“I want a book to give to students who are willing to give Christianity a look but don’t want to be told they’re wrong, or stupid.”
“I want a book to give to a thoughtful 15-year-old that answers some of his questions about Christianity in a way that doesn’t patronise him, but doesn’t assume he’s about to get A*s in his GCSEs.”
“I know some of my young adult/student/older teen group are struggling with some big questions about faith, and I wish there were something they could read that would encourage them to keep trusting Christ.”
What book would you give these people?
We haven’t known how to answer these questions. Which is why we’re thrilled that Tricky has been written. Yes, we’re biased (we’re the publisher). But Becky Pippert, Rico Tice, Glen Scrivener, Nick McDonald and Jonty Allcock aren’t biased, and they’re excited about it, too.
Tricky is a book co-written by Michael Dormandy and Carl Laferton that has a simple approach. It takes nine of the hardest questions you can ask about Christianity, and looks at how Jesus answers them. And it does it in a way that doesn’t come across as trying to win an argument, or sound clever. It’s simply aiming to take the reader to Jesus, and help them think the question through for themselves—whether that question is about science, or suffering, or homosexuality, or the unique claims of Christ, or the resurrection, or truth, or purpose.
There are lots of great apologetics books that are longer than this one, and that pre-suppose a fairly high educational level. There are plenty that are a little more confrontational and a little less conversational than this one. There are lots that are, well, flakier and less gospel-centred than this one.
We’re not sure there’s one out there that is quite like Tricky: honest, sympathetic, straightforward, positive and full of Jesus.
Let’s face it—it isn’t easy to be a young non-Christian who wants to ask questions about Christ. And it is even less easy to be a young Christian who has their own questions about Christ, or who wants to answer their friends’ questions about Christ.
All too many non-Christians don’t get answers to their questions. All too few Christians are confident about talking about their faith.
It’s been tricky to know what to give them. Hopefully, now you’ll know it’s Tricky that you can give them.
Tim Thornborough is the founder and Publishing Director of The Good Book Company. He is series editor of Explore Bible-reading notes, the author of The Very Best Bible Stories series, and has contributed to many books published by The Good Book Company and others. Tim is married to Kathy, and they have three adult daughters.
