"Who Is God?" ~ Apologetics for children, by Apologia

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     Running through the backyard, swinging from the trapeze bar on the swingset, and pretending to be monkeys in a jungle, I suddenly hear the question,

                                                "Mommy, who is God?"

     I don't remember my girls asking me that question while they were pretending to be monkeys in a jungle, but they have asked me many questions about God and the Christian faith - and often, those questions just

                 pop

                                            out of nowhere. 

     I'm thinking about meal planning for next week...

...or I'm remembering that I need to write a thank you card to a relative

...or I'm jotting down some notes about a new curriculum that I just heard about

...and precious little ones in my care are wanting to know more about God and the basic elements of the Christian faith.

     Elmer and I have made it TOP PRIORITY to share our faith in Jesus Christ with our children.  We haven't used scare tactics to try to "scare" the girls into assuming what we believe.  We haven't brainwashed them - they're fully aware of what lots of other people in our world believe about life, God, and life after death (or that some people don't believe in any of that).  We expose them to all kinds of beliefs and thoughts, even if they're not what we believe.

     But since Kelsi and Brittany have both chosen, at this stage of their lives, to follow our Christian heritage and faith, we have spent time together as a family, about 4-6 times per week in the evening before bedtime, to talk about the Bible, what we believe, and why.

     That's why I was excited to receive this new children's book on Christian apologetics:  Who Is God? And Can I Really Know Him? 

     Apologetics?  Huh?  What in the world is THAT?

     Well, instead of being asked questions about my faith in Jesus Christ, and not having an answer for the questioner, I should be able to present a logical, biblical answer to that person about why I believe what I believe. 

                                                              That's apologetics.

     And why should children ages 8-14 be reading books like this, with their parents?  I mean, come on!  Isn't that a bit, well, too tough for children to understand what we believe and why?

     I love what Apologia says about this new series for children ages 8-14:

    "Our children are bombarded on a daily basis with competing messages. Every song, movie, book, TV show, blog, and game is full of ideas—ideas about truth, morality, beauty, identity, faith, and more. Not all of these ideas are true. Some are wrong, some are deceptive, and some are outright destructive. It is more important than ever that young children be equipped to discern among competing ideas and stand in the truth. This is why Apologia has teamed with Summit Ministries to bring you the "What We Believe" Series. The "What We Believe" Series is an outstanding way to teach your child the essential beliefs of the Christian faith, but it’s so much more! With this student-directed, Bible-based curriculum, your children will learn how to use Scripture as a lens through which to view the world around them—to see everything the way God sees it—and know the truth. " (Apologia website)

    Who is God? is a beautifully printed, full color hardbound book to be used by children ages 8-14.  Youth on the upper end of that spectrum, ages 13-14, could easily use this book by themselves as a Bible devotional.  Children from ages 8-12 would find that this book would best be used as a family, together, although Kelsi (age 13) has enjoyed reading this together with us. 


Foundational truths of a biblical worldview are laid in this first volume:

• What is a worldview?
  
• What is a biblical worldview?
• How does God reveal truth to people?
• How do we know that God's truth is all truth?
• What is the Trinity?
• Who created this world on which we live?
• What is my purpose on earth?
• What have I been designed to do?
• How can I get my needs met?
• What keeps me away from God?
• What is the only way to approaching God?
  

     These are such key issues to teach our children!  How will our children know these truths if they aren't taught?  Especially if everyone else around them, at school and sometimes even at church, is sending them a different message?

     We have enjoyed working through the lessons of Who is God?  Brittany enjoys the little stories and vignettes that tie in to the key concept in each lesson.  Kelsi has enjoyed the questions at the end of each lesson or section.  They both have enjoyed asking me lots of other questions, beyond what is being addressed in this book. 

     I love using biblical books and materials like this in our home, especially if it leads to deeper discussions and question/answer times.  My girls enjoy this, too!

     Not only is this book useful for using with your children, it would also be a great idea for an upper elementary/middle school Sunday school class. The books would need to stay at church so they wouldn't be lost or left at home, but this is very solid biblical curriculum that makes sense to be used with children.

     Here is a 17-page sample of Lesson 1.

     When people purchase curriculum and books from Apologia, there are additional resources like notebooking pages, lapbooking pages, links, and more for most of the books.  For the notebooking pages referenced in the introduction of Who is God? you will want to go to the Apologia Book Extras page here: 

http://www.apologiaonline.com/bookextras/   

What do the online book extras consist of?

     The book extras are free with the purchase of the curriculum. These include Teacher Helps for each lesson, supplemental Notebooking pages for each lesson, printable "House of Truth" graphics for use in teaching or as a notebooking component, and links to Internet sites that you may find useful in your Christian worldview studies.

     This spring, Apologia will also have some new products to be used to accompany Who Is God?  including a notebooking journal, a coloring book, and an MP3 audio.  Not all of these products may be available currently, but will be soon.

Who is God? book - $39.00
Audio MP3 CD: $15
Notebooking Journal: $24
Coloring Book: $8

     What are my final thoughts about using Apologia's Who Is God?  The girls found this book interesting and occasionally, entertaining, without insulting their intelligence.  I found that our daily readings encouraged further discussion as a family.  While it doesn't contain hands-on projects and activities, it is written well enough to clearly demonstrate why we believe what we believe.  This is just what I was looking for in apologetics materials and books. 

     Who Is God? also comes with a written schedule for parents or teachers to follow, but we decided to simply read until the girls' interest was no longer being held.  Kelsi could have enjoyed reading the entire book in a few days, but Brittany's learning works better if things like this are in 20-30 minute chunks of time, so that's what we chose to do.  We  haven't finished reading through this 252-page book and its ten lessons, but we plan on using this several times each week together in the mornings, before we officially start our school day.

     By the time we finish using Who Is God?, the girls should be able to answer many tough questions that adults sometimes struggle to answer.  We'll use this book as a resource for years to come...and next year, we'll probably purchase book 2 in this series (Who Am I?  And Why Am I Here?).  This is a great introduction to apologetics of the Christian faith, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to you!

    Read what my fellow TOS Crewmates are saying about Who Is God!

Disclaimer:  Apologia provided me with a free copy of Who Is God? for the exchange of my review of this book on my website.  No other compensation was provided.

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