Scholars have researched the role of parents in the development of the child. Families play a critical role in the development of a young child. According to Freud, many adult symptoms of anxieties are rooted in childhood experiences, and that a child’s development would influence how the child would behave as an adult and that their actions may correlate to something that occurred in their childhood. Erikson’s theory of ego development stated that the ego, which is the centre of each person’s individuality, could not be understood in isolation from the others and the wider world around it. Research has also been done on the way that a person’s faith develops. In his book, Stages of Faith, Fowler developed a theory of six stages that people go through as their faith matures. Keeley, combined his knowledge of education with his passion for children’s ministry and published a book with the title, Helping Our Children Grow In Faith. As a theology student with a background in Early childhood development, the researcher believes that these two academic areas should be utilised together to assist parents in the process of the child’s faith development during its formative years. Osmer’s core task of Practical Theology, and its four questions, will be used to determine parents’ roles in the faith development of their children. Empirical data gathered in a study by Nel and Van der Westhuizen will be used. When all four questions are answered, this study will deduce useful guidelines for parents. The importance of the role that parents play in the faith development of children is immense. A baby’s or an infant’s interaction with his or her parents forms the basis on which he or she will build their developing faith. If this foundation is not placed down correctly, problems might arise later in the child’s faith development.
A study conducted by Nel and Van der Westhuizen (
Faith development theory and research have focused on a generic understanding of faith that sees it as foundational to social relations, to personal identity, and to the making of personal and cultural meanings. (Fowler & Dell
To be able to discuss the faith development of a child, one must first ask what faith development is? Many scholars have formulated definitions on how faith development can be categorised (see Dettoni
Faith development is the process of growing and changing physically, cognitively, spiritually and emotionally in the understanding of our faith, which can be defined as your relationship with God, and the people who have an impact or influence on this relationship, for example, family, friends, people who attend the same congregation, reverent or catechesis teacher. Martin Luther outlines the ‘who’ that are responsible for the fostering, inspiring, directing and teaching in this process of faith development, when he calls upon a partnership between government officials, pastors and parents to take responsibility for the teaching and training of the children who form part of their faith communities (Arand
Of these three groups, Luther placed the greatest emphasis on the family. From the very beginning of the evangelical movements, parents were enlisted as valued allies in the formation of holy households. (p. 95)
Although there has been an increase in research on the faith development of children during the last two decades, Fowler provides individuals with a framework to identify where they find themselves, and those around them, in terms of faith development (Love
The argument that family structure plays no role is questioned by many research results (Van Staden
Osmer’s (
In the past decades, various studies have indicated that families play an appreciable influence on the religiosity and religious involvement of young people (Benson & Eklin
Many of the respondents of this study, 65% of them, felt that families play an integral part of the Christian faith (Van Staden
Person playing largest role in faith development as a child.
Largest role in faith development | Percentage |
---|---|
Mother | 81 |
Father | 66 |
Reverend | 44 |
Grandparents | 30 |
Sibling | 17 |
Other family member | 11 |
From these statistics, it becomes clear that both parents, but especially mothers, play a larger role in the faith development of children. Grandparents also seem to play a larger role in faith development, and siblings and other family members play a smaller role, but still form part of the people who play a role. The second part of the question asked respondents which person currently plays a role in their faith development. Where parents played the largest role when they were children and their reverends only came in third, with 44%, the statistics for people who currently play a role in their faith development differs. Reverends now play the largest role, with 48%. Mothers now play the second largest role, with 47%, and fathers the third largest role with 38% (Van Staden
According to Van Staden (
In the above-mentioned study, respondents were asked to answer questions about the faith forming habits that took place in their homes as well as the examples set by their parents regarding faith development. During these reflections, 95% of the respondents indicated that their values as Christians were influenced by the values that they saw modelled by their parents, and 91% indicated that their choices are influenced by the values modelled to them by their parents (Avenant
Although a high percentage of the respondents in this study attended church with their families on a regular basis, a much smaller number indicated that their parents spoke to them about their faith. According to Wuthnow (
When taking into account the important role that parents play, according to studies, in the faith development of young children, and the importance of regularly practicing faith and religion at home, the importance of parents in the faith development of children cannot be denied. Because of this, it is important to take into account faith development theories to better understand how this influence happens.
Osmer’s second task of practical theology (
In 1981, James W. Fowler
Westerhoff’s (
For Fowler (
Fowler (
When determining the role that parents play in the faith development of their children during the formative years, the first two stages are of importance, as the children would pass through these stages from birth to seven years of age.
