As our kids were growing up, they were always filled with mind-stretching questions especially in regards to God.  Sometimes the answers were easy to explain, but other times it took some creative examples to give them a better understanding of things.  In the book How Do We Know God is Really There?,  the first in a new series published by Apologia Press, Melissa Cain Travis attempts to use a creative, scientific way to answer this question.

The story begins with a father and his son, Thomas, enjoying their nightly one-on-one time in their backyard tree house.  On this particular night they dig out the star chart and telescope to view the rings of Saturn.   Then Thomas poses the question, “Dad, how do we know God is out there?  I mean, I know the Bible says He’s there.  But how do we really know that’s true?”

The story continues with his father’s explanation using the example of Hubble’s discovery that galaxies are moving apart from each other and making an analogy of watching a video in reverse to see the galaxies coming back together into nothingness.  He continues to get his son’s mind wheels turning by pointing out that ‘. . . something outside of the universe must have made it” and “. . . something must have had the ability to choose to create the universe.”  His son eventually comes to the conclusion “the only person who fits that description is God!”

This hard covered book appears to be targeted at elementary aged children, though I feel that the reading level would be better suited to upper elementary students.  It probably would best as a read-aloud, especially where I foresee further questions will be asked from children.  The illustrations by Christopher Voss are interesting and colorful, though the artistic style is not my particular taste.  Overall, I have lukewarm feelings about this book as I think that the story may cause more confusion than clarity for younger children. But you can decide for yourself by downloading a sample of  How Do We Know God is Really There? here.  Then for $16 you can purchase your own copy at the Apologia website.