Teaching Old Testament Stories in SRE: A Practical Guide

The Old Testament is not simply a collection of moral stories that predate Jesus. It is the first two-thirds of one continuous story — the story of God's relationship with his creation, his covenant with Israel, and his plan to restore a broken world. Without the Old Testament, the New Testament is incomprehensible: why did Jesus have to die? What is the temple? Why does Paul quote from prophets? The Old Testament provides the vocabulary, the problems, and the promises that Jesus comes to fulfil.

Teach Old Testament stories within a framework that students return to regularly: Creation → Fall → Redemption → New Creation. Each narrative — Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah — is a chapter in this larger story. Students who understand the framework can place new stories within it: 'Where does this fit in the big story? Is this showing us the problem, or the solution, or something in between?'

The Old Testament contains violence, moral failure, and divine judgement that can be difficult to handle in a primary classroom. General principles: don't sanitise, but don't sensationalise. Focus on what the story reveals about God's character and about human nature, rather than on graphic details. When God's judgement is part of the story, acknowledge it honestly: 'God takes justice seriously — which is scary, but also means the world isn't random or unfair at its core.'

The Bible's heroes are not moral paragons — they are deeply flawed people whom God works through and with despite their failure. David committed adultery and murder. Abraham lied twice. Moses was a murderer and a coward. Teaching these stories as 'be like David, be like Moses' misrepresents the text. The point is that God is faithful even when human beings are not — which is an entirely different and more profound lesson.