Should Children Learn About God?

“We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.”​—JONATHAN SWIFT, ENGLISH AUTHOR.

SWIFT expressed that thought in the 18th century, but many today would agree with him. In fact, some believe that parents should not have the right to teach their children about God. They feel that children raised in a religious household are somehow disadvantaged.

What do you think? Which of the following statements is most reasonable?

● Parents should not be allowed to teach their children about God.

● Parents should wait until their children grow up before they discuss religious matters with them.

● While the children are young, parents should pass on their own beliefs about God. But as their young ones mature, parents should encourage them to reason on the matter for themselves.

● Children must adopt their parents’ beliefs about God without question.

Does Religion Harm Children?

No caring parent wants to harm a child. But do the facts support the claims of those who would prevent children from learning about God? For decades now, researchers have intensely studied the effect that a parent’s religious beliefs have on children. With what conclusion?

Researchers have found that rather than being a harmful influence, religion can have a positive effect on a child’s development. In 2008 a report published in the journal Social Science Researcha stated: “Religion has been shown to enhance the parent-child bond for both mothers and fathers.” This report also said: “Religion and spirituality appear to be an important part of many children’s lives and are vital to family relationships.” Notice how similar that finding is to what Jesus Christ said: “Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need.”​—Matthew 5:3.

What about the idea that children should grow up before learning about God and religion? That view ignores this fact: A child’s mind is like an empty bucket waiting to be filled. Really, parents face a choice; either fill that “bucket” at home with the moral principles and beliefs that they feel are appropriate or allow the rainstorm of ideas outside the home to fill the child’s mind and heart.

What Is the Secret?

History proves that religion has the potential to fuel bigotry and hatred. So how can parents avoid the outcome described by Jonathan Swift? How can they teach their children beliefs that help them to love others?

The secret lies in finding the answer to three questions: (1) What should children learn? (2) Who should teach them? (3) What methods of teaching work best?

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What Should Children Learn?

“All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness.”​—2 TIMOTHY 3:16.

CHILDREN need to be taught the truth about God. Where can they learn that truth? From the most widely respected religious book in the world, the Bible.

The Bible is like a letter from God. In that letter, God reveals his personality and provides moral guidance for all of his children, both young and old. Notice just some of the teachings contained in the Bible and the lessons that even young children can learn from them.

What does God want us to know about him?

◼ What the Bible teaches: “You, whose name is Jehovah, you alone are the Most High over all the earth.”​—Psalm 83:18.

Lesson: God is not an impersonal force, but he is a real Person who has a distinctive personal name.

◼ What the Bible teaches: “All hearts Jehovah is searching, and every inclination of the thoughts he is discerning. If you search for him, he will let himself be found by you.”​—1 Chronicles 28:9.

Lesson: Jehovah God cares about all of us, including small children. (Psalm 10:14; 146:9) He wants us to learn about him.

◼ What the Bible teaches: “You people must not afflict any . . . fatherless boy. If you should afflict him at all, then if he cries out to me at all, I shall unfailingly hear his outcry.”​—Exodus 22:22-24.

Lesson: Jehovah listens to the prayers of even small children. We can talk to God regularly and express our innermost thoughts and feelings to him.

◼ What the Bible teaches: “Again and again they would put God to the test, and they pained even the Holy One of Israel.”​—Psalm 78:41.

Lesson: Our speech and actions affect Jehovah’s feelings, so we should think before we speak and act.

How should we treat those who are different from us?

◼ What the Bible teaches: “God is not partial, but in every nation the man that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.”​—Acts 10:34, 35.

Lesson: If God accepts people from all backgrounds, we should not discriminate against others just because their skin color or their facial features differ from ours.

◼ What the Bible teaches: “Always [be] ready to make a defense before everyone that demands of you a reason for the hope in you, but doing so together with a mild temper and deep respect.”​—1 Peter 3:15.

Lesson: When discussing religion, we should express our views with conviction but without aggression. We should also show respect to those whose religious beliefs differ from ours.

