Christians may be “missing” teaching children about the resurrection, a researcher into their religious development has suggested.
The Revd Joanna Stephens, a researcher in religious cognition and the development of belief at the University of Nottingham, has interviewed more than 100 children for an international study funded by the Templeton Foundation.
“What struck me more from the perspective of the Church of England . . . is I think we’ve missed teaching children about the resurrection,” she said. “Does Jesus have a shadow?” was one of the questions that she had asked. “A lot of the children have struggled with that, and even the Christian children, because they say ‘Well, Jesus is dead; so he used to have a shadow but he doesn’t now.’ And you ask, ‘Does God need to eat? Does Jesus need to eat?’ ‘Well, Jesus used to eat, but he’s dead now.’”
This was a really interesting interview about an international study exploring the development of children's beliefs. Are they only familiar with half the Easter story? "Jesus is dead; so he used to have a shadow but he doesn’t now." https://t.co/8FvvVIPVhF
— Madeleine Davies (@MadsDavies) July 21, 2023