James Fowler names this early, infancy state of being as ‘primal faith’. During infancy, the time from birth to two years, faith development can be described as undifferentiated faith. This is a time before language, and conceptual thoughts are possible. The infant is forming a basic sense of trust and of being at home in the world. The infant is also forming what Fowler (
More physical and neurological growth and development occurs in the first year of life than during any other life stage (Fowler & Dell
Anxiety and mistrust have their own developmental pattern of emergence that caregivers’ consistency and dependability help to offset (Erikson
This stage correlates with Piaget’s sensorimotor stage. The sensorimotor stage is the first of the four stages in cognitive development which ‘extends from birth to the acquisition of language’ (Tuckman & Monetti
The intuitive-projective stage characterises the child of two to six or seven. In young children, gross motor, fine motor and cognitive development are intertwined processes related to the maturation timetables of the central and peripheral nervous systems. Neurons are migrating, proliferating and making more complex connections (Fowler & Dell
During this stage, speech and symbols are used to organise sensory experience, and cause-effect relationships are poorly grasped. The child’s logic is episodic and intuitive. Fantasy and reality interpenetrate, which leads to values that are shaped by stories. One of the strengths of this stage is the birth of imagination and its ability to unify experience through powerful images. Faith development may be limited by the fact that unrestrained or destructive images can terrorise the child (Parker
Cognitively, the toddler is in transition between Piagetian stages (Fowler & Dell
Children attempt to form images that can hold and order the mixture of feelings and impressions evoked by their encounters with the newness of both everyday reality and the penumbra of mystery that surrounds and pervades it. Death becomes a conscious focus as a source of danger and mystery. Experiences of power and powerlessness orient children to a frequently deep existential concern about questions of security, safety and the power of those on whom they rely for protection (Fowler & Dell
There is, in this stage, the possibility of aligning powerful religious symbols and images with deep feelings of terror and guilt, as well as of love and companionship. Such possibilities give this stage the potential for forming deep and long-lasting emotional and imaginal orientations – both for good and for ill (Fowler
During this stage, children integrate and conceptualise God in the way that society has ingrained it into them through stories, fantasy and dramatic representations. The things that influence this conceptualisation of God would be plays or puppet shows of Bible stories, stories told during Christian holidays and simplistic prayers. These would be the acts that children draw their information about religious ideas from (Newberg
During the first 2 years of a child’s life, he or she develops basic trust and empathy, or a lack thereof, with the one’s providing care. The quality of interactions in this phase underlies all future faith development for the individual. When thought and language begin to open the child up to the use of symbols in speech and ritual play, the child moves on to Stage 1: Intuitive-projective faith, which is typical of children ages 2 through 7. Here the child is egocentric. In this stage, the child’s imagination is formed. But in this stage, reality is not well differentiated from fantasy. For this reason, adults preaching about the negative aspects of religion – the devil and the evils of sin – can cause great harm to a child of this age, leading him towards a very rigid, brittle and authoritarian personality as an adult. When a child attains the capacity for concrete operational thinking, he or she can begin to move towards the second of James Fowler’s stages.
Westerhoff (
there is a difference between learning about the Bible and living as a disciple of Jesus Christ. We are not saved by our knowledge, our beliefs, or our worship in the church; just as we are not saved by our actions or our religion. We are saved by the anguish and love of God, and to live according to that truth is to have faith. (p. ad loc)
He asks the question, ‘Will our children have faith?’, not ‘will our children believe?’, because ‘faith’ is more than the totality of our beliefs. According to Westerhoff (
As this article only focuses on the role that parents play during a child’s formative years (birth to age 7), only the ‘Experienced faith’ stage is of relevance.
In the early years of life, we often state that faith is more ‘caught’ than ‘taught.’ Westerhoff (
The key to experienced faith in early childhood is observation and reaction. Children observe love and faith in their interaction with adults and react to what they experience. At this stage, they are too young to consciously think about faith, but they demonstrate unwavering faith. The needs at this stage are to experience trust, love and acceptance. According to Westerhoff (
How do these theories relate to the question ‘why parents play a role in the faith development of their children?’
According to Fowler (
Fowler (
Westerhoff (
The following practical guidelines can be deducted from these ideas on faith development.
Although it seems implausible that any faith development could take place at this age, Fowler’s work shows that it is important for children to have a healthy basis to build their faith on. Westerhoff’s ideas on faith development (Westerhoff
Key words during this stage are imagination, visual, egocentric and example.
As the child’s imagination plays a big role in their development (Fowler
Because the child can still be egocentric, parents should address their individual needs when it comes to their faith and its development. A simple scenario would be that instead of dealing with death, heaven and the afterlife in general, to wait until death has a personal impact on the child’s life and then raising the subject with the child and explaining how it fits into his or her faith and religion.
