When Children Draw Gods

This open access book explores how children draw god. It looks at children’s drawings collected in a large variety of cultural and religious traditions. Coverage demonstrates the richness of drawing as a method for studying representations of the divine. In the process, it also contributes to our understanding of this concept, its origins, and its development. This intercultural work brings together scholars from different disciplines and countries, including Switzerland, Japan, Russia, Iran, Brazil, and the Netherlands. It does more than share the results of their research and analysis. The volume also critically examines the contributions and limitations of this methodology. In addition, it also reflects on the new empirical and theoretical perspectives within the broader framework of the study of this concept. The concept of god is one of the most difficult to grasp. This volume offers new insights by focusing on the many different ways children depict god throughout the world. Readers will discover the importance of spatial imagery and color choices in drawings of god. They will also learn about how the divine's emotional expression correlates to age, gender, and religiosity as well as strategies used by children who are prohibited from representing their god.

Emma wants to draw something beyond spectacular and decides to draw God. She is quick to share her masterpiece with her best friend at school, but he can't see God in her drawing. She realizes the power of her contagious inspiration when she returns to school to find everyone drawing God -- and every picture is different.rent.

As humans charge up the steep slope of technological innovation, digital age media increasingly shapes our perception of everything--even spiritual matters. The next stage of spiritual development may be the product of a digital interface between our own image of the divine, virtual reality technology that produces real perceptions, and with devices that stimulate areas of the brain associated with spiritual experience. This book explores the influence of digital media on spirituality and the impact of the digital environment on our experience of the spiritual world. The author predicts a future in which digital technology and neuroscience will combine to create a new understanding of the divine. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

People who love kids spend a sizeable amount of their adult life obsessing about how their lives would be with kids in it. They wonder how they can be good parents and be their kids' ultimate companion. They actively or passively prepare for this period of their lives and try to figure out ways to connect with their kids. The kids came with a need to express themselves, and it turns out that drawing is one of these needs. Herein lies the problem; the parent cannot draw. If this is your story, we understand how hard it is for you to confront that wrong notion that you cannot be there for your kids. You do not have to feel this way because you can always get help. Now, that help has come in the form of this drawing book. You do not have to feel like you are not doing enough for your kids in the area of creative expression because now, you can always bring out this book and guide them on how to use it to fulfill their drawing needs. The best part of this is that you will be doing it together; you learn as they learn and at the same time, you get to connect with them on a deeper level. So yes, you may not have much artistic or drawing skill, but you can help your kids develop theirs, and this book and the drawing guides in it will help you get them there. You and your kids are about to have the most amazing creative experience - one that you will talk about for years to come.

Every generation faces unique challenges. The first-century Church had Caesar’s lions and the Colosseum. And, while it might seem like an unlikely comparison, the challenge of living with popular culture may well be as serious as persecution was for the saints of old. Today we witness the tremendous power of pop culture to set the pace and priorities of our lives. We simply cannot afford to be indifferent about culture’s influence—nor can we escape it, glibly condemn it, or Christianize it. Cultural expert Ken Myers helps us to engage pop culture from a historical and experiential perspective so that we can live in it with wisdom and discernment.

Offering the most relevant, effective, and transformative approaches to ministry as it develops a feminist and womanist practical theology, this book brings together the best in feminist and womanist scholarship that deals with the work of ministry in a one-volume format.

This is a book about seeing the ultimate mystery as represented by the figure of God. It is not about religion per se, although it makes reference to many of the great religious traditions of the world and their gods. Rather, it is about the presence of the spiritual world and its inhabitants. The author's aim is to attempt to answer the question, How do we see God? through engaging with the images created by a group of children from a number of different cultures and spiritual backgrounds. Through a two-year period, the author travelled the world interviewing more than 500 children, asking them to draw a picture of God, to act and speak as God, and to tell a story about God. This text is a documentation of that journey into the lives and spiritual beliefs of children. Throughout the book, a broad selection of pictures and stories by the children is reproduced and paraphrased. The author offers his own commentaries, not as an analyst in a psychological sense or critic in a literary one, but as a God-seeker trusting in the power of the image to reveal meaning. This unique book will be of primary interest to professionals in the field of psychology, especially child and family therapists, as well as art and drama therapy, sociology, and theology. The book will also have appeal to parents and children who are looking for ways to understand their belief systems in relationship to others.

Angela Spencer spent most of her free time trying to escape from her reality, an adopted family that never fully accepted her. Most days after school, she could be found under a tree, reading about far off worlds. She wanted nothing more than to go anywhere but where she was. Then one day, her teacher, Mr. Montgomery told her she could. Her real family was waiting for her in a world where magic was real, a world ruled by the Four Gods. She even had a sister eagerly waiting to meet her. She couldn't believe what he was telling her, but he managed to get her there. When she got there, she learned that there was a catch: she had to save it. The world was unstable, but the Four Gods had a plan. Angela and her teacher were the keys. Convinced the whole thing was a dream, she ran away. What she didn't know was that there were forces that didn't want the Four Gods' plan to succeed. The elders were a mysterious group that had worked for generations to undermine belief in the Four Gods, even to the point of outlawing the old stories. Even while Mr. Montgomery was searching for her, the elders sent soldiers after her. Aided by trees that spoke in her mind, wizards, and even purple bears, Angela managed to stay hidden for a while. Half convinced she was losing her mind, she started accepting the strangeness around her. Still, she couldn't accept that she was so important to anyone. It was too much for her to think that the fate of an entire world was in her hands.