While it is not always developmentally appropriate to introduce young children to the nuances of biblical interpretation, we can introduce them to general principles of biblical interpretation. The most basic of those principles comes from the Vatican II document, Dei Verbum (The Word of God). It says, “the interpreter of Sacred Scripture, in order to see clearly what God wanted to communicate to us, should carefully investigate what meaning the sacred writers really intended, and what God wanted to manifest by means of their words” (#12). Two simple questions can help get at this two-step process of biblical interpretation: 1. What is this Bible story about? What do you think the person writing this was trying to say? 2. What is God teaching us through this story? Consistently asking these two questions plants the seed that there was a human author writing the Bible’s stories and that God is speaking to us through their words. In discussing these stories, catechists and teachers can bring in insights based on other contextual clues: the literary genres used, the relationship between the two Testaments, the culture of the time, the Church’s Tradition, and so on. Look at the next page for the ABC of Biblical Literacy! 31 Subscribe today! www.smp.org/inspire