Scriptural engagement, communication with God, and moral behavior among children

Abstract

How often an individual reads or listens to scripture is one dimension of private spirituality rarely discussed in the literature. In this study, we use data from a random sample survey of 1009 American children (ages eight to 12) to explore children’s engagement with the Christian Bible, their views of communicating with God, and their moral behavior. Most American children do not read or listen to the Bible regularly, but they do communicate with God almost daily through prayer. There is greater diversity in how children believe God communicates with them, including the Bible, actions (e.g. ‘answered prayers’), and the outcome of events (e.g. ‘good things happen to me’). Consistent with earlier studies of adults and teens, we find significant relationships between Bible engagement and moral behaviors. However, an important difference among children is that the effects are most prominent for those behaviors that are less subject to parental control and monitoring.

Keywords:

• Bible
• religiosity
• children

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank attendees of the 2009 Children’s Spirituality: Christian Perspectives conference and the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful feedback and suggestions on this paper.