Assessing Children's Biblical Knowledge and Understanding Effectively
Biblical instruction of children has occupied a central place in covenant communities from ancient Israel through the present, yet assessing what children actually know and understand presents distinct challenges rooted in both developmental realities and theological commitments.
The Biblical Foundation for Children's Capacity
Scripture assumes children possess genuine, though developing, capacity for spiritual knowledge. The psalmist declares that even infants can glorify God (Psalm 8:2), and Jesus affirmed children's praise in the temple [2]. Paul reminded Timothy that "from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures" [10], reflecting the Jewish practice of beginning scriptural instruction at approximately five years of age [10]. This early exposure presumes real comprehension, not mere rote memorization, though the nature of that comprehension differs from adult understanding.
The biblical vocabulary itself reveals flexibility in defining childhood. Joseph is termed a "child" at roughly sixteen, Benjamin past thirty, and Solomon called himself "a little child" upon assuming the throne [1]. This elasticity suggests that assessment must account for stages of maturity rather than applying uniform standards across all ages.
Knowledge as the Measure of Faith
Reformed theology has consistently emphasized that genuine faith requires proportionate knowledge. Charles Hodge argued that "without knowledge there can be no faith," citing Paul's condemnation of speaking in unknown tongues precisely because hearers "could not understand what was said; and if they did not know the meaning of the words uttered, they could neither assent to them, nor be profited by them" [9]. This principle applies directly to children: assessment must determine not whether they can repeat correct formulations, but whether they grasp the meaning those formulations convey.
Hodge further observed that theological knowledge progresses gradually in both individuals and the Church collectively: "When he was a child, he thought as a child. As he grew in years, he grew in knowledge of the Bible. He increased not only in the compass, but in the clearness, order, and harmony of his knowledge" [4]. Effective assessment therefore tracks developmental progression rather than demanding immediate mastery of systematic categories.
Distinguishing Childlike Faith from Childish Understanding
Paul's instruction to the Corinthians establishes a crucial distinction: "Brethren, be not children in understanding" [8]. John Gill's commentary clarifies that believers should avoid "nonproficiency in knowledge, want of capacity to receive, bear, and digest strong meat; levity, fickleness, and inconstancy" [8]—characteristics that mark immature faith. Yet Jesus simultaneously commanded his disciples to "become as little children" to enter the kingdom [5], and patristic interpretation understood this as freedom from the passions and pride that obstruct adult reception of truth [7].
Assessment must therefore distinguish between appropriate developmental limitations and culpable ignorance. A child's concrete, narrative-focused comprehension differs from an adult's systematic grasp, but both can constitute genuine knowledge. Calvin noted that faith "understands more from mere certainty of persuasion than it could discern of any human matter by its own capacity" [6], suggesting that even limited theological vocabulary can accompany authentic conviction.
Practical Implications for Assessment
Scripture consistently emphasizes observable fruit over abstract articulation. Good children "know the Scriptures," "observe the law of God," show obedience that is "well pleasing to God," and "make their parents' hearts glad" [3]. These behavioral markers—reverence, obedience, love—provide more reliable assessment than verbal precision alone, particularly for younger children whose linguistic development lags behind their spiritual receptivity.
The biblical pattern of bringing children "early to the house of God" and instructing them "in the ways of God" [2] assumes that corporate worship and family catechesis form the primary contexts for both teaching and assessment. Formal testing risks abstracting knowledge from its lived context, where understanding manifests through participation in the community's practices.
Effective assessment recognizes that children's theological understanding remains partial and progressive, yet no less real for its incompleteness. The goal is not premature systematization but faithful nurture that allows knowledge to deepen organically as capacity increases, always measuring growth against the child's own trajectory rather than against adult standards alone.
