4.5 yo asking about Jesus

[Twirlywoos12]

We are not a religious family at all, but my 4.5 yo DD likes churches. She goes to lovely church on Sat for DH to have a coffee and they have a sit down and talk. Lately she is asking a lot of questions about Jesus, she knows from Christmas time that he was born in a stable, so a lot of questions about that.

Today she is asking if Jesus was a daddy and why he never married. What would be an appropriate answer as I have no clue how to explain that to a child this age.

Ask at the church they visit, I'm sure they will be delighted to point you towards age appropriate information or possibly have someone to talk to your dd. There's a lion first bible that we give to kids being baptised for instance, but I've not been asked about Jesus being married by a child! I was asked by a child at toddler group why they couldn't go to a different hotel (reference the Christmas story) the rector walked in at that point and explained it was really crowded that weekend just like in summer here (seaside resort) and the hotels were all full, little boy retorted with they should have brought a tent!

There are lots of child friendly books that tell the main Bible stories in a non aim-to-convert-you way.

They are just written like stories.

I am a Christian but I liked them because I wanted my DC to form their own beliefs.

Regarding the question you have been asked - remember Jesus died in his early 30s so not everyone has met their future wife / husband and started a family at that age. That is what I would say.

Thank you very much, I'll look into the books and DH could ask in the church.

You might also say that we don’t actually know whether Jesus was married or had children. The gospel writers missed out all sorts of things that we would find interesting- what did Jesus look like? Was he tall or short? What did he do in his teens and 20s? What was his favourite food etc? They focused on the points that were important to them (his teachings, death and resurrection, fulfilment of OT prophecy etc - obviously you might not want to go into all this with a 4yo 😉)

You can say you don't know. We don't always have to have an answer for everything.

Just say it’s a story and no one knows if it’s really true or not, as no one can be certain of the actual facts of Jesus’s life, that is, if he ever existed at all. After all, the bible is essentially historical fiction. But like someone said up thread, there are many good age appropriate books that explain these stories.

Just say that nobody really knows because all the people that wrote about him didn't say whether he was married or had children.

"Not all grown-ups want to get married or have children"?

My 4 year old goes to a C of E school. We're not particularly religious either, it just so happens to be our catchment school. She came home the other day asking what crucified means. She's been given a children's Bible and obviously she's been told the story at school, but I struggled to answer this one in a child-appropriate way.

I did my best, but sometimes distraction works better...

@Hallyup89 Distraction works better I agree but then she'll ask again later 😐.

Thank you all for your replies x

Surely at 4.5 you know other adults who aren't married/ don't have DC?
Not everyone does those things.