5.0 out of 5 stars A life line for Gen Z, for the Church

M.S. · May 4, 2021

How will the church help Gen Z believe, understand, and defend the faith? How will they be able to make winsome apologetic arguments to an age group that has been shaped more by Instagram and TikTok than books or syllogisms, who find personal experience to be more persuasive than just about anything?Rebecca McLaughlin has an idea. In her book 10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask (and Answer) about Christianity, McLaughlin presents both a compelling resource for teenagers today and a superb model for older generations to follow. Relying on personal testimonies, scientific studies, copious pop culture references (Harry Potter fans, rejoice!), and a casual, simple style in writing, McLaughlin takes aim at ten of the most common problems or obstacles that a teenager might have with Christianity. (Think of Keller’s Reason for God, but for 16 year olds).The ten questions McLaughlin tackles in the book are:How can I live my best life now? (Mental and physical benefits of the Christian life)Isn’t Christianity against diversity? (Racism / Slavery / Christianity as the most diverse movement in history)Can Jesus be true for you but not for me? (Universal truth/ Relativism / Evangelism)Can’t we just be good without God? (God as the basis for morality / 9/11 / Hitler / Stalin / Human identity / Abortion)How can you believe the Bible is true? (Evidence for the gospels / Evidence for the resurrection / True versus literal)Hasn’t science disproved Christianity? (Origins of science / Science and faith controversies / Christian scientists today)Why can’t we just agree that love is love? (Marriage / Sex / Singleness / Friendship / Same-sex attraction / Pornography / Abuse)Who cares if you’re a boy or a girl? (Gender / Feminism / Transgender and non-binary identities)Does God care when we hurt? (God’s sovereignty in suffering / God’s care for us / Prayer / Purpose)How can you believe in Heaven and Hell? (Meaning of Heaven and Hell / Sin and judgement / Salvation / Invitation)StrengthsYou wouldn’t know it from her simple prose and laid-back storytelling posture, but McLaughlin holds a PhD from Cambridge University in Renaissance literature and a theology degree from Oak Hill College. The greatest strength of 10 Questions is McLaughlin’s ability to take her education and apologetic skill, and translate them into a form that someone still in high school or middle school can easily access. She draws from dozens and dozens of pop culture references that any teenager today would immediately recognize. But, again, none of this is at the expense of serious apologetic arguments. In this book you will see her go from marshaling arguments for the resurrection, to the reliability of the New Testament documents, to the fine tuning of the universe argument, to the moral argument, and on and on she goes, providing rigorous challenges to the challengers of the faith.Along side McLaughlin’s intellect is her transparency. Repeatedly throughout the book she shares stories from her own life or the life of her friends. She is a wife and mother of three, but is still able to share stories that many young people would find easy to relate to. Further, her experience as someone who experiences same-sex attraction, yet chooses not to act on it, gives her a unique authority when defending the Bible’s view on sexuality–which, again to a generation that puts so much emphasis on personal experience, is a powerful argument.But we shouldn’t mischaracterize Gen Z as if they are controlled by emotions and personal narratives alone. They want serious answers to serious questions. And McLaughlin’s willingness to tackle issues like transgenderism, LGBTQ+, abortion, Hell and judgment, the exclusivity of faith in Christ, how the Bible squares with modern science, and a whole gambit of other “hot button” issues is a great balm. Time and time again McLaughlin confronts thorny issues and simply and clearly cuts through them with a clear and plain exposition of what the Bible, or science, or history actually teaches. This is what young–and old–people need today as they are awash in a seemingly infinity outpouring of information via the internet. If Christians will not disciple young people on these issues, YouTube and Netflix certainly will.Lastly, the greatest strength of this book is McLaughlin’s embodiment of Jude 22, “have mercy on those who doubt.” Her tone throughout the book exudes a understanding of what it is like to experience doubts and skepticisms. She doesn’t brow beat or make atheists look like cartoonish villains or rely on straw men arguments. Rather, several times she extends a hand out to the potential teenager who is genuinely wrestling with what they believe and offers strong arguments with a gentle and lowly spirit. This may be the best part of the book for older generations to glean from.CriticismI have little to criticize in this wonderful book. I did have to constantly remind myself that this book was written for teenagers, so there are times where I found myself feeling that disconnect–I am not a Gen Z’er. But that can hardly be considered a serious criticism. I did think, however, that the book could have been a little shorter given that fewer young people read non-fiction. Lastly, (McLaughlin even states this in the introduction!) she relies on references from Harry Potter so frequently that if you had not read the books (or at least watched the movies) you might be left feeling very confused for many of the chapters. I myself am a fan of JK Rowling and have read all the books (several times), so I caught all the references easily, but sometimes it felt like it was a tad overkill.ConclusionThis book, hands down, will now be my go to resource to hand young people, especially before they leave for college. I think an appropriate age range for this book (depending on the maturity of the teen) would be from ages 12-17.I worked as a youth pastor for a number of years and would try to take teenagers through Keller’s Reason for God before they left for college, hoping to prepare them for the challenges they would face. But often the teenagers struggled to make it through the book. I wished that there was a resource like Keller that was geared for young people. Well, here it is! Look no further!

