Did God write the Bible?
See also: Why do we read the Bible? Why is the Old Testament so violent?
How you might answer: Many people would answer that question differently, but within our church denomination (the PC(USA)) we believe that the Bible is the written Word of God that must also be understood through the context of the human authors who wrote it. That's way too much nuance for a child, so the simple answer is: human beings wrote the Bible through God's help. We believe that God inspired the words that they wrote and, even though those words aren't infallible, they are our best guide to knowing God's love for us and how God wants us to live our lives. Sometimes the authors' context ended up in the Bible in ways that don't reflect God -- for example, we don't believe that God wants us to kill unbelievers like it states in Deuteronomy 17; that was part of the culture in which Deuteronomy was written. Instead, we read the Bible carefully and are always learning and re-learning what God is saying to us today.
What might be behind their question: Even when pared down into Children's Bible editions, the Bible is still likely one of the longest books that kids will have ever read or received. As such, it is definitely a source of mystery and fascination - particularly when they find out that parts of it were written around 3,000 years ago! As children read it though, particularly if they flip through the full biblical text and encounter troubling passages in either the Old or New Testament, they will rightly want to know how those came to be included.
How you might answer: Many people would answer that question differently, but within our church denomination (the PC(USA)) we believe that the Bible is the written Word of God that must also be understood through the context of the human authors who wrote it. That's way too much nuance for a child, so the simple answer is: human beings wrote the Bible through God's help. We believe that God inspired the words that they wrote and, even though those words aren't infallible, they are our best guide to knowing God's love for us and how God wants us to live our lives. Sometimes the authors' context ended up in the Bible in ways that don't reflect God -- for example, we don't believe that God wants us to kill unbelievers like it states in Deuteronomy 17; that was part of the culture in which Deuteronomy was written. Instead, we read the Bible carefully and are always learning and re-learning what God is saying to us today.
What might be behind their question: Even when pared down into Children's Bible editions, the Bible is still likely one of the longest books that kids will have ever read or received. As such, it is definitely a source of mystery and fascination - particularly when they find out that parts of it were written around 3,000 years ago! As children read it though, particularly if they flip through the full biblical text and encounter troubling passages in either the Old or New Testament, they will rightly want to know how those came to be included.