Sources
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Child — This word has considerable latitude of meaning in Scripture. Thus Joseph is called a child at the time when he was probably about sixteen years of age (Gen. 37:3); and Benjamin is so called when he was above thirty years (44:20). Solomon called himself a little child when he came to the kingdom (1 Kings 3:7). The descendants of a man, however remote, are called his children; as, "the children of Edom," "the children of Moab," "the children of Israel." In the earliest times mothers did not wean their children till they were from thirty months to three years ol”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Children — Christ was an example to -- Lu 2:51; Joh 19:26,27. Are a gift from God -- Ge 33:5; Ps 127:3. Are capable of glorifying God -- Ps 8:2; 148:12,13; Mt 21:15,16. Should be Brought to Christ. -- Mr 10:13-16. Brought early to the house of God. -- 1Sa 1:24. Instructed in the ways of God. -- De 31:12,13; Pr 22:6. Judiciously trained. -- Pr 22:15; 29:17; Eph 6:4. Should Obey God. -- De 30:2. Fear God. -- Pr 24:21. Remember God. -- Ec 12:1. Attend to parental teaching. -- Pr 1:8,9. Honour parents. -- Ex 20:12; Heb 12:9. Fear parents. -- Le 19:3. Obey parents. -- Pr ”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Children, Good — The Lord is with -- 1Sa 3:19. Know the Scriptures -- 2Ti 3:15. Observe the law of God -- Pr 28:7. Their obedience to parents is well pleasing to God -- Col 3:20. Partake of the promises of God -- Ac 2:39. Shall be blessed -- Pr 3:1-4; Eph 6:2,3. Show love to parents -- Ge 46:29. Obey parents -- Ge 28:7; 47:30. Attend to parental teaching -- Pr 13:1. Take care of parents -- Ge 45:9,11; 47:12. Make their parents' hearts glad -- Pr 10:1; 29:17. Honour the aged -- Job 32:6,7. Adduced as a motive for submission to God -- Heb 12:9. Spirit of, a requisite f”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, section 37: effected by a continual and gradual progress. The same progress has taken place in theological knowledge. Every believer is conscious of such progress in his own experience. When he was a child, he thought as a child. As he grew in years, he grew in knowledge of the Bible. He increased not only in the compass, but in the clearness, order, and harmony of his knowledge. This is just as true of the Church collectively as of the individual Christian. It is, in the first place, natural, if not inevitable, that it should be so. The Bible, altho”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, section 19: reason or wisdom, in order to receive the wisdom of God. Our Lord told his disciples that unless they were converted and became as little children, they could not enter into the kingdom of God. And the Apostle Paul, in his Epistle to the Corinthians, and in those addressed to the Ephesians and Colossians, that is, when writing to those imbued with the Greek and with the oriental philosophy, made it the indispensable condition of their becoming Christians, that they should renounce philosophy as a guide in matters of religion, and receive ”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 57: in order to reach it. Nor even when it has reached it does it comprehend what it feels, but persuaded of what it comprehends not, it understands more from mere certainty of persuasion than it could discern of any human matter by its own capacity. Hence it is elegantly described by Paul as ability “to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,” ( Eph. 3:18, 19 ). His object was to intimate, that what our mind embraces by faith is every w”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 9: Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Origen's Commentaries — 16. WHY THE GREAT ARE COMPARED TO LITTLE CHILDREN. (part 2): so that he is worthy of love, who, being converted as the little children, has reached such a point as to have, as it were, his passions in subjection like the little children. And with regard to fear, therefore, similar things to those spoken might be conceived, that the little children do not experience the fear of the wicked, but a different thing, to which those who have an accurate knowledge of questions in regard to the passions and their names give the name of f”
- 1 Corinthians (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Corinthians 14:19: Brethren, be not children in understanding,.... There are some things in children in which it is reproachful for believers to be like them; as nonproficiency in knowledge, want of capacity to receive, bear, and digest strong meat; levity, fickleness, and inconstancy, unskilfulness in the word, deficiency of knowledge, want of understanding, not of things natural, but spiritual and evangelical; which is the more aggravated, since their understandings were opened and enlightened; an understanding was given them; the Spirit of God, as a spirit of understanding, w”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 12: nothing of that of which it knows nothing. 86 2. The Bible everywhere teaches that without knowledge there can be no faith. This, as just stated, is the doctrine of the Apostle Paul. He condemned the speaking in an unknown tongue in a promiscuous assembly, because the hearers could not understand what was said; and if they did not know the meaning of the words uttered, they could neither assent to them, nor be profited by them. In another place ( Rom. x. 14 ) he asks, “How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?” “Faith,” h”
- 2 Timothy (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 2 Timothy 3:14: And that from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures,.... And therefore must know that the doctrines he had learned were agreeable to them; and so is another reason why he should continue in them. The Jews very early learned their children the holy Scripture. Philo the Jew says (w), "from their very infancy"; a phrase pretty much the same with this here used. It is a maxim with the Jews (x), that when a child was five years of age, it was proper to teach him the Scriptures. Timothy's mother being a Jewess, trained him up early in the knowledge of these writing”