The Mystery of the Child

By Martin E. Marty

Book Overview

Much of today's writing on children treats the child of any age as a problem or a set of problems to be solved, effectively reducing the child to a complex of biological and chemical factors, explainable in scientific terms, or regarding children as objects of adult control. In contrast, Martin Marty here presents the child as a mystery who invokes wonder and elicits creative responses that affect the care provided him or her.

Drawing on literature as new as contemporary poetry and as old as the Bible, The Mystery of the Child encourages the thoughtful enjoyment of children instead of the imposition of adult will and control. Indeed, Marty treats the impulse to control as a problem and highlights qualities associated with children -- responsiveness, receptivity, openness to wonder -- that can become sources of renewal for adults.

The Mystery of the Child represents a new tack for Martin Marty -- universally respected as a historian, theologian, and interpreter of religion and culture -- but displays the same incisive, erudite quality marking the fifty-plus books and thousands of articles that he has previously written. Marty's broad, thoughtful perspective will inspire readers to think afresh about what it means to be a child -- and to be a caregiver.

This book is sure to claim a wide readership -- parents, grandparents, schoolteachers, theologians, historians -- engaging anyone wanting to explore more fully the profound realm of the child.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802817661
• ISBN13: 9780802817662
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
• Length: 269 Pages
• Weight: 1.98 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.6" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

The Mystery of the Child

This is an excellent book for people concerned with the development of children, especially those who are Christian. The book does an excellent job of characterizing how viewing children as a 'problem-to-be-solved' can be limiting in how one cares for children. It has helped me look at my own relationship with my children and seeing my children in a more complete context. In addition to opening up the way one cares for children, it also advances a theology of hospitality through the lens of how Jesus saw children. The core ideas of this book are easily extended beyond caring for children to caring for anyone -- after all, we are all children. I taught an adult Sunday School class from this book. It took about 8 weeks to complete. Most of the adults in the class have young children. The book's ideas stimulated a lot of excellent discussion, but it is a more difficult book to use for a Sunday School class setting because of the density of the material -- expect to spend some extra time distilling the ideas.

The Mystery of the Child

Martin Marty challenges the reader to reflect at deeper levels the state of the child in the 21st century. I found the book to be highly engaging and thought provoking.

The Mystery of the Child

Outstanding resource for thinking about children and caregiving with the child as a mystery with depth which needs to be explored rather than as a problem to be solved.

The Mystery of the Child

This profound and illuminating book should be the "bible" for anyone who has care for children. The theme of the book, evident on almost every page, is that, instead of seeing a child as a 'problem' faced with problems, she be seen "as a mystery surrounded by myatery." This book is not a hand book for solving problems faced by children, but a guide to seeing and exploring the mystery of the child, focusing on the child for her "distinctive ways of being regarded, experieicng reality, and responding." It will help the reader be open to the mystery of all people.