‘The crucifixion is simply too violent for preschoolers’
March 18th, 2008So say the people at First Look, who produce children’s Sunday school literature. They have chosen to omit the story of the crucifixion and the resurrection from their literature for preschoolers because such children “are simply unable to truly grasp what it means to die and then be raised again through the power of God.”
Here’s the letter with their explanation (PDF version).
Go see all the details at Two Institutions.
Hat tip: Tom
UPDATE: Tom Ascol has posted an update. It seems the publisher has corrected this course of action.
Hey, I’m a preschool teacher, and I know better than that. They might not fully comprehend it, but they understand it enough. I can’t imagine not teaching them about it. We have a Christian preschool, and we read books, watch movies, etc., about it. They at least understand that Jesus did die, but sometimes have a had time understanding why He had to die. But that age is a good time to introduce it to have something to build on as they get older. Also, you never know, but if they don’t hear the story when they’re little, they might not hear it again. You have to take advantage of teaching them when you have the chance.
Teacher: Boys and girls we’re going to talk about the Last Supper today, a time when Jesus had a meal with his friends.
Little Johnny: Teacher, why do they call it the Last Supper?
(Sound of crickets chirping)
I can’t wait for their Christmas lesson:
“We’re not going to talk about that whole gave birth in a stable thing, far too messy for kids to deal with. And since they are not able to grasp the God incarnate thing, we’ll skip all the worship and adoration at the manger and just say that Jesus and his family were on vacation in another city and some friends they had who were shepherds came to visit them.”
When did we adults become so callous that the violence of the cross doesn’t affect us? The nexus of man’s sin, and we say, “Oh, yeah, Jesus died on a cross.” I think our softening of the violence of the cross dulls our joy for the resurrection.
The reality of the cross is too violent. It is too violent for me or my family. That is why I must look at it for what it is, and show my children the reality of it, and humbly repent, and beg my children to humbly repent, so they may be saved. We are too accustomed to seeing a picture of an unscarred Jesus on a cross wearing a little diaper. We don’t have to watch Mel Gibsons movie to get it ,either. Scripture will suffice.
Shortly after I began pastoring for the very first time I clearly remember a controversy about a Sunday School literature quarterly cover.
It showed Jesus hanging on a cross….by ropes, not nails.
Not sure which of these is more offensive to me….leaving the story out of children’s curriculum all together, or including a portrayal of it in adult curriculum and getting it wrong.