Ritröð Guðfræðistofnunar - 01.09.2012, Blaðsíða 138
mikið og mögulegt er, heldur að barnið, með því að spyrja, velta vöngum
og uppgötva, öðlist aukinn skilning og þekkingu.
I lok ritgerðarinnar er tekið dæmi af guðfrœði með börnum, og raktar
samræður níu ára gamals drengs og 41 árs gamals prófessors í ritskýringu
um dæmisögu Jesú um verkamennina í víngarðinum (Matt. 20. 1-16).
Abstract
Until now, Child Theology has not been a topic of discussion among
Icelandic theologists. In Scandinavia, Germany and the United States
of America, this discussion has been ongoing since the mid 1980s. This
paper attempts to clarify the theological, developmental psychological and
pedagogical premises of Child Theology, as well as discussing different
understandings of the concept.
These are: Theology about children, which entails exegesis and interpreta-
tion of Jesus’ remarks on children, theology from the perspective ofchildren
where emphasis is put on the position of children under certain circum-
stances, both in biblical tales and modern times. Child Theology is also
discussed, which deals with research on whether children can independently
contemplate and interpret biblical texts, theology for children which can be
categorised as a support subject of religious education and tries to indentify
which religious and theological subjects should be presented to children
during different periods of development and how to make them meaningful
in the eyes of children. Finally theology with children is discussed, where an
adult discusses existential questions and biblical tales with children and the
role of the adult is not to give answers, but to draw out the experiences
and thoughts of the child on theological subjects. During such discussions,
the goal is not to explain as much as possible to the child, but that the
child, through questions, contemplation and discovery, is granted added
understanding and knowledge.
In the final part of this paper an example is given of theology ivith
children, presenting a discussion between a nine year old boy and a 41 year
old professor in exegesis on Jesus’ parable about the workers in the vineyard
(Matt. 20. 1-16).
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