When to Get Biblical with My Kids

The Gospel reading at mass today included the “Doubting Thomas” story that has become part of the western vernacular. This got me thinking about how prominently the language of the Bible, for better or worse, appears in every day language. From Lincoln’s “House Divided” speech to common phrases like “nothing new under the sun,” the Christian Bible is everywhere.

Some background: Alicia and I are Catholic. I frequently feel guilty about both my disagreements with Catholic dogma and my inability to measure up to the standards of Catholic dogma. However, I interpret all feelings of guilt regarding my Catholicism as signs that I’m doing it right.

Further background: Thomas’ name was Didymus, meaning that he was Didy before Sean Combs was Diddy. So he’s got that going for him. Which is nice.

And one more bit of background: I’ve always thought that Thomas gets a bad rap. Jesus got annoyed with him for wanting to see proof of the resurrection, proof that the other apostles already received and likely would have requested just like Thomas. Even if they weren’t likely to ask for an affidavit, we don’t know that Thomas wasn’t more naturally prone to data- and fact-based requests. Maybe he was the Disciples’ accountant, asking for the receipt from the Last Supper to keep track of business expenditures. But instead of saying “Thanks for staying on top of the bills,” Jesus makes him the whipping boy for western civilization’s fragile faith.

Which makes me wonder when these concepts should be introduced to kids. We’ll bring up Dream Weaver and any sequels in a progressive, church going family, which means they’ll all receive child-friendly stories of Noah, Adam and Eve, and the other basic Bible stories. But I don’t want my kids to simply digest what biblical morsels they receive from a priest, a CCD class, or me. At one point or another, it would be nice for them to review the original text – or as original a text can be that is in English only after the British translated a Latin translation of a Greek text that has been edited by church officials and copied with mistakes by silent monks.

I think maybe late elementary school or early middle school is a good time to start introducing them to portions of the Bible. Some chapter and verse they don’t need, certainly not at that age (I’m looking at you, Tobit). But I want them to read the basis for many of their childhood stories and to be familiar with the source material of so many images in the English language.

God knows my kids will hear plenty about what the Bible says. But I would like them to be able to think about what is actually written in it. And I would like them to doubt when appropriate.

Be content,
John