as Kingdom work.
I would love a children’s book on climate change and environmental responsibility that approached the issue with reference to biblical values and our God-given role in creation.
Last week my son and his friend were looking at one of his science books, and his friend told him, “This is not a Christian book. The Bible says humans are made in the image of God, not that we evolved from cave men.” It would be nice to have a “Christian book” that talked about the image of God and what that means in a way that accommodates the existence of our cave dwelling ancestors.
The fact that in our house we have science books and we have books about God and Christians just reinforces the false idea that that faith and science do not interact. Maybe if my kids were not regularly in contact with people who push YEC and shiny, colorful YEC/anti-science propaganda, it would not be such a big deal. But since they are and will continue to be, I would definitely appreciate anything that could be used to counter it.
Well then, I see an opportunity here. First you might check with a librarian to see what sources are already out there.
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