Children’s Theology as a Theology for Children

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Abstract

The contemporary concept of religious education features a postulate which says that when talking with children about God, children should be treated as the subject of theological reflection. It is because children can “go on” about God, theologize, create their own theodicy and interpret the world around them in their own way. On the basis of such experiences and postulates, a new theological discipline called children’s theology – practised for many years at universities in western Europe – was created. One can distinguish its three interrelated aspects: theology of children, i.e. their own theological reflection, children’s independent theologizing; theology with children, i.e. joint theologizing involving adults and children, asking theological questions and answering them; theology for children, i.e. deduction-free introduction of children to academic theology. The third dimension is not well developed theoretically. The present article outlines a discourse on its essence, criteria for the selection of contents and the way of their conveyance, as well as its significance for such areas of practical theology as catechetics or homiletics.