The Ology – Book Review

Last updated on: April 13, 2016 at 11:10 am by Grayson Gilbert

The Ology – Book Review 2016-04-13T11:10:39-05:00 Grayson Gilbert

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I often struggle with how to teach concepts of scripture to my kids in ways that are simple and appropriate for their ages, and I feel I am weak (yet growing) in asking better questions of what I am teaching them. It is not for a lack of material that this takes place, for while we are with an abundant amount of poor literature teaching the fundamentals of the faith – we are also at a unique point of receiving the benefit of many excellent, biblically rich works. The difficulty therein, for the parent, can often simply arise in translating the vernacular to a plain, simple manner for children to understand. For parents who wish to be faithful in their roles, this means we must do more work than rehash the Sunday school lessons.

While catechisms are excellent tools to train children, the goal is obviously one beyond rote memorization of the facts; the goal is for heart transformation and gospel receptivity. For some, it can be a daunting task to bring home personal applications for their young ones – at least in respect to every single core doctrine of the faith. This book, in what I’ve read thus far, really helps out in that respect. It frames things the way young kids will understand more difficult concepts like God’s sovereignty, His nature, the state of man, the Trinity, Hypostatic Union, etc., and helps frame questions in ways to foster and steer a conversation about those things. But I would say this is a book that can grow with the kids as they get older. There is plenty of content to go back through – and if you use this as a framework to build off of, it can be incredibly helpful to bring more teaching into the process.

As you read it, your kids will likely ask questions that you haven’t fully thought through yet just because of how thorough it is in the way of a systematic theology, but that is a good thing. Beyond this, they will ask questions you haven’t thought through as of yet simply because they are children and think of these things like children do. Embrace that and run with it; use this as an opportunity to get into more difficult concepts of Systematic Theology with your kids – and if that means more work for you as well, good! Ultimately, it is a resource tool to equip you in the God-given role you have as the primary teacher of your children.

The sections are short enough to go over a few at a time over dinner (or before bed), give the foundations of the concept, a few scripture references, an illustration, and some have activities built in for helping bring home an application. Often, children’s Bibles or reference materials are cheesy, leave out vast portions of the text (due to difficulty in how to teach them or fool-heartedly thinking it is inappropriate for children to learn at their age) and frankly, heretical. Out of the many books I seek to review, children’s and women’s literature are often some of the most damaging things published as Christian lit. Yet beyond orthodoxy, we must look for accessibility within something like this.

We live in an age with the ease of accessibility for binge-watching television shows on Netflix, and subsequently, low-attention spans. Yet children have attention spans nonetheless; they will listen to the voices speaking into their lives. Whether that is a children’s show, book, teacher, neighbor, etc. – they will take stock in the things pouring investment into them and capturing their imagination. The point being – someone will invariably teach your children; be sure that you are the primary voice and that you do what is in your ability and power to train them effectively. If you have difficulty taking up that task, there is absolutely no shame in utilizing an orthodox resource to do so.

Think of this as only a resource though. Don’t use it as a crutch or refer your children back to it continually; teach your children to consult the biblical text (this is, after all, the goal of the author). However, if you view it as a tool to help equip you in equipping them, you will do well. It will take work, diligence, and most importantly, time. I take things like this very slowly with my kids, in part because they are all under the age of 5 and there are various other things we utilize in order to teach our children. I am convinced that while extremely helpful, this is not a resource that will prove to be the litmus test for their faith. It is simply a book that is designed to point back to scripture as the litmus test, or rule, of their faith if the Lord is pleased to grant it.

For all of these reasons, I heartily recommend it. It is one of the best children’s resources I’ve come across for the purpose it is intended for. Skip the pizza this week and buy it.

Disclosure: I received this book free from New Growth Press through the media reviewer program. The opinions I have expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Previous Post

December 23, 2015

Sorry John Piper, I Disagree

Next Post

January 9, 2016 Christians are "Way Too Uptight About Pre-Marital Sex"

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category #ShoutYourAbortion 10 Commandments 2016 Election 2017 2020 Election Abortion Accelerate Books Adultery America Andy Stanley Arminianism Ashley Madison Atonement B&H Academic Baptism Barry Horner Beauty Biblical Elders Billy Graham Blog Book Review Bruce Jenner Caitlyn Jenner Calvin Calvinism Cheating Chick-fil-A Children Christ Christian History Christian Living Christian Podcasts Christianity Christmas Church History Church Leadership Civil Disobedience Constitutional Coronavirus Culture Death Demoninations Discipleship Doctrine Doctrine of God Donald Trump Ecclesiology Entertainment Eschatology Ethics Evangelical Evangelism Evil Evolution Fear Forgive Yourself Forgiveness Francis Chan Future Israel Gay Marriage Gender Genesis George Floyd Gospel Government Gun Control Halloween hamartiology Heavenly Reward Hermeneutics History Hollywood Holy Spirit Homeschool Homosexual Homosexuality Hope Hospitality Humor Husband Infant Baptism Interview Jesus John Piper Josh Duggar Joshua Harris Judgment Justice Kathy Griffin Kim Davis Leadership Logic Love Manhood Marriage Martin Luther Messianic Prophecy Miscarriage Mocking Modesty Money Movie Reviews Music Music Review Netflix New Testament Obergefell Old Testament Parenting Pastor Pastoring Persecution Planned Parenthood Podcast Politics Pop Culture Pornography Prayer Preaching Predestination Pride Prosperity Gospel Rachel Held Evans Racism Ravi Zacharias Redemption Reformation 500 Reformation Day Reformed Theology Relationship Repentance Salvation Same Sex Marriage Satan Satire Scripture Seminary Sex Sin slavery Sola Scriptura Soteriology Sovereignty Spiritual Gifts Spurgeon Star Wars Steven Furtick Suffering Sufficiency of Scripture Sunday School Supreme Court Technology Testimony The Church The Lord of the Rings The Problem of Evil The Shack Theology Theonomy Tithing Transgenderism Tullian Tchividjian Uncategorized Universalism Vanity Fair Video Games Virgin Birth Voting Wife Women Worldview Worship

Select a Month June 2025 April 2025 March 2025 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 June 2023 April 2023 March 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz