You Ask About Series
by Tim Pauls
Reviewed by Martha Robinson
Purchase details: You Ask About Life, You Ask About Relationships, and You Ask About Faith by Tim Pauls. Paperbacks, 127 pages, $9.99 each. The set of three books is available from Concordia Publishing House. Please support HomeschoolChristian.com by buying these books using our Amazon affiliate links below.
Tim Pauls, a Lutheran minister, covers controversial topics in a question and answer format in the You Ask About series. Though the books are marketed for a young audience (as "Questions Teens Are Asking"), the answers will be enlightening to many adults. The author references the Bible, Lutheran doctrine, and Luther's catechism to help show readers that following Christ applies to all areas of life and that it is not a gray area!
The author encourages teens to use four factors to help them answer questions that come up in their lives: Scripture, science, common sense, and conscience. He points out that the Bible is the ultimate source for answers, but that God did not cover every single question that anyone could have. So, teens must learn to think using Scripture as the base for their reasoning. With science, they would draw conclusions based upon results of what they have seen occur around them. "Common sense involves patiently studying options before making a decision." Conscience helps the teen to know when what they are doing is not right.
You Ask About Life is divided into "Witnesses," "Creator and Creation," "Matters of Life," and "Church and State." The first section covers the authority of the Bible, its relationship to science, and postmodernism. Next, evolution, environmentalism, feminism, and universalism are discussed. In "Matters of Life," the author addresses hot topics of today such as abortion, euthanasia, cloning, the death penalty, and war. The final section deals with prayer in school, punishments for crimes, multiculturalism, and government involvement in churches. You Ask About Life provides excellent background information and logical arguments for teens to understand the complex issues that are on the news and in their schools every day.
You Ask About Relationships begins with a discussion of the teen's relationship with the Lord while also answering practical questions about tattoos, piercing, and self-esteem. Pastor Pauls then moves on to topics about the teen's relationships with people in authority: parents, teachers, pastors, elected officials. After that he spends time on siblings, classmates, friends, and coworkers, and he encourages the teen to take a Christian approach to bullies. The final section of the book is dedicated to the topic of intimate relations among teens. Pastor Pauls is very specific with his answers to questions about what is appropriate and inappropriate for unmarried people to be doing. He debunks a variety of myths and discusses how important it is to marry someone of the same faith. You Ask About Relationships gives clear answers from a totally Christian perspective to questions that teens might be hesitant to ask adults.
You Ask About Faith is the longest book of the trio with 300 pages. Here, Pastor Pauls begins with the basics of faith and moves into how faith applies to worship, good works, prayer, and miracles. He also discusses what faith isn't, explaining some common misconceptions. This volume offers a fabulous explanation of the Lutheran faith, but it is specific to the denomination.
Recommendation: The You Ask About series offers straightforward answers to difficult questions with references from the Bible. With the question and answer format, teens can flip through to find what interests them or read a little of the book when time allows without any loss of continuity. Parents can be assured that their teens will get honest, direct, Christian-based answers on topics that they may be uncomfortable in addressing. These books could open the door for better relationships and more open discussions between parents and teens who may be heading down the wrong road.
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