Children Form Mental Images Of God Book Report

The reading that struck me so far was the reading about how children formulate ideas about God. I initially found it quite intriguing because I am very passionate about working with children. Understanding “How do children learn about God?” is something that I have always been interesting. How does one teach God to a person with such little understanding of the world? This is a question that I have recently been challenged with. When I read that “children form mental images of God based on their relationship to their parents” I was not surprised by that. Children form images about many things based their parents. I was quite surprised however that many people maintain those childhood images of God even as adults.

I found it amazing that the

When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.” In order for us to put aside our childish ways we must understand those inaccurate images and thoughts that we have. Nelson says, “We will not be able to move toward spiritual maturity unless we understand there may be ideas of God that need correction.” Some people take their childhood views of God and develop an immature perspective of religion. Like Sheila from the book, many people develop into people who see religion as personal. “It is very self-center and requires little obligation on their part.” It is important for us to seek understanding about our childhood images of God so that we may be able to change wrong ideas.

Recently at my church bible study we discussed a similar subject. We talked about people who use God for the “perks” but never sought to deepen their relationship with Him. It is almost as if God is the parent that you go to when you want something and desert when you get it. I think that discussion directly connects to this text because most people who are “surface level Christians” start these actions as children. If we were able to figure out their deep understanding about God then we may be able to deconstruct those ideas so that people can walk into the mature Christians God is calling them to