11-11-2007, 10:27 PM
I picked this book up several years ago with the idea of having it as a simple but fairly comprehensive reference for home RE.
The book is illustrated very well and is worthy of consideration...but unfortunately, the Old Testament stories are still very difficult to present for children...or adults for that matter. My daughter, age 7, and I were looking it over this morning and we actually were sharing laughs over how outrageous the stories were...it was impossible for me to actually present a real moral lesson for some of them. We were amused by how much murder and mayhem is essential to the Old Testament. For example:
The Death of Saul - introduces a witch (the witch of Endor) who raises the spectre of Samuel - Saul mortally wounded kills himself and his armor bearer commits suicide to be with him.
> This story actually confirms the power of witches.
> The spirit of Samuel communicated to Saul.
Hmm...I wonder how the Harry Potter foes deal with this.
Long live the King - David decides to take Jerusalem from its inhabitants..the Jebusites..they refuse to open the city gates..so he attacks and defeats them.
> God endorsed the conquering and sacking of a people who rightly tried to defend their city?
David and Bathseheba - David causes Bathsheba's husband to die in battle so he could have her....so his son is to die.
> What? The innocent are punished for the sins of the father?
Absalom's Rebellion - ends with Absalom hanging by his long hair caught in oak tree branches...then he is run through with spears.
> We laughed over how many stories ended with violence.
We did however go over Psalm 23....the Psalms..to me, are among the best parts of the Bible.
We did like the story of King Solomon's wisdom with the two women disputing who was the mother of the child.
Basically, most RE covers the sugar coated stories in the Old Testament...I bet the more disturbing are "passed over"..in fact, I bet many adults have not read the Old Testament in detail...warts and all.
In the New Testament section I came across the Transfiguration....the real trinity is the appearance of Moses (representing the Law) and Elijah (representing the Prophets) with Jesus. This is hardly mentioned in Christian settings...it implies that the Law still holds (in addition to the status of the prophets). The book indicated that this showed that Jesus fulfilled the words of the Law and the prophets. Note...I see nothing that says he abrogated the Law. Therefore, I suppose we must conclude Paul was wrong (as many others have asserted) and the early Jerusalem Church of James appears more consistent with the true mission....Jesus as the messiah of a Jewish nation that upheld the Law.
The book is illustrated very well and is worthy of consideration...but unfortunately, the Old Testament stories are still very difficult to present for children...or adults for that matter. My daughter, age 7, and I were looking it over this morning and we actually were sharing laughs over how outrageous the stories were...it was impossible for me to actually present a real moral lesson for some of them. We were amused by how much murder and mayhem is essential to the Old Testament. For example:
The Death of Saul - introduces a witch (the witch of Endor) who raises the spectre of Samuel - Saul mortally wounded kills himself and his armor bearer commits suicide to be with him.
> This story actually confirms the power of witches.
> The spirit of Samuel communicated to Saul.
Hmm...I wonder how the Harry Potter foes deal with this.
Long live the King - David decides to take Jerusalem from its inhabitants..the Jebusites..they refuse to open the city gates..so he attacks and defeats them.
> God endorsed the conquering and sacking of a people who rightly tried to defend their city?
David and Bathseheba - David causes Bathsheba's husband to die in battle so he could have her....so his son is to die.
> What? The innocent are punished for the sins of the father?
Absalom's Rebellion - ends with Absalom hanging by his long hair caught in oak tree branches...then he is run through with spears.
> We laughed over how many stories ended with violence.
We did however go over Psalm 23....the Psalms..to me, are among the best parts of the Bible.
We did like the story of King Solomon's wisdom with the two women disputing who was the mother of the child.
Basically, most RE covers the sugar coated stories in the Old Testament...I bet the more disturbing are "passed over"..in fact, I bet many adults have not read the Old Testament in detail...warts and all.
In the New Testament section I came across the Transfiguration....the real trinity is the appearance of Moses (representing the Law) and Elijah (representing the Prophets) with Jesus. This is hardly mentioned in Christian settings...it implies that the Law still holds (in addition to the status of the prophets). The book indicated that this showed that Jesus fulfilled the words of the Law and the prophets. Note...I see nothing that says he abrogated the Law. Therefore, I suppose we must conclude Paul was wrong (as many others have asserted) and the early Jerusalem Church of James appears more consistent with the true mission....Jesus as the messiah of a Jewish nation that upheld the Law.