Bible Story Teachings: A Survey of Children’s Bible Stories about Creation in 19th Century Britain

Abstract

Every retelling of a story is an interpretation, and children’s Bible stories are no exception. This paper analyzes changes made to the Biblical story of creation in a collection of thirteen Bible stories published in 19th century Britain. The aim of this paper is to answer two questions: what purpose did the story of creation serve in Bible stories in 19th century Britain, and what changes were made to the story to serve this purpose? Common themes and changes made to the Bible stories discussed here suggest that the story was told to children for various reasons. For many, the creation narrative was used to familiarize young children with the story, and changes were aimed to simplify the story. For others, the original sin was closely tied to Jesus’ atonement, and in stories that stress this, Jesus often shows up as an additional character. Moreover, many versions of this story add lessons to impart moral or didactic advice to their audience. Overall, analyzing changes made to children’s Bibles stories reveals how authors changed the story of creation to influence their intended audiences.