Children’s Bibles, devotionals offer inclusive take on traditional stories

The new children’s storybook Bibles aim to reach progressive Christians uncomfortable with traditional presentations of Scripture and offer messages focused on diversity, inclusion and social justice.

Publishers say projects should reflect the faith values ​​of a changing audience and fill what they describe as a gap in faith resources for progressive believers.

“The Fair Love Story Bible,” a “justice-focused” storybook for readers ages four to 10, was released last month. Written by Rev. Jacqui Lewis and Rev. Shannon Daley-Harris, the book includes 52 Bible stories and images depicting characters with Black, Brown and tan skin tones.

“Our agenda is to teach young people a theology of love and justice that we will not have to unlearn,” Lewis said. Religion News Service.

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“The characters in the Bible seem mostly Black, Brown, and caramel… I think now White kids look at this Bible and see brown people and think to themselves, ‘Oh, brown people belong to God too,’” he added.

The authors also hope to encourage children to ask questions and challenge traditional beliefs about God, Jesus and the biblical narrative, he said.

“Did this happen?” Explaining how the storybook presents the resurrection of Jesus, Lewis said: “For me, it’s more important for children to know that love never dies, so I came to this point.”

“It’s actually OK to tell kids from the beginning that some of these stories are about real people and things that really happened, and some of them are made-up stories, but they’re there because they can still teach us real things about God,” Daley-Harris said, referring to Jonah’s story.

The authors acknowledged that readers who interpret the Bible literally may not be the correct target audience for their book.

New children’s storybook Bibles and devotionals hope to bring the message of faith to a progressive readership. (Alishia Abodunde/Getty Images)

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“There will be a group of realists or fundamentalist people who think this is an unwelcome resource,” Daley-Harris said. “But it’s been really interesting to see the response, not just from people who were raised progressive, but from people who grew up in a tradition that no longer suits them, who grew up with a theology, and are looking for a religion that they can grow up with and grow up with their children in.”

Lewis said the book also highlights women in Jesus’ ministry and portrays him as a “feminist.”

“When Shannon and I say we don’t want kids to learn something they need to learn, we don’t want them to learn patriarchy from this Bible story,” he told RNS.

The book’s publisher, Beaming Books, says it hopes to reach progressive Christians looking for “an open-minded Bible.”

“We realized there was a gap in the market for progressive Christians looking for a more open-minded Bible that focuses on love and justice,” said Beaming Books senior acquisitions editor Naomi Krueger. Publishers Weekly.

A Progressive Pride flag and a Black Lives Matter flag are displayed outside a church in New York City. (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

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Krueger said the book aims to be “an antidote to Christian white supremacy,” adding, “The counterculture message is really appropriate for this time.”

“The Fair Love Story Bible” is one of several new titles encouraging broader representation in Christian publications for children.

Hodder Faith, a UK-based Christian publication, published “Come and See: An Invitation to a Radical Encounter with Jesus” last month. The devotional, aimed at readers ages 11 and up, was written by Shannon TL Kearns, who is described as the first openly transgender man ordained to the Old Catholic priesthood, according to the author’s biography.

“If you want to introduce kids to the Bible and still be respected as an LGBTQ person, there aren’t a lot of resources for you,” Hodder Faith publishing director Andy Lyon told Publishers Weekly. “It’s called ‘Come and See’ because it’s about being seen and knowing you belong. You see Jesus, then Jesus sees you.”

Another devotional, “Growing in God’s Love: A Family Devotional,” is out from Westminster John Knox Press. The book offers daily readings that bring “important, progressive faith lessons for all generations” and is aimed at adults and children ages five to 17.

Author Jessica Miller Kelley, an editor at John Knox in Westminster, told Publishers Weekly that she deliberately avoids using gendered language like “mom” or “dad” in devotions other than directly quoting Scripture to make the stories more inclusive of gender diversity and different types of families.

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Early readers of the book praised its emphasis on fairness, inclusion, and diversity.

Krueger said in his report that progressive Christians are looking for more resources that affirm their values ​​and that he expects the number of such projects to increase.