Proclaimer Blog
Bruce Ware love in
If I may be allowed to gate-crash Adrian’s recent Bruce Ware love-in, I would strongly recommend his (that’s Bruce’s) Big Truths for Young Hearts (Crossway). I’m currently reading through it with the family, having been recommended it ages ago by someone I met at a ministers’ conference; I can’t remember who, but many thanks if it was you. It’s essentially a systematic theology, set out in 2-3 page sections, each with a couple of discussion questions and a memory verse. It take about ten minutes to read the section out. Here’s what I like about it, apart from the obvious stuff about it being great truth:
- it’s superbly well-explained in crystal clear and very simple terms, with great illustrations. it grew out of night-time devotions with his own daughters when they were young (read their preface to get a sense of what it was like growing up with an enthusiastic theologian for a Dad and be envious – or not.)
- it reads like it was written to be read out a family and so it’s fun to listen to (so the troops are telling me)
- we must teach our kids systematic theology. There are few reasons for this: it’s a fresh and exciting challenge for a child (mine is now ten) who knows all the Bible stories inside out and might be getting bored with them; their generation will likely be under even more pressure from wider society to have a robust, coherent and well thought out biblical world-view; if all we do is read the Bible with them (great and indispensable though that is!), we’re starving them of the great traditions of godly thinking that have been passed on to us
- it could be one of the very best theology books to give to a new or under-taught believer, whatever their reading ability, but especially if they’re not in the majority who are not university educated.
Here’s what my ten-year-old likes about it:
- it answers some of the tough questions he’d been asking at the end of our family Bible-time together; (I’d answered some of them for him, but every Dad needs some back-up)
- it’s giving him Bible-truth in a way he hasn’t encountered much before
- it’s just at his level (the back cover says from ages 9 up, which I reckon is about right).