Explaining Religion To Your Young Child

So, my 5 1/2 year old son was outside playing, while I was making dinner. Out of nowhere he runs inside and says, "Did you know Jesus came back from the dead on Easter?!" . I'm sure I had a horrified look on my face, and asked him where he heard that. He said, "Wyatt (a boy from his class) told me. He knew that!". I haven't mentioned anything about religion to him, hoping to wait until he was a little older, but i should've known that wouldn't be possible. I said, "Well your daddy and I will have to have a talk with you tonight about something." He says, "About how smart I am?!". I REALLY need advice on how to discuss this with him. ADVICE, PLEASE!!!

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Permalink Reply by Peter on April 21, 2011 at 2:09pm

Well I wasn't talking about telling the child what is true/false, i was merely saying that both cases exist and that he shouldn't have to worry about either (so this is not pressing religion onto him...)

Besides, as I said earlier, you could just focus on presenting the scientific side of things. That in itself will explain the world and how it works. As he understands more of this, the religious talk from his peers will seem less and less influential if not absurd.

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Permalink Reply by Ben Strickland on April 21, 2011 at 1:19am

Aced.

Grow a thinker. You won't always be around to sort out the fairy tales.

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Permalink Reply by Peter on April 21, 2011 at 2:11pm

"Besides, sudden conversions are really more Christianity's thing, no?"

LOL Agreed!

I've heard stuff like "We could all disappear tomorrow, you never know" from a christian... Ahahaha. (I am assuming they were talking about the rapture)

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Permalink Reply by Kris Potter on April 21, 2011 at 3:07am

Tell him that Jesus's resurrection is not fact, nor is it pure fiction. It's a popular folk tale that has been passed down from generation to generation and he'd need to decide based on the fact that no one has ever been resurrected in the history of the human race, to choose if it is true or not true on his own.

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Permalink Reply by Alex Terrones on April 21, 2011 at 3:47am

Tell your son the truth that there is a God. Let him read books about Jesus & the great book the bible.

The bibles New Testament is a great book, as Jesus only speaks the truth. "THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE"

Give the kid a chance to make up his own mind, he just may see the light that you didnt see. I will pray for you.

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Permalink Reply by LSM on April 21, 2011 at 4:19am

"The bibles New Testament is a great book" .. oh really?

Something like this maybe? ..

And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife.

But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.

etc, etc, et bleeding cetera.

Some book you've god there fella. Sure, give that to a five year old.

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Permalink Reply by Apple on April 21, 2011 at 11:35am

I should caution you that all those quotes are from the Old Testament. There are plenty of examples of how the New Testament is also not a perfect guide to morality, so you might want to stick to those in this case as Alex is specifically talking about the New Testament. Otherwise you'll be accused of making a straw man argument.

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Permalink Reply by Jānis Ķimsis on April 21, 2011 at 4:23am

lol

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Permalink Reply by Scarlette Blues on April 21, 2011 at 10:16am

LOL

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Permalink Reply by M on April 21, 2011 at 6:54pm

Which is lovely, only Jesus didn't write the Bible. Ever played the game of "Telephone"? The one where one individual chooses a phrase, then whispers it into the ear of the next person, who does the same, and so on? At the end, the original phrase has often been twisted into a completely unrecognizable version of itself, and all ever-so-innocently. That's your Good Book, my friend. Although, you're right: guiding a child through the reading of the Bible, or stories about Jesus (along with Zeus, the Buddha, the Prophet Mohammed, Hindu gods, etc.) is an excellent way to give them a good foundation on religion.

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Permalink Reply by 3rfh766xglz75 on April 25, 2011 at 1:39am

and they just changed the bible again by replacing a few words with more modern synonyms.

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Permalink Reply by Akshay Bist on April 21, 2011 at 4:48am

i think a good you should watch this movie Stolen Summer about a Irish-Catholic boy who is trying to convert a terminally ill Jewish boy he befriended, who happens to be the son of a Rabbi, so that he can get into heaven.

Its not exactly what you asked for but how both the families, specially the Rabbi deal with this in the movie is pretty interesting & a broad minded approach.