Depictions of God in the drawings of German-Muslim children

Abstract

This empirical inquiry aimed to examine the qualitative differences of the ‘God’ concept of Turkish-German Sunni Muslim children living in Germany. In this study, non-anthropomorphic drawings did not increase gradually with age. Anthromoporphic God depictions seem to be ontologically moving away from people with age. In the present study, indirect God depictions occurred six times more than the direct God depictions. ‘Religious-cultural drawings’ were the most common in the sample. The girls drew more aesthetic drawings that expressed an emotional bond with God. Boys depicted God more rationally and pragmatically in regard to human life and the world.