How should we treat family members?

◼ What the Bible teaches: “Children, be obedient to your parents in everything, for this is well-pleasing in the Lord.”​—Colossians 3:20.

Lesson: Obedient children prove not only that they love their parents but also that they want to please God.

◼ What the Bible teaches: “Continue putting up with one another and forgiving one another freely if anyone has a cause for complaint against another. Even as Jehovah freely forgave you, so do you also.”​—Colossians 3:13.

Lesson: Other people, including our family members, will disappoint us at times. But if we want God to forgive us, we must learn to forgive others.​—Matthew 6:14, 15.

Why be honest and kind?

◼ What the Bible teaches: “Put away falsehood, [and] speak truth each one of you with his neighbor.”​—Ephesians 4:25.

Lesson: When we tell the truth, we imitate God and make him happy. If we develop the habit of telling lies, we become like God’s enemy, the Devil, who is “the father of the lie.”​—John 8:44; Titus 1:2.

◼ What the Bible teaches: “Treat others as you want them to treat you.”​—Matthew 7:12, “Contemporary English Version.”

Lesson: We should be considerate of the feelings, thoughts, and needs of our family members and others in our community. When we show “fellow feeling,” others are more likely to treat us in a kind way.​—1 Peter 3:8; Luke 6:38.

As these examples show, the lessons contained in the Bible can help children to become appreciative, respectful, empathetic adults. But who should teach these lessons to children?

Who Should Teach Children About God?

“A pupil is not above his teacher, but everyone that is perfectly instructed will be like his teacher.”​—LUKE 6:40.

SOME parents feel unqualified to teach their children about God. They may think that they do not have enough education or do not know enough about religion to be good teachers. As a result, they may be inclined to leave this vital task to a relative or to a religious leader.

Who, though, is really in the best position to teach children religious truths and moral principles? Consider what the Bible says on this subject, and compare those statements with what researchers have discovered.

What Is a Father’s Role?

What the Bible teaches: “Fathers, don’t stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”​—Ephesians 6:4, “Holman Christian Standard Bible.”

What researchers have discovered: How do fathers benefit if they develop strong religious convictions? The article Fathers’ Religious Involvement and Early Childhood Behavior, published in 2009, stated: “Involvement in a religious community may help men become better fathers. Religion provides individuals with social support and control as well as a set of teachings and guidelines for how to live one’s life.”

The Bible places great emphasis on the importance of a father’s role in raising and training children. (Proverbs 4:1; Colossians 3:21; Hebrews 12:9) But is that counsel relevant today? In 2009 the University of Florida published an article that discussed the impact that fathers had on their children. The researchers found that children with fathers who were actively involved in their upbringing were more likely to be empathetic and to have a better sense of self-worth. Boys were less likely to misbehave, and girls were more likely to have better mental health. Certainly, the Bible’s advice is still relevant.

How Important Is a Mother’s Role?

What the Bible teaches: “Do not forsake the law of your mother.”​—Proverbs 1:8.

What researchers have discovered: In 2006 the Handbook of Child Psychology stated: “On average, mothers spend between 65% and 80% more time than fathers do in direct one-to-one interaction with their young children, and such ratios hold in many different lands.” With that amount of contact, a mother’s speech, actions, and attitudes have a profound effect on a child’s development.

When a mother and father work together to teach their children the truth about God, they give them at least two precious gifts. First, the children gain the opportunity to form a friendship with their heavenly Father, a friendship that can benefit them throughout life. Second, the children learn by example how a husband and wife should cooperate to reach important goals. (Colossians 3:18-20) While others may be able to assist a father and mother, it is the parents who have the responsibility to teach their children about God and about how God wants a family to function.

How, though, should parents teach their children? What methods are likely to work best?

How to Teach Children About God​—What Methods Work Best?

“These words that I am commanding you today must prove to be on your heart; and you must inculcate them in your son and speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road and when you lie down and when you get up.”​—DEUTERONOMY 6:6, 7.

