Children’s Bibles in America: A Reception History of the Story of Noah’s Ark in US Children’s Bibles

Description

Russell W. Dalton’s Children’s Bibles in America explores the variety of ways in which Bible stories have been adapted, illustrated, and retold for children throughout U.S. history. This reception history of Bible stories as they appear in children’s bibles provides striking examples of the multivalency and malleability of biblical texts, and offers a ground-level picture of American culture and American religion in their most basic forms. Dalton demonstrates the ways in which children’s bibles reflect and reveal America’s diverse and changing beliefs about God, childhood, morality, and what must be passed on to the next generation. Dalton examines the ways in which the story of Noah’s ark has been adapted and appropriated to serve a variety of social agendas. Throughout American history, the image of God in children’s bible adaptations of the story of Noah has ranged from that of a powerful, angry God who might destroy children at any time to that of a friendly God who will always keep children safe. At the same time, Noah has been lifted up as a model of virtues ranging from hard work and humble obedience to positive thinking and counter-cultural protest. Children’s bibles have been among the most popular and influential types of religious publications in the United States, providing many Americans with their first formative experience of the Bible and their faith. Scholars and students of the Bible, reception history, American religious history, religion and culture, and religious education will all find food for thought in this study. Cover Title Copyright Dedication Contents Acknowledgments List of Figures Introduction: The Significance and Scope of This Study I.1. A Reception History of Children’s Bibles as the Source of Fruitful Academic Inquiry I.2. The Scope of this Study I.3. Summary of Chapters Chapter 1. Retelling Bible Stories for Children: Changing and Reframing the Story of Noah 1.1. Biblical Literacy: Learning the Story of Noah for Its Own Sake 1.2. Changing the Story of Noah from the Genesis Account 1.2.a. Embellishing the story of Noah 1.2.b. Abridgments 1.2.c. Inserting moral and theological lessons, explanations and apologies 1.2.d. Illustrating the story 1.3. Children’s Bibles’ Claims and Caveats Concerning Staying Faithful to the Canonical Text 1.3.a. Jewish children’s Bibles: Passing on the original text and midrash 1.3.b. Christian children’s Bibles’ approaches to retelling the story 1.4. Conclusion Chapter 2. The Bible as the Revelation of God: The Story of Noah and the Character of God 2.1. Introduction 2.2. Stories of a God of Wrath and Judgment 2.2.a. Puritan theology, mortality rates, and childhood development studies 2.2.b. Noah’s ark as the story of God’s wrathful judgment on the world 2.3. Stories of a Less Frightening and More Long-suffering God 2.3.a. Warning the wicked mockers: Using embellishments to soften the story of the flood 2.3.b. A dialogue between children and a wise and loving parent 2.3.c. Euphemisms and allegories 2.3.d. Conclusion 2.4. Stories of a Friendly God Who Keeps Children Safe 2.4.a. Children’s Bibles for the very young: God our friend who keeps us safe 2.4.b. The case of the Brick Bible: Against the tide 2.4.c. Concluding remarks on stories of a friendly God who keeps children safe 2.5. The Character of Allah in Children’s Qur’ans 2.6. Conclusions Chapter 3. The Bible as a Sourcebook of Salvation: The Story of Noah as a Story About Salvation in Jesus Christ 3.1. American Christianity’s Focus on Jesus 3.2. Noah as a Type of Christ 3.2.a. Typological interpretation 3.2.b. Noah’s ark described as a “type” of Christ in early nineteenth-century American children’s Bibles 3.3. The Story of the Deluge as an Altar Call to Christ in the Nineteenth Century 3.3.a. Revivalism in nineteenth-century America 3.3.b. Revivalists’ use of the story of Noah as a call to salvation 3.3.c. The reason the wicked needed to be punished and people need salvation 3.3.d. Nineteenth-century children’s Bibles using the story of Noah as a call to repentance and salvation from God’s judgment through Jesus Christ 3.4. Twentieth-Century Connections to Christ in the Story of Noah 3.5. Noah’s Ark as a Type of the Church in Roman Catholic Children’s Bibles 3.6. Noah Talks to Jesus in Seventh-Day Adventist Children’s Bibles 3.7. Twenty-first-Century Stories of Noah’s Ark as Part of the Entire Bible’s Story of Redemption History 3.8. Conclusions Chapter 4. The Bible as a Book of Virtues: Noah as a Model of Virtues and Vices 4.1. Philosophical, Theological, and Educational Shifts in America’s Understanding of Children and Childhood 4.2. Noah as the Good Man in the Midst of Sinners 4.2.a. Standing apart from society 4.2.b. Standing apart even when others think you are crazy 4.2.c. “Trying” to do what is right 4.3. Noah as a Model of Obedience 4.3.a. Noah, a man of obedience 4.3.b. Using embellishments, commentary, and repetition to underscore Noah’s obedience 4.3.c. Minding Noah 4.3.d. The practical benefits of obedience 4.4. Noah, the Hard Worker 4.5. Noah, the Man who Cared for Animals and the Environment 4.5.a. Caring for animals 4.5.b. Caring for the environment 4.6. Noah as a Model of Other Virtues 4.6.a. Controlling one’s anger 4.6.b. Bravery 4.6.c. Prayer 4.6.d. Positive thinking 4.6.e. Kindness, peace, and harmony 4.6.f. Trust 4.6.g. Thankfulness 4.6.h. Patience 4.6.i. Fulfilling gender roles 4.7. The Story of Noah and the Romantic Ideal of the Pure and Innocent Child 4.8. The Vices of Noah and Ham: The Curious Case of Drunken, Naked Noah 4.8.a. Noah’s sin of drunkenness 4.8.b. Redeeming Noah as a role model 4.8.c. Honor your parents 4.8.d. The curse of Canaan and the rationale for slavery in America 4.8.e. George Peltz’s Grandpa Stories: It wasn’t Noah’s fault, Ham was very wicked, so slavery is a reasonable consequence 4.8.f. Concluding remarks on the use of the story of drunken, naked Noah 4.9. Conclusions Chapter 5. The Bible and American Children’s Literature: The Story of Noah as History and Amusement 5.1. America’s Critical Attitude toward Fiction and Fairy Tales in Children’s Literature 5.2. Noah and the Flood Presented as an Historical Event 5.2.a. Questioning the Genesis account of a worldwide flood 5.3. Entertaining Children’s Literature and Children’s Bibles in the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries 5.3.a. Noah’s ark as a fun boat-ride with anthropomorphic animal friends 5.4. Late Twentieth and Early Twenty-first Century Dinosaurs on the Ark 5.5. Conclusion Chapter 6. Conclusions 6.1. The Remarkable Multivalency and Malleability of Bible Stories and Religion in America 6.2. Choosing Children’s Bibles? 6.2.a. Do not use the Bible with children 6.2.b. Have children read a full translation of the canonical text of the Bible itself 6.2.c. Choosing a children’s Bible that attempts to stay close to the text of the Bible 6.2.d. Choosing a children’s Bible that agrees with your theological perspective 6.3. For Further Study Bibliography Index of Children’s Bibles and Other Bible-Related Books for Children, Sorted by Eras and Listed Alphabetically Index of References Index of Authors