Teaching Sunday School Led to My Loss of Faith in Christianity

Children helped me see the true nature of the Christian faith

Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’ (Matthew 19:14). Yet, in all honesty, children are better kept away from knowing Jesus or going to church. Being a Sunday School teacher led me to see the absurdities of many Bible stories.

My journey

When I was still a Christian, I was very involved in church ministries. I led youth ministries, facilitated adult small groups, and even preached in Sunday services occasionally. In earlier years, I also took turns teaching in children’s Sunday School.

During those times, I quickly realized that many Bible stories were not suitable for children. It wasn’t just the problem of having age-inappropriate content, but some stories deliver troubling messages. Being a young and fervent Christian, I simply tucked those questions away and swept them under the carpet, so to speak. But after some years, I just could not ignore them anymore. After lots of research, reflections, and conversations with other Christians and non-Christians, I lost my faith eventually.

In this article, I explore some popular Bible stories commonly told in Sunday School classrooms. I give reasons why they don’t teach good moral lessons, and if kids really pay attention, they might sense something is wrong, feel uneasy, and even get traumatized.

Noah’s Ark

Take Noah’s Ark for example. Sunday School teachers love to tell this story because there are lots of animals involved. But what lessons can children learn from this otherwise horrendous narrative of mass murder?

One curriculum teaches the lesson of ‘obeying God’ using this story. Another focuses on God keeping His promise.

In the context of the narrative, failing to obey God would result in the drowning of all family members. It’s not pure obedience; it’s coerced compliance. If a slave were told to work 16 hours a day or gets whipped 100 times, we wouldn’t see his obedience particularly virtuous or inspiring, would we? Hence, if the moral of the story is to obey the one holding absolute authority in case you incur a significant loss, that’s very anticlimactic, to say the least.

In the same manner, what actual moral lesson can we draw from a God who goes through with His promise and kills everyone on the planet except one family? I mean, what can we teach children to learn in all this cruelty of drowning thousands, if not millions, of men, women, and children like the ones attending Sunday School? Nothing constructive, don’t you think?

If a child raises his hand and asks, ‘Did children drown in the flood as well?’, it would be an awkward moment. It can be expected that one or two children, with their vivid imaginations, become emotionally distressed or traumatized after listening to this story.

Joshua and the battle of Jericho

This story can be found in the early chapters of the book of Joshua. This is another example of gruesome Bible stories that make no constructive points.

Do we seriously want to teach our children that it’s ok to invade other people’s territory, taking away their lands and houses, on the ground that it is God’s will? What’s more, if native civilians don’t surrender, should we tell our children that it is therefore justifiable to kill them all, including defenseless women and children?

Some ‘moral’ lesson!

I know some Christians try to rationalize the conquest of Canaan by appealing to historical context. But can the mass murder of non-combatants be justified in ANY historical context? If you think you do, it just gives me more reason to keep my children away from church. Jeez! People actually got brainwashed into believing that invading another country and killing all of their civilians can be morally justified!

Apparently, everything is permissible in God’s name.

Adam and Eve

What could possibly be wrong with this story, you might think? Plenty!

Which parents would put dangerous stuff in the middle of their children’s playground to ‘test’ them? And to add more fun to it, allowing a bad guy to sneak in and tempt them? Yet that’s exactly what God did. What moral lessons could children learn from this? Stay alert and watch out for God’s secretive tricks to tempt you into sinning?

Which parents would cast out their children upon first wrongdoing? Yet that’s what God did.

Oh wait, you might say there is the tree of life in the garden. God does not want them to eat fruit from it in case they live forever. He could only cast them out of the garden. Well then, it sounds like God did not think it through before planting both trees in the garden. Is that it?

What about the doctrine that sin entered the world through Adam and Eve? Should we teach children to blame them for starting all the bad things happening in the world? What good could it possibly do?

Elisha’s curse

How do you explain to children why God would order two bears to kill 42 children or teenagers for just laughing at Elisha’s bald head (2 Kings 2:23–24)? Apparently, you could say that was God’s way of establishing Elisha’s authority (with a straight face).

Some argue that those were not just underage children, but more likely young adults, who posed threat to Elisha’s life.

So it was OK to kill 42 of them then? Because they could be a threat?

How about God advising Elisha to ignore them and walk away when He heard Elisha cursing them? I reckon that’s how most parents would teach children to react, even after they grow up.

No, that would undermine Elisha’s authority. Those kids/young men had to be killed so people around the area would learn to respect the man of God. Is that it? Is God from Sicile or what?

Conclusion

By now, I hope it is clear to you that a lot of Bible narratives make bad stories to tell children, and more importantly, they are just bad stories. Period. They don’t teach positive moral lessons to children or adults. Even I could write better stories that teach better moral lessons myself.

The contents of the Bible simply reflect the limited worldview, values, and reasoning of ancient people. It all makes sense when you think the Bible is just a collection of ancient documents that are not qualitatively different from other ancient mythologies and tales.

I mean, if God really exists, He/She would probably be insulted by Christians attributing the authorship of the Bible to Him/Her.

Further reading

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