Children’s God Concepts through Open-ended Questions

Research secured qualitative research regarding children’s God concept. The researcher asked ten open-ended questions and a drawing prompt to explore children s in-depth God concepts. One hundred forty children from large Southern Baptist churches in Tarrant County, TX participated to reveal their thoughts about God. For example, children answered the question, “Is God like your mother?” with the following responses: “yes” by 76 children; “no” by 57 children; “both” by 5 children; and other responses by 2 children. The following are the reasons for their answers: “They love, care, help, and watch over me” by 47 children; “They made me” by 14 children; “They discipline me” by 3 children; “God is not a woman” by 35 children; “My mother is absent of divine attributes” by 6 children; and other responses by 35 children. Children’s answers revealed their deep thoughts concerning God and showed differences in different ways with which structured-questions would not show.