During this stage, children acquire knowledge mainly through observation (Fowler
Westerhoff (
Osmer’s third task of practical theology (
The fifth book of the Torah was known in Jewish circles as ‘הדברים אלה’ [these are the words] (Harrison
It is important to note that this section (Dt 6:4–9) begins in Deuteronomy 5 where it is stated that Moses called ‘כל־ישׂראל’ [all of Israel]. The reason for this calling together of all Israel is to teach them the ‘statutes and ordinances’ of the Lord (Dt 5:1), so that they may organise their communal (including family) life according to the Lord’s purposes (Biddle
dependent on others for their sense of identity, for their understanding of their role and status in society, for clues to the duties and rights they have, and for indications of what is honorable and shameful behavior. (Neyrey
Thus, the responsibility of the parents to educate the child was not one of individual responsibility, but because they formed part of ‘כל־ישׂראל.’
Jewish children were considered as one of the most important parts of all of Israel. They believed that children were most dear to the heart of God and that their birth is a cause of celebration (Gn 21:6–7). This importance of childbirth is shown clearly in the narrative of God’s interaction with Abraham where one of the ‘prominent themes that drives the patriarchal narratives is the divine (and sometimes miraculous) provision of seed’ (Carroll
Above all we pride ourselves on the education of our children (παιδοτροφίαν), and regard the most essential task in life the observance of our law, and of the pious practices based thereon. (
When taking a closer look at the Hebrew text
The Hebrew word used for ‘shall teach’ (שׁננתם), can literally be translated as ‘to repeat’, ‘to whet’ or ‘to sharpen’. The Hebrew word used for ‘children’ (בני), refers to a son or daughter of any age. It was therefore, the parent’s responsibility to continuously teach their children through repetition (שׁננתם). Jewish parents wanted to ‘whet their children’s appetites for the things of God’. (Rhodes
It is also imperative to note that ‘teach’ is used in the present tense. According to Rhodes (
How does this answer the question, what should be going on, with regard to the role that parents play in the faith development of their young child?
Before answering a note should be given on how a correlation between the family group (kinship-group) in the ancient Mediterranean world and the family of the 21st century could be drawn. As shown above, the family group was a central and important social convention for educating the children of ancient Israel. This central convention taught them all aspects of life, from their roles in the community (e.g. gender roles) to their religious beliefs and practices. The importance of the family institute is further highlighted by the unique attention the covenant laws in Deuteronomy (and the rest of the Pentateuch) pay to orphans, that is, children who have lost their family group or an important person therein (the father, e.g. see Horsley’s [2009] discussion of this). Although what is meant by family in the 21st century is not the same as in the time of Israel, an important aspect of this article is the centrality role that the family plays in the religious education of children. In light of this, it can be deducted from the text of Deuteronomy that parents (i.e. the family structure whether ancient or modern) play an important role in the faith development and education of young children.
Further, it also emphasises the fact that conversations about religion and faith should be an ongoing and everyday occurrence in the household. Religious education, and conversations about faith, was not a topic that Jewish parents left solely as a responsibility of people outside the kinship group but was conducted specifically ‘אב בבית/בית’ [in-house or father’s house]. That is to say, the core group (kinship-group) that gave the children a sense of identity and belonging (Neyrey
Therefore, in our own time, parents should not leave the education of their children to reverends and catechesis teachers, especially considering that today’s society is much less group orientated and that the only group children feel they belong to in their early life is the core family.
From Deuteronomy 6: 4–9, three guidelines on how parents should teach their children about their faith can be deducted.
Firstly, diligently, as seen in verse 7. This means that although parents have other important responsibilities, there is none as important as their religious education.
Secondly, it should take place regularly, as seen in the rest of verse 7. Being a part of their child’s faith development should not be something that only happens while attending church or catechesis. Talking about faith should be part of everyday life and normal activities around a child’s home. According to Van Staden (
Thirdly, it should take place through example. In verse 8 and 9, parents are instructed to:
…bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Dt 6:8–9)
This is a practical step that parents had to take, which continuously reminded them of the Law and how they were supposed to live. Parents could not just instruct their children on how they should live, but had a constant reminder that they too should live and act in an appropriate way. According to Van Staden (
Osmer’s fourth task of practical theology (
From the research done, the following practical guidelines can be deducted:
From birth, the environment in which a child grows up should be one of safety where all basic needs are met. This will ensure for a strong basis of trust on which faith can develop (Fowler
The child should see his or her parents interact with faith, through Bible study, church attendance, discussions about faith and their relationships with other people, and be given the opportunity to react to this (Westerhoff
Parents should continuously and regularly educate their children about their religion, as seen in Deuteronomy 6:4–9. This is done through discussion, studying the Word together and setting the right example in their own lives. A subject should also not only be discussed once, but repeatedly, so that the child may grasp the subject and understand.
