- 384 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
The Spiritual Life of Children
About this book
A look at faith through the voices of children from varied religious backgrounds, by the Pulitzer-winning author of
The Moral Intelligence of Children.
A New York Times Notable Book
What do children think about when they consider God, Heaven and Hell, the value of life in the here and now, and the inevitability of death? Child psychiatrist, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, and Harvard professor Robert Coles spent thirty years interviewing hundreds of children—from South America and Europe to Africa and the Middle East—who are developing concepts of faith even as they struggle to understand its contradictions.
Be they Catholic or Protestant, Jewish children from Boston, Pakistani children in London, agnostics, Native Americans, or young Christians in the American South, they offer honest, enlightening and sometimes startling ideas of a spiritual existence. A Hopi girl who knows for a fact that we are resurrected as birds; an African American child who believes God exists as a hurricane to "blow away" drug dealers; a young Christian who needs his faith to cope with the death of his sister, lest she be just "a big heartache to us till the day we die"; and a Tennessee child who rationalizes his belief by admitting that "if there's no God, that's all there is, ashes."
The Spiritual Life of Children is "a remarkable book. The generosity of vision that characterizes Dr. Coles's enterprise enables him to create a climate where words of great beauty and truthfulness can be spoken." — The New York Times
A New York Times Notable Book
What do children think about when they consider God, Heaven and Hell, the value of life in the here and now, and the inevitability of death? Child psychiatrist, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, and Harvard professor Robert Coles spent thirty years interviewing hundreds of children—from South America and Europe to Africa and the Middle East—who are developing concepts of faith even as they struggle to understand its contradictions.
Be they Catholic or Protestant, Jewish children from Boston, Pakistani children in London, agnostics, Native Americans, or young Christians in the American South, they offer honest, enlightening and sometimes startling ideas of a spiritual existence. A Hopi girl who knows for a fact that we are resurrected as birds; an African American child who believes God exists as a hurricane to "blow away" drug dealers; a young Christian who needs his faith to cope with the death of his sister, lest she be just "a big heartache to us till the day we die"; and a Tennessee child who rationalizes his belief by admitting that "if there's no God, that's all there is, ashes."
The Spiritual Life of Children is "a remarkable book. The generosity of vision that characterizes Dr. Coles's enterprise enables him to create a climate where words of great beauty and truthfulness can be spoken." — The New York Times
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Yes, you can access The Spiritual Life of Children by Robert Coles in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Theology & Religion & Developmental Psychology. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Index
Aaron (American Jewish child in Israel), [>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>]
Al (Massachusetts child), [>]–[>]
Alice (Massachusetts child), [>], [>]–[>]
Andy (Boston child), [>]–[>]
Angelico, Fra, [>]
Angelo Musicante (painting), [>]
Anna (Hungarian child), [>]–[>]. [>]
Anna (Massachusetts child), [>]–[>]
Asif (Pakistani London child), [>]–[>]
Aunts, [>], [>], [>]; beliefs of, [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>]; death of, [>]–[>]; relations with children, [>]–[>]
Avram (Massachusetts child), [>]–[>], [>], [>]
Bar mitzvah, [>], [>]
Barth, Karl, [>]
Belief: in God, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>], [>], [>], [>]; Islamic, [>]; in Jesus, [>], [>], [>]; Jewish, [>]–[>]; religious, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>]. See also Catholic children, beliefs of; Jewish children, beliefs of Bernadette of Lourdes, [>]–[>], [>]. [>]
Betsy (Massachusetts child), [>]- [>]. [>]–[>]. [>]
Bible, [>], [>], [>]; influence of, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]; New Testament, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>]; Old Testament, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]; reading of, [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]
Birth of the Living God, The (Rizzuto), [>]–[>]
Black children, [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>]; beliefs of, [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>]
Bluest Eye, The (Morrison), [>]
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, [>]
Boston (Massachusetts), [>]–[>], [>]
Carl (Massachusetts child), [>]–[>], [>]–[>]. [>]–[>]
Carrie (Massachusetts child), [>]
Catholic children, [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>], [>]; belie...
Table of contents
- Title Page
- Table of Contents
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Introduction
- Psychoanalysis and Religion
- Method
- The Face of God
- The Voice of God
- Young Spirituality: Psychological Themes
- Young Spirituality: Philosophical Reflections
- Young Spirituality: Visionary Moments
- Plates
- Representations
- Christian Salvation
- Islamic Surrender
- Jewish Righteousness
- Secular Soul-Searching
- The Child as Pilgrim
- Notes
- Index
- About the Author