Honest Answers: Exploring God Questions with Your Tween

by Janelle Alberts, Ingrid Faro

Overview

Somewhere between "Jesus Loves Me" and high school cynicism, the childlike acceptance of pat answers about faith is lost—often forever. But while many parents find this transitional period daunting, they don't want their kids to leave the Christian faith just because they didn't get good answers to how prayer works or whether dinosaurs were on Noah's ark.

Honest Answers is a discussion book to help parents tackle the God questions that make them sweat. This isn't the place to come for pat answers that will make their kids nod, smile, and disconnect. Janelle Alberts and Ingrid Faro know that when tweens start asking questions, they're already old enough to understand the answers. They're determined to equip parents with the language, theology, permission, and confidence to join in the discussion—and to learn how to offer deeply doctrinal answers in 140 characters or less.

The tween years present an incredible opportunity to build trust with kids and to keep them coming back to their parents for answers rather than finding other sources. With the tools and conversational tips here, mom and dad can engage in a hopeful conversation and help their children build a Christian faith to hold them steady their whole lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780825446443
Publisher:	Kregel Publications
Publication date:	03/24/2020
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	1,104,306
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.38(d)

About the Author

Janelle Alberts is a regular contributor to Christianity Today's Gifted for Leadership, Relevant, iBelieve.com, and more. She's committed to taking hard-to-understand Scripture and boiling it down into logical, clear messages readers can relate to.

Ingrid Faro (PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is dean of academic affairs and associate professor of Old Testament at Northern Seminary in Lisle, Illinois. Her previous work includes a contributed chapter in Divine Suffering: Theology, History, and Church Mission.

Table of Contents

Introduction 11

Part 1 What Does "The Bible Tells Me So" Really Mean?

Introduction for Parents 17

1 How the Bible Was Put Together 21

2 The Bible's Reputation Among Scholars … and Us 35

3 Ancient Literature from Scripture Writers' Points of View 52

Part 2 What Is Prayer Meant to Do?

Introduction for Parents 67

4 Outlining Unedited Prayer 71

5 Sticking with Prayer Even When Circumstances Say Not To 83

6 Picking God and Sticking with Him 97

Part 3 If God Made the World, What's My Science Teacher Talking About?

Introduction for Parents 113

7 Why Science and Faith Fight 117

8 Dissension Within Both Ranks 129

9 Motivation Is Key 142

Part 4 What is Church Supposed to Look Like?

Introduction for Parents 155

10 The Church's Setup 159

11 The Church's Breakups 173

12 The Church's Future 185

Conclusion: Before We Take Our Leave from One Another… 197

Digging Deeper 201

Notes 205