A03: "Children cant be disciples so they cant be Christians either."

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

A03: “Children cant be disciples so they cant be Christians either.”

Do you agree? Give reasons for your answer, showing you have considered more

than one point of view.

I have been asked to answer the following question: “Children are too young to be disciples?

I must look at both sides of the story and draw up a conclusion. My piece is as follows.

Children are too young to be disciples, some may agree and others disagree I believe children are too young to be disciples. They are naive, immature, too innocent, pure, they have lack of knowledge, they cant understand the way in which the world works and its wonders. The list is endless. In today’s society the (21stCentuary) children are particularly preyed upon, not only by adults but by other beings as well. In order to carry out Jesus’ message I believe only those with valuable experience of life should be given such a privileged service as they would have common knowledge which is greatly appreciated in today’s world. In the papers we read of stories where children have displayed signs of trust where the trustworthy person has taken advantage of the situation and abused the child one of the most recent cases is the (Huntley case and Maxine Carr where they abused the trust of two young teenage girls and in the time they abused the girls ,they killed them in cold blooded murder .from my own personal experience I believe that the 21stC is the most notorious time to be brought into the world. Drug related crimes have risen, more drugs are available on the market. More people are breaking the law with: car crime, petty theft, robberies, theft etc. I think that if a child were to spread the word of god through oral tradition I think that the older generations would not believe the child and that they would be like the seed that fell “on rocky ground, The seeds soon sprouted but because the soil wasn’t deep enough (it was only a child that delivered the message. Not someone “important”) “when the sun came up it burnt the young plants and because the roots had not grown deep enough the plants soon died… Meaning…as soon as they hear the message they receive it gladly. But it does not sink into them,(because they were told by a child which means the message was not important?) and they don’t last long with the message. So when trouble fear or persecution comes, along they give up in the message.

However

This is a preview of the whole essay

However

This does not apply to all. Some people may disagree and say that children aren’t too young to be disciples. Children are innocent, angelic, peaceful, and have a different interpretation on life and thins to do with life, which is a refreshing new insight into life. In today’s world there are many ways to communicate and children are up to date with hthe latest technologies around, internet, TV, mobile telephones etc .Jesus uses many examples of children in his stories.(Jairus’ daughter, probably the most remembered story of a child in the gospel). When children get confirmed they receive the holy spirit. the coming of our lord. It gives us courage, wisdom, reverence, knowledge etc. it’s a time in the church calendar when a child is first considered an adult, so why not let them carry out the jobs that most other adults are carrying out in today’s world?? I recently watched a video in class about a young child called “Garvin Byrne”. Garvin suffered from motor neurons disease/multiple sclerosis and he had been told by the doctors he had little to time to live. Garvin was 8yrs of age and had a great outlook on life. He told us of his ups and his downs ,about his mum, dad and family, and yet out of the downtrodden life he knew he was going to lead, he still stayed positive throughout. He drew pictures of snoopy on a drip, getting surgery the same things that Garvin had to face. Rather than showing his own grief and Despondency to his family and friends, he drew his pain and fear through his illustrations of Snoopy.So…. what is a disciple supposed to be? A happy, loving, brave person. Or a normal person like Garvin Bryne. I believe Garvin was a perfect example of a disciple. Although he’s is no longer with us, I still think that he was perfect for the job, but because he was a child he was ignored and never even considered as a disciple.

To conclude

I believe that some children are too young to be disciples because a disciple must leave home for months on end, beg for money and beg for food, clothes/shelter. It is more than obvious that not all children are suitable material for discipleship roles. I Also think a disciple should have their own choice and be able to capably make up their own mind whether they want to be a disciple or not, just like Believers Baptism.

However …

Despite that. I think that people like Garvin are a perfect example of a disciple, with so much courage, integrity, will etc, its people like him that should be disciples and admired in today’s world. Not celebrities!