Teaching Your Children About Christian Mythology

Ancient Greek buildings and structures in Athens (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you are a parent with young children residing in a predominately Christian country such as the United States, you can be sure of one thing: it is only a matter of time until your children hear about Christianity. They will hear about it from their peers and from other adults. Much of what they hear will be markedly inconsistent with your views on the subject. Perhaps it would be a good idea for you to tell them about Christianity before they hear the "good news" from those who actually believe it.

Secular parents do not have many resources available to them to help with these sorts of conversations. Where should a secular parent point a curious child for the purpose of learning more about Christianity?

Chrystine Trooien is raising money on Kickstarter for an interesting project: an illustrated children's book on Christian mythology. She describes Christian Mythology for Kids as "a paraphrase of the bible and other christian myths from an unbiased secular viewpoint." It sounds like it could be a useful way for secular parents to teach their children about Christianity from a reality-based perspective.

From the project description:

Today, more than ever before, parents are raising their children free from religion. We have very few secular tools to teach our children about the Christian religions that still surrounds us. Secular children encounter bible stories from their peers, through pop culture, and from well intentioned relatives. Oftentimes the message that is delivered along with these stories is one of fear, promises or simply trying to convince young minds that these stories are somehow historical.

When I was a child, I loved reading about mythology. I found those ancient Greek and Roman gods fascinating, and this would start me thinking about how interesting it was that humans created gods that were so much like them. Unfortunately, it would take me quite awhile to realize that the Christian god was no less mythical than these gods. I would think that a book like this could be a great resource for secular parents.

Check out Chrystine's Kickstarter page here.