Proclaiming and cultivating ‘childlikeness’
A subversive thread in Christian anthropology
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20504269 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Robyn Wrigley-Carr (0000-0001-6146-7892, Theology and Spirituality, Alphacrusis College, Sydney, Australia, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 45-52 |
| Publication date | 2018-01-02 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Children s Spirituality (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1364-436X • E-ISSN: 1469-8455 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/1364436x.2017.1416592 |
| OpenAlex | W2784289903 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 3 |
If contemporary public discourse struggles with truncated notions of what it means to be human, nowhere is this more obvious than in our discussion and treatment of children. By and large, in our public discourse, we treat children as ‘little adults’ – as consumers, objects of beauty and fashion, career aspirants and sometimes even as sexual beings. By contrast, Jesus put children – as children – at the centre of his project in proclaiming the kingdom of God. He preserved a special place for children in his ministry, and in all three synoptics, he called his followers to ‘childlikeness’. This paper examines a subversive thread in historic theological anthropology. The nature of ‘childlikeness’ is explored and possible ways to cultivate childlikeness for adults are discussed. The notion of childlikeness has been rediscovered in recent times by the ‘Child Theology Movement’, but, in this paper, I wish to examine three linked authors who wrote on ‘childlikeness’ in the 19th and 20th centuries, predating the Child Theology Movement by some decades: George MacDonald, Baron Friedrich von Hügel and Gwendolen Greene
Aesthetics · Beauty · Christian ministry · Kingdom · Sociology · Theology · Anthropology · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · Christian Theology and Mission · Philosophy · Religious studies · Theological Perspectives and Practices
| Highly cited | No |
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