The Action Bible

The Action Bible by Sergio Cariello is a great stepping stone from children’s bibles to reading Sacred Scripture for late elementary to middle school aged children.

The Action Bible (links to Amazon)

Why should my children read the bible?

There are a lot of young children’s bibles in publication.   These bibles hit the high points of salvation history, but of course, they are very G rated and skip a lot of important stories.  The Action Bible is directed towards late elementary aged to middle school children. I would rate this graphic novel around PG-13 as sex is implied and there is a lot of violence in this book.

I want to start by saying The Action Bible is not a replacement for the Bible.  However, it is a good stepping stone from children bibles to reading the actual Bible, which can be difficult for young adults. There are many bible stories in this book, and the verses from the Bible are given. This book does a great job at introducing these stories which will plant a seed for children to desire an actual bible as they enter into High School and College.

Seeing the Bible as a graphic novel is needed for children. Images are critical to developing minds.  For me, I have memories from my childhood where I can still vividly recall images from my favorite children’s books and magazines.   For my children, I want some of those life long images to be from the bible.  The Action Bible will place some of these stories in their minds and hearts for their entire lives.  I have to admit my daughter who loves this book has corrected me a few times on details from some stories. It was the images she remembered.

It is essential that our children have knowledge of Sacred Scripture and spend time reading the Bible, hopefully, every day.   In Psalm 119:105 we learn that God’s word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. There are many self-help books on the market today, but the only needed self-help book is the Bible.

As you can imagine the Catechism of the Catholic Church has a lot to say about Sacred Scripture.  Here are a few highlights:

81 Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit.

104 In Sacred Scripture, the Church constantly finds her nourishment and her strength, for she welcomes it not as a human word, but as what it really is, the word of God. In the sacred books, the Father who is in heaven comes lovingly to meet his children, and talks with them.

105 God is the author of Sacred Scripture. The divinely revealed realities, which are contained and presented in the text of Sacred Scripture, have been written down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

131 And such is the force and power of the Word of God that it can serve the Church as her support and vigour, and the children of the Church as strength for their faith, food for the soul, and a pure and lasting fount of spiritual life. Hence “access to Sacred Scripture ought to be open wide to the Christian faithful.

132 Therefore, the study of the sacred page should be the very soul of sacred theology. The ministry of the Word, too – pastoral preaching, catechetics and all forms of Christian instruction, among which the liturgical homily should hold pride of place – is healthily nourished and thrives in holiness through the Word of Scripture.

133 The Church forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful… to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.

141 The Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures as she venerated the Body of the Lord. Both nourish and govern the whole Christian life.

Keywords: Catholic, Christianity, Bible, Religion, Faith, Sacred Scripture, Young Adult, Family, Adventure, Jesus, Old Testament, New Testament