The Children's Bible
by Golden Books
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Book Summary Information
Author: Golden BooksBrand: Random House
Illustrator: Jose Miralles
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-07-25
ISBN: 0307165205
Number of pages: 512
Publisher: Golden Inspirational
Book Reviews of The Children's Bible
Book Review: Not Suitable for Catholic Children
Summary: 2 Stars
The Golden Children's Bible is recommended by some Catholic homeschooling curriculum providers. This children's book is supposedly a collaborative effort between Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant scholars. However, I did not see any evidence of input from the Catholic scholars. In skimming over the text, this seems to be a distinctly Protestant Bible. I noted a number of areas that would be problematic for Catholics:
The first red flag is the translation of Genesis 3:15. My Catholic (Douay-Rheims) Bible says:
"I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel."
The reference is to Mary, the new Eve, and the symbolism is a rich and important part of our faith. Think of Our Lady of Grace crushing the snake with her heel. I love that image! Now in the Golden Children' Bible it says:
"I shall make the woman your enemy and her children the enemies of your children. They shall wound you in the head and you shall wound them in the heel."
It just doesn't have the force (or fidelity) of Mary crushing the head of the snake. It loses all of the symbolism of Mary as the new Eve. Eve brought sin into our lives by yielding to the snake, whereas Mary carried our Salvation in her womb and hence through her yielding to God's will she metaphorically stomped on the head of the snake (which symbolizes evil).
Another red flag is the beginning of St. Luke, where the Archangel Gabriel appears to Mary. In the Golden Children's Bible the angel says, not "Hail, full of grace," but rather, "Hail, most favored one." Again, a seemingly small change, but it makes a big difference as to whether children can discern that the opening words to the Hail Mary came from this passage. It also diminishes the teaching that Mary was not just most favored among women, but literally full of God's grace.
Next, in Matthew 6 where Our Lord teaches us to pray, the Golden Children's Bible tacks on a doxology to the end of the Our Father, so that their version of the prayer ends with "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen." This is putting words into Our Lord's mouth that He did not say. Catholics do not add these words to the Our Father. This is not how we pray.
So, two of our most important prayers, taken right out of the Bible, are distorted in this text. What message does this give our children?
These errors were enough for me to rule out this text. There might be more errors contained within; I did not feel I needed to read more. There are lots of pretty pictures and it's a huge book, but it's not worth exposing children to the errors. Children should be able to trust that their "Bible stories" should contain only truth. I don't know why anybody would recommend this book for Catholic children. There are better choices.
Summary of The Children's Bible
The Children's Bible consists of six parts, parts one through four drawn from the Old Testament, parts five and six from the New Testament.Christianity Books
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