Christian Studies for Junior high

[crblomquist]

I want my daughter to study the Bible again next year (8th grade), but she is beyond the Golden Children's Bible and the three levels of Christian Studies. What does MP recommend for students past this? Does Christian Studies IV work well for this age? Would she just use the Scriptures themselves for a text?Thanks.

[tanya]

You already have this figured out! What CSIV would do for your daughter is to give her an overview of the Bible book by book. Then, we have listed all the drill questions from CSI-III that she can answer. For the ones she can't remember the answers to, we have given the Scripture references that she can go back and re-read in the Bible. Once she has gone back through the Bible in this way, book by book, she should have a good map in her head of where the stories are located, which will be a big help to her from then on. We also give a few key verses for each book along with all the memory verses from CSI-III.

Another option is to do Dorothy Mills' Book of the Ancient World with the study guide. We use it for Christian studies at Highlands Latin School in middle school. It covers the Egyptians, Hebrews, Hittites, Assyrians, Babylonians, etc. so it is a good overview of that part of the Bible we never seem to know much about!

After this review/overview, she will be ready for church history. I have some early church history guides coming, and we have the City of God after that. Hopefully, we can help you through high school.

Cheers,

Tanya Charlton

[crblomquist]

Tanya--

Thanks so much. Will the church history include Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox perspectives?

[clowe]

In the 7th grade students study Dorothy Mills' Ancient History, the nations contemporary with the Old Testament, Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Persia and finallly the intertestament period.

The 8th grade Christian Studies is early church history: the book of Acts, Apostolic Fathers, and Eusebius (the first 300 years of the church to the ascendancy of Constantine). We try very hard to be objective and let the facts speak for themselves, leaving the the student and his family to develop their own perspective. I think we succeed because we have taught these courses to protestants and catholics for many years with very few complaints or problems. Most parents are just happy that their children are getting good solid information with a minimum of bias or interpretation. BTW the Aposotlic Fathers and Eusebius are published by Penguin and are considered Christian classics.

In the 9th grade students read the City of God, again a classic revered by both catholics and protestants. I think we are also adding On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius.

Our goal has always been to develop materials that both catholics and protestants can use with confidence.