PARENTS may at times feel overwhelmed by the responsibility of training their children. When they seek advice, however, the sheer volume of counsel on the subject may swamp them further. Relatives and friends are often keen to pass on their suggestions. And books, magazine articles, and Internet sites offer parents a constant stream of sometimes conflicting advice.

The Bible, on the other hand, provides parents not only reliable counsel on what to teach their children but also practical direction on how to teach them. As the Bible verses quoted above indicate, parents need to find some way each day to talk about God to their children. Discussed below are just four Bible-based suggestions that have helped thousands of parents to teach their children about God.

1. Draw lessons from creation. The apostle Paul wrote: “[God’s] invisible qualities are clearly seen from the world’s creation onward, because they are perceived by the things made, even his eternal power and Godship.” (Romans 1:20) Parents can do much to help their children see God as a real Person by drawing attention to God’s creative works and then helping their children discern what qualities of God those creations reveal.

Jesus used this technique when teaching his disciples. For example, he said: “Observe intently the birds of heaven, because they do not sow seed or reap or gather into storehouses; still your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than they are?” (Matthew 6:26) Jesus here highlighted Jehovah’s qualities of love and compassion. But he did more. He helped his disciples reason on how God expressed those qualities toward his children.

Wise King Solomon pointed to the instinctive wisdom God gave to ants, and he used these little creatures to emphasize a valuable lesson. “Go to the ant, you lazy one,” he wrote, “see its ways and become wise. Although it has no commander, officer or ruler, it prepares its food even in the summer; it has gathered its food supplies even in the harvest.” (Proverbs 6:6-8) What a powerful way to teach the value of setting worthwhile goals and then using our God-given strength to achieve them!

Parents can imitate the effective teaching of Jesus and Solomon by doing the following: (1) Ask their children which plants and animals interest them. (2) Learn more about those plants and animals. (3) Draw lessons about God from such creations.

2. Imitate Jesus’ attitude toward those whom he taught. Of all the people who ever lived, Jesus had the most important things to say. Yet, he spent much of his time asking questions. He was keenly interested in the thoughts and feelings of those whom he taught. (Matthew 17:24, 25; Mark 8:27-29) Similarly, parents have many important lessons to teach their children. To be effective, though, they need to imitate Jesus and encourage their children to state freely how they feel.

What if children display a bad attitude or are slow to learn some valuable lesson? Consider the way Jesus dealt with the apostles. They at times argued bitterly among themselves and were slow to learn the benefits of being humble. Yet, Jesus remained patient and repeatedly spoke about the need for humility. (Mark 9:33, 34; Luke 9:46-48; 22:24, 25) Parents who imitate Jesus will patiently correct their children and, if needed, will repeat the same lesson until the children fully grasp its importance.a

3. Teach by example. Parents do well to listen to the counsel the apostle Paul gave to Christians living in Rome. To them he wrote: “Do you, however, the one teaching someone else, not teach yourself? You, the one preaching ‘Do not steal,’ do you steal?”​—Romans 2:21.

That advice is relevant because children are far more impressed by what parents do than by what they say. In fact, parents who practice what they preach are more likely to have children who listen to what their parents teach.

4. Start while the child is young. The apostle Paul’s missionary companion Timothy had an excellent reputation in his community. (Acts 16:1, 2) One reason was that “from infancy” he had been taught “the holy writings.” Timothy’s mother and grandmother not only read the Scriptures to him but also helped him to reason on the truths those writings contain.​—2 Timothy 1:5; 3:14, 15.

Where You Can Find Help

Jehovah’s Witnesses produce a number of publications specifically designed to help parents teach their children the truth about God. Some are written with young children in mind. Others can help parents and their teenage children keep the lines of communication open.b

Of course, before parents can teach their children about God, they need to know the answers to some of the difficult questions that children may raise. For example, how would you answer such questions as the following: Why does God allow suffering? What is God’s purpose for the earth? Where are the dead? Jehovah’s Witnesses would be happy to help you learn the answers to those and other questions so that you and your family can draw close to God.​—James 4:8.

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