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Why historical context, culture, and Scripture matter more than we realize
After I became a mom, I noticed kids' story books about the Bible aren’t very accurate. I looked and looked for picture books that are authentic to the place and time of the first Christmas when Jesus was born. I struggled to find picture books that felt both historically grounded and visually authentic.
Have you noticed this too? Do you want to have more accurate Bible story books to read with your family? I sure do. I value accuracy and honesty and I hope to instill a solid knowledge of the Bible in my daughter. That includes instilling an understanding of the historical and cultural context of the Bible. I don’t believe we can truly understand the Bible and the God who gave it to us without that context.
1. Not Following the Original Biblical Text
Instead of returning to the original text and examining what parts of a familiar Bible story are really there in the biblical text, which parts are missing, and figuring out where extraneous story elements came from, often we assume the version of the story we hold in our mind’s eye is accurate.
Some translations of the Bible made from the original text contain interpretive errors. Throughout history, translation choices have even shaped how biblical figures are portrayed in art. For example, the well-known translation error that resulted in depictions of Moses with horns. Interpretive choices continue to influence how passages are understood in modern translations. Today, I’m glad you and I can explore the original text of the Bible. You don’t need to know Greek or Hebrew to get a good idea of what the original text says (e.g., Interlinear Bible on Bible Hub).
2. Not Representing History
Archaeology continues to yield new discoveries that give us insight into the world of the Bible. We have access to more information than at any other time in history. Facts that weren’t even possible to know when I was a child seeing Bible stories on flannelgraph are now available to anyone who wants to learn. These discoveries can deepen our understanding of Scripture. We can’t claim to know everything, but we can steward the information we have available to us for the benefit of the spiritual formation of our kids.
One particular historical aspect that features front and center in picture book illustrations is clothing. Jessica LM Jenkins of We Who Thirst refers to the commonly depicted clothing of Bible characters (which look the same no matter if it’s Noah or Jesus, thousands of years apart) as “Bible bathrobe.” There is a surprising variety of sculptures, textile fragments, jewelry, art, etc. that can give us great clues on accurate visuals for different times and places.
If you’ve ever wanted a simple way to read the Bible with your family that helps the story make sense through its historical context, I created a free guide to help you get started.
→ Download: How to Read the Bible with Your Child in Ways That Grow Honest Imagination
3. Not Representing the Culture It was Written In
Having experiences outside your own culture aids in identifying that very culture by way of contrast. You might not realize something is ingrained in your culture until you learn about or experience different cultures. A simple example from Western culture is taking for granted that one eats food with a fork, spoon or knife. You might have eaten food from another culture and had a chance to try eating with your hand or other utensils like chopsticks. Did it feel awkward to experience a different way of doing life? Each culture represented in the Bible had different ways of doing things.
There are features of culture which run so deep they can be harder to identify. Ways of thinking, like individualism or collectivism, honor culture or guilt culture, profoundly shape how we understand events. We will end up with some serious misunderstandings if we read our own modern culture into the stories of the Bible.
Why Does Accuracy in Kids' Bible Stories Matter?
What we read to our children shapes how they imagine the world of the Bible, and whether that world feels distant or real. Bible scholars and archaeologists have done important work that helps us understand the Bible in deeper ways and avoid misunderstandings. I create historically honest picture books, faithful to Scripture and grounded in history, to help families form a more honest imagination together. This honest imagination helps connect our hearts to the stories in the Bible and to God himself. (You can download a simple guide for this here.)