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decipher lies thinking truth

Can Children Decipher Truth In A World of Lies?

by Lee Ann Mancini


Over 2,000 years ago Pontius Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” I believe that never before society has asked that same question as much as we have today. How can children decipher the truth in a world of lies? 

Learning how to become a critical thinker is one of the most important skills a person can possess. It is the difference between life and death. Equipping your child with the ability to analyze, compare, research, as well as to attain and comprehend knowledge for life application is critically important. 

Most important, in order to form a worldview that is logistical, we need to teach our children that there is a set of criterion that needs to be met. For a worldview to work it must have, 

 

Three factors and answers to four questions : 

  1. Logical consistency: What is logical; what makes sense?
  2. Empirical adequacy: What is real and actual?
  3. Experiential relevance: What is experienced; does it work?

 

  1. Origin: Where do I come from?
  2. Morality: How do I determine good from evil? 
  3. Purpose: Why am I here, and what is the meaning of my life?
  4. Destiny: What happens when I die? 

Critical thinking skills allow children to obtain a worldview that will stand up against the barrage of false theology that masquerades as truth. Children need to be able to decipher what is true.

 

Here are some suggestions on how to prepare your child to become a wise, critical thinker who seeks real truth for lifetime application:

  • Help young children grasp the concept of truth. Once they learn their colors, ask them if the grass is blue. When they say no, ask them if the grass is green. When they say yes, you can then explain the definition of truth. It is true that the grass is green. It is not true that the grass is blue.
  • Provide opportunities for children to make decisions during playtime. Learning cause and effect will help them to develop critical thinking skills. 
  • Ask open-ended questions. Ask them what they think or what ideas they have. Let them know you are interested in what they have to say or what they are thinking. Encourage them to ask questions. Never be too busy to listen to your children. If you don’t listen to the small stuff now, they may not tell you the big things later. 
  • Give children the opportunity to gather their thoughts; don’t offer answers to solutions quickly. Challenge their minds to think and comprehend. 
  • For older children, investigate, together, how the brain works during problem-solving. Bloom’s Taxonomy https://www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching/effective-teaching-practices/revised-blooms-taxonomy/ is an excellent resource.
  • Prepare your children to answer questions that could challenge their belief and faith before they are faced with those questions. Roleplay is an excellent tool to prepare children to defend their faith in a loving manner. 
  • Remind them that not everyone is trustworthy, and therefore many will lie and cheat to get what they want. 
  • If what is being proposed as truth contradicts God’s word, it is false and is a lie of the devil. 

It is vitally important that children learn early how to decipher truth from fiction so that they “will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming” (Ephesians 4:14 NIV). 

 

Lastly, we as parents, grandparents, teachers, and ministry leaders need to become critical thinkers as well.

Children learn by observing the words and actions of the adults in their lives. Make sure to self-check your motives. Remember we have “to take the log out of our eye” to see clearly before we can help our children (Matthew 7:5). It is not only for the salvation of our children but also for the preservation of our Christian nation!


Lee Ann Mancini is the award-winning children’s author, publisher, and executive producer of the Sea Kids books and TV series. She is a renowned speaker and Bible college professor whose passion is to help parents raise their children to have a strong foundation in Jesus.  


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4 Comments
  • Duane Smith
    Posted at 17:37h, 30 September Reply

    To answer the question from the headline, “Can Children Decipher Truth In A World of Lies?”, I would answer no, not without a guide. Thank heavens for good parents that understand this and take responsibility for teaching their children. In the early days of the country, the bible was a foundational text. It was a great work of literature, It helped children understand proper language. It provided some sense of history. It taught morals and was an important tool to help understand when government is running properly and when it is out of control. It was cunning coup when prayer and scripture was removed from the classroom. This was the beginning for propaganda and indoctrination beginning to be used to control a society to promote a diabolical agenda. A return to prayer and scripture study is vital to help children understand truth. It is a standard in which to measure by.

    There are resources that can help in education.

    I recommend the YouTube channel, “Agency Based Education”.
    https://www.youtube.com/c/AgencyBasedEducation/videos

    I also recommend Charlotte Iserbyt’s channel.
    https://www.youtube.com/user/iserbyt3DResearch/videos

    For the teaching of science, I have enjoyed the YouTube channel, “Is Genesis History”. It has several videos that challenge the conventional paradigms and supports scripture. They cite powerful evidence.

    https://www.youtube.com/c/IsGenesisHistory/videos

    For earth science, I recommend the Universal Model. I’ve seen a couple presentations on YouTube and will purchase the first two volumes of their textbook once I have the budget for it. You can go to the following website to learn more and purchase to books.

    https://universalmodel.com

    For the teaching of history, it is best to consult the original sources as much as possible. Many revisionists out there are rewriting history to hide the truth and destroying our culture in in the process. I have enjoyed Stephen Pratt’s presentations on YouTube. He was a charming old man and I was saddened when I heard he had past away. He taught, history is evidence accompanied by reason and debate. So much of history out there are just stories without evidence and doesn’t offer much in lessons to be learned to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. Stephen Pratt has several lectures which he as recommended reading list. So far I have just read a couple. To start out I recommend these four presentations.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M2OTWKAZow
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0bMmR4m–M
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfJWRtdgcXU&t=5s
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YM3m7JgDGM

    Other references that were recommended to me were:

    History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution: All Three Volumes – Complete with Notes by Mercy Otis Warren.

    The life and voyages of Christopher Columbus. By: Washington Irving: Christopher Columbus
    by Washington Irving.

    1776 by David McCullough. David McCullough is a fantastic storyteller and I really enjoyed his lecture found here:
    https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/david-mccullough/glorious-cause-america/

    The questions given in the post are powerful, thought provoking ones:
    Origin: Where do I come from?
    Morality: How do I determine good from evil?
    Purpose: Why am I here, and what is the meaning of my life?
    Destiny: What happens when I die?

    In my church, it can simply be referred to “Our Heavenly Father’s Plan”, sometimes referred to as “The Plan of Salvation”, “The Great Plan of Happiness”, “The Plan of Redemption”, and “The Plan of Mercy”. Jack R. Christianson gave a powerful talk on this subject. Listening to it will warm your heart.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJdmGipQ8u4

    • CCM Team
      Posted at 13:24h, 01 October Reply

      So many good resources! Thanks for sharing!

      Have you been to answersingenesis.org ?
      They are one of our favorites!

  • Duane Smith
    Posted at 11:54h, 02 October Reply

    I’ve just added it to my list. Thanks.

    • CCM Team
      Posted at 04:44h, 03 October Reply

      Of course!

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