One of my recent reads was a book titled Heaven, by Stephen Elkins. This is classified as First Steps, one written to help introduce a Bible topic to a young child. I requested it for review because I hoped that it would be a good one to teach an adopted child about Christian topics. Being a First Steps book, I hoped that the idea of Heaven would be explained simply - both in simple English and simple concepts.
The book tackles the topic of heaven in two parts - what is heaven like? And how do we get there? It presents a beautiful picture of heaven, making it very appealing. The book goes way beyond the idea that heaven is a place to sit on a harp and sing and for that I am grateful! It also presents the idea of salvation in a factual but not overly detailed way, talking about how Adam sinned by disobeying God, that Jesus came to earth and lived a perfect life, and then died on the cross. The book does not talk about why death is required to redeem us from sin, only that it was.
My first requirement for this book was fulfilled, that the idea of God, sin, salvation, and heaven are presented in simple, broken-down concepts.
However, Heaven does not use the simplest of English. I have a feeling my daughter will struggle for awhile with the words in this book.
"Joy is a blessing Jesus can give,
A blessing the Savior imparts.
It comes from knowing Jesus is Lord
And living inside of your heart!"
"In heaven we're safe forever,
With peace that does astound us.
For God is there to keep us safe
His love is all around us."
Impart. Astound. Not words you teach an English learner for awhile!
Still, it's a beautiful book and I'm glad I requested it. I look forward to reading it with my daughter and talking about God and heaven. Thank you to Tyndale House for a free copy in exchange for my honest thoughts!
1 comment:
You are certainly correct in saying those are not words in a common vocabulary ... even for the ordinary high schooler.
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