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A Very Grown-up Children's Bible

The Jesus Storybook Bible is as theological as it is charming.

I couldn't. I had to bowdlerize the Bible to make it accessible and acceptable to kids. At what age would they be ready to hear the story unexpurgated? More importantly, at what age would I be able to tell the story in its full Christological significance? The truth is, the Bible is an adult book. Of necessity, we must distort it to teach it to children.

But, every story whispers Jesus' name. Samson's story may be a uniquely hard case, and I notice Sally Lloyd-Jones doesn't tell it. But she manages to show again and again the presence of Christ in all the Old Testament Scriptures, and the presence of the Old Testament Scriptures in the life of Christ.

Sometimes she does this with startling insight: Her take on the story of Leah and Rachel is an ancient reading of the text that points straight to the gospel and the doctrine of election. Her telling of the woman's anointing of Jesus in Simon's home in Luke 7 connects her act of adoration with Samuel's anointing of David in 1 Samuel.

Lloyd-Jones tells us at the beginning of the book that the story of the Bible is a story that could have ended abruptly with the Fall, but didn't, because God loved his children too much to let that happen. She ends with John in exile on Patmos, writing down his vision, struggling to cram all that he saw into one book. So when he came to the end of his book, he didn't write "The End."

Because, of course, that's how stories finish. (And this one's not over yet)
So instead, he wrote: "Come quickly, Jesus!"
Which, perhaps, is really just another way of saying … To be continued …

What follows is a paraphrase of John 1:11–13, and an invitation to say yes to Jesus and receive his wonderful gift.

Because, you see, the most wonderful thing about this Story is—it's your story, too!

I'm hoping to invite my adult friends over for an evening with the Story. It will help some of us (well, me) to retool our theology a bit. We'll pass The Jesus Storybook Bible around and read it aloud, taking time to look at the pictures. I think it can be done, but even if we don't finish, it will be okay, because the story is still unfolding anyway.

Ben Patterson is campus pastor at Westmont College and a contributing editor to Christianity Today.

Begin slideshow of the story of the Fall (Genesis 3) from The Jesus Storybook Bible.



Related Elsewhere:

The Jesus Storybook Bible is available from ChristianBook.com and other retailers.

USA Today featured The Jesus Storybook Bible in its article on children's' Bibles.


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Comments

Displaying 1–3 of 5 comments

Steve

March 04, 2008  11:55pm

Thank you for this review! The book is incredible for our six-year-old daughter but also for my wife and me. Our daughter absolutely loves it and we've read it to her cover-to-cover twice already in the two months we've owned it. It is both moving and profound. -steve www.resourcinglifechange.com

Shane Trammel

March 04, 2008  10:05pm

Ben, you can't be serious. You say, "The truth is, the Bible is an adult book. Of necessity, we must distort it to teach it to children." Where on earth did you get the idea that the bible is an adult book. Please do tell. We must distort it. Say that again please. Since when are we to distort the Word of God. http://blog.shanetrammel.com

Tim

March 04, 2008  1:46pm

We have a 7 month old and we read from his Jesus Storybook Bible every night and he LOVES it already. Sometimes my wife and I find ourselves in tears remembering again the sweetness of God's grace. Every story really does "whisper His name".

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