Customer Reviews

Answers to Your Kids' Questions

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Chuck Colson is one of the leading figures in today's Christian Appologetics. His writings are straight forward and clear, without pulling punches to answering for his theological beliefs. The book in review is a part of Colson's overall "series" starting with the book, How Now Shall We Live. I am reviewing this book because I find it even more important than the mother book because it provides a ploritha of answers to questions so many teenagers (and quite frankly, adults) have in today's post-Christian/antagonistic-to-Christian society.

Answers to Your Kids' Questions looks at a multitude of quick and to the point questions and answers. Some of these deal with "aren't all religions the same"...Colson says no, and provides a very clear answer as to why. Other questions are "what about sex before marriage" "what about homosexuality" "what about evolution" ...again and again Colson provides a straight forward Christian response to such questions. I find that he does a good job doing this.

However, the reason I have him as 4 stars is simply this. I think there should be a bibliography for each chapter that will provide book listing that could help a parent out. For example, in the discussion on the falsehood of evolution, Colson could have pointed out such fine books as: Darwin on Trial and The Long War Against God. I can easily see a teenager son or daughter saying "that's a fine and good answer (from the book via the discussion with his/her parent) but do you have more evidence that supports that view"...and the parent at a loss.

I think this book is helpful to the average Christian who wants to support his or her religious beliefs, and even more so, religious parents who want to teach their children the Christian way of life and worldview. I think this book is also helpful, and not too expensive of course, for the average non-Christian who wants to know why Christians belief in certain things.

This format of this book is very similar to what I proposed several years ago but could not get any publisher to buy. Overall Chuck Colson does a good job in taking 100 common questions asked by teens and answering them in short order. There are some questions that I think are weak (i.e. What if I want to be an artist?) while leaving other interesting questions out (i.e. tattoos and music). Also, some of the common questions that teens ask--I know because I am a teacher--received very little space to adequately cover the issue. I understand they were under tight page-limits (an average of only 2 1/2 pages per question), but just a page and a half on knowing God's will? Perhaps the author could have supplied additional resources for each question to help those who would not be satisfied with the brevity of a particular answer.

I did like the "Key Points in Brief" at the end of each of the sections, which were broken down quite nicely. These bulleted points helped summarize what was just read. I could see this book being a valuable resource, especially for parents. I am puzzled, though, why the publisher used the word "kids" in the title instead of "teens" or "youth." "Kids" has a pre-adolescent flavor to it, and when I bought this over the Internet, I didn't expect it to be aimed at teens rather than 8-year-olds. Nobody under 14 would probably pick this up as it would be either too hard or boring for the average "kid." But I could see an older teen using this, which is why I would suggest a simple word change to the title be made.

This book provides excellently succinct and simple answers to either complex or loaded questions, such as "What do I owe my government?" that will provide a clear argument for the Christian Conservative perspective, and spare your children the trouble of having to read the Bible or think for themselves. Mr. Colson has even spared students the bother of reasing the Constitution, providing simple, uncomplicated summaries of the intentions of the founding fathers, explaining, for instance, how "separation of church and state" exists solely in the first amendment (it does not) and serves only to prevent the state from impeding the church. Interestingly, this section leaves out the key question of "Should I serve in the military?"

This book is an excellent example of why the first amendment, preserving the right to free press, is important, as no responsible and well-read educator or legislator would let it off shelves otherwise. As a Christian, this book is extremely troubling to me because it implies that it is OK to defer to a "simple" source for answers to questions that are simply very complex, and because it dictates fine details of beliefs that should result from a long and considered process, not simply "blind" acceptance of a presented perspective. As a Christian in churches and a graduate of a Christian college, I can tell you that in general, most children who were raised under this style of presentation will turn out to be either unthinking automatons parroting whatever their parents and pastors tell them; rebels with no sense of center, purpose or balance, having almost inevitably rejected their inflexible background; or, very rarely, intelligent Christians who rejected their parents basis for presenting the ideas, but eventually arrived at somewhat similar ideas through a personal journey. I have yet to meet anyone who was raised on pat answers and inflexible perspectives who grew up to be an effective person.

Parents, please reason through these questions for yourselves, and apply your own beliefs and sense of reason to helping your children navigate challenging waters. Reading a response from a book, to questions about topics as wide-ranging as faith, science, politics, and personal moral decisions, is not the best way to present your authority and knowledge to your children. This book is just a list of "sunday school answers" albeit, a bit better fleshed out that you may get from many laypeople, but present the dangerous and false illusion of being a well-considered and thought out response to complex circumstances. Until they turn 18, it is certainly your right and prerogative to present to them whatever material you see fit, but a failure to present or acknowledge the validity of opposing viewpoints will not, and does not, lead to quality decision making for those eventual adults.

Colson addresses common questions teens ask about God, science, morality and other wolrdview issues. Colson answers them clearly and accurately, using the latest sources and relevant examples. A must for youth leaders and parents. Even if you don't have kids, this will help you with your own questions which are probably the same. Colson, along with others like Phillip Johnson and Hugh Ross are leading Christianity back to its position of intellectual leadership by so clearly showing the fallicies underlying the bankrupt religions of materialism, modernism and naturalism.