When children are being told stories from the Bible, parents should try to use vivid images as children at this age are stimulated through the things they can see (Fowler
As the child is still egocentric (Fowler & Dell
From the study published in 2015 (Avenant
giving their child(ren) a happy and healthy environment to grow up in
regularly attending church with their child(ren)
allowing child(ren) to regularly attend catechesis
discussing issues of faith, such as baptism with their child(ren)
telling their own faith story to their child(ren)
setting good moral values for themselves, which their child(ren) can then follow.
The importance of the role that parents play in the faith development of children is immense. A baby’s or an infant’s interaction with his or her parents forms the basis on which he or she will build their developing faith. If this foundation is not placed down correctly, problems might arise later in the child’s faith development.
Although it is important for children to attend church with their parents and attend catechesis, the way their parents conduct themselves on a day-to-day basis will also influence the child’s faith development. Parents need to discuss matters of faith, relevant to the young child’s life and circumstances with the child.
Parents should take the time to have discussions with their children and not go out from the idea that this should be the work of the reverend at church or the catechesis teacher, but work with them to assist their children in their faith development process. Parents should also pay attention to setting a good example for their children and follow simple practical guidelines. Then, they as parents, as well as their significant others, will fulfil the role that they as parents should play in the faith development of their child.
This article sets out to answer Osmer’s (
What is going on? According to the study published in 2015 by Nel and Van der Westhuizen, parents already play an important role in the faith development of children who later become active young members of the church.
Why is this going on? Faith development theories show that children who form healthy relationships with their caregivers experience their parent’s faith in everyday life and can react to what they experience, and children who are taught about religion by engaging their imaginations as well as stimulating them visually are able to develop their faith.
What ought to be going on? Taking Deuteronomy 6:4–9 into account, and looking at it through historical critical lens, one can deduce that the role of parents in the faith development of the child is immense. That is, parents need to pay attention to this responsibility on a regular basis and that this should be done through words and examples.
How might we respond? By taking the theory and statistics into account, it is possible to equip parents to assist their children in the faith development process by giving them practical guidelines to follow.
As Jewish people realised very early on, it is our children who will carry on our faith and religion and share it with others. This will however only be possible if we support them in their process of faith development. For parents to be able to do this, they need to be informed of how they can assist their children in this process and be equipped to do so to the best of their abilities.
The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationships which may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.
M.v.N. conceptualised the article, did the research and wrote the manuscript. G.B. functioned as a study leader. Both authors read and approved final version of the article.
Nederdutch Reformed Church of Africa.
Reformed Churches of South Africa.
Dutch Reformed Church.
Respondents were able to choose more than one option.
James W. Fowler was a professor in Theology and Human Development at Emory University (1987–2005).
Faith story can be defined as ‘a decision to choose Christ and to share my Christian beliefs and experiences’ (Avenant
4 ‘Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates’ ( Dt 6-4:9).
The reference to this section (Dt 6:4–9) as the
Although the focus of this discussion is on the family life (which was included in communal live; see below) of Israel, it should be noted that kinship (family), politics, economics and religion where not separate institutions (Horsley
For a more detailed discussion on the structure of the family as described in the Pentateuch see Matthews’ (
This does not mean that there were not certain individuals with specific responsibilities in the household. For example ‘the burden of health and reproduction fell most heavily upon the shoulders of individual women within the family’ (Nakhai
‘Draw near to me, you who are uneducated, and lodge in a house of instruction [οἴκῳ παιδείας]’ (
4 שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יְהוָ֥ה׀ אֶחָֽד׃
5 וְאָ֣הַבְתָּ֔ אֵ֖ת יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ֥ וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁךָ֖ וּבְכָל־מְאֹדֶֽךָ׃
6 וְהָי֞וּ הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֗לֶּה אֲשֶׁ֨ר אָנֹכִ֧י מְצַוְּךָ֛ הַיּ֖וֹם עַל־לְבָבֶֽךָ׃
7 וְשִׁנַּנְתָּ֣ם לְבָנֶ֔יךָ וְדִבַּרְתָּ֖ בָּ֑ם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ֤ בְּבֵיתֶ֨ךָ֙ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ֣ בַדֶּ֔רֶךְ וּֽבְשָׁכְבְּךָ֖ מֶֽךָ׃וּבְקוּ
8 וּקְשַׁרְתָּ֥ם לְא֖וֹת עַל־יָדֶ֑ךָ וְהָי֥וּ לְטֹטָפֹ֖ת בֵּ֥ין עֵינֶֽיךָ׃
9 וּכְתַבְתָּ֛ם עַל־מְזוּזֹ֥ת בֵּיתֶ֖ךָ וּבִשְׁעָרֶֽיךָ׃ (Talstra, 2006).