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best of Its Kind

C. · April 18, 2021

“Why aren’t there dinosaurs in the Bible?”“What happens to babies when they die?”“What about the ones that aren’t baptized?”“How come the Bible says Adam was made from dust when we all know that we evolved from monkeys?”“If Jesus was resurrected, why didn’t he just appear to everyone, why was it such a secret?”Those questions aren’t from a recent college level Q&A session on Christianity. They are actual questions from my 3rd-5th grade Sunday School class, and the questions I’ve listed are far from exhaustive. While there is an admirable quality to “childlike faith,” there is no getting around the fact that children ask hard questions. If they aren’t asking them, there’s a good chance they are hiding them.I believe in taking kids, of all ages, seriously. They are smarter than we give them credit for and they can handle so much more than we often give them. Of course breaking down concepts and keeping education fun are vital, but so is intellectually simulating children to take their beliefs seriously and to ensure that those beliefs are set upon a stable foundation. But it’s not always easy, for them, or for us.What should we make of the relationship between science and faith? Is the Bible reliable? Can’t love just be love? Can God really send people to Hell? These are serious and relevant questions that Christians of all ages need to wrestle with. One fantastic resource is Rebecca McLaughlin’s Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion. I read through the McLaughlin’s initial book soon after it was published and then a second time with my community group. The book is well-researched, intellectually weighty, passionate, and persuasive. It’s no surprise that it won Christian Book of the Year by Christianity Today and was featured on TED Talks Summer Reading List. But could such a work be reframed for a younger audience without losing its persuasive appeal?Simply put, McLaughlin did just that. In 10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask (and Answer) about ChristianityMcLaughlin takes high level arguments and structures them within the world of your average teenager without sacrificing the overall argument nor the beautiful appeals to a radical faith in Christ. With references ranging from Moana, to Taylor Swift, and to a whole lot of Harry Potter, McLaughlin expertly navigates the diverse terrain of common objections to Christianity that all teens are certain to face. She balances the difficult task of actually dealing with complex topics such as racism, abortion, evolution, pornography, and gender identity with an age appropriate delivery. As a gauge for discerning if a child is ready for the material contained within the book she claims that, “If your children aren’t ready for the entire Harry Potter series, they may not be ready for this book either,” and from someone who has read that series four or so times, I’d say she nailed that assessment.One of the most impressive features of the book is her use of analogy to convey truth that will relate and integrate to a child’s cognitive atmosphere. For instance, one might be skeptical of comparing Hell with a Dementor’s kiss, but as long as we remember that analogies only go so far she makes her point:"The ultimate punishment in the wizarding world is a Dementors kiss. If we don’t know Jesus, it’s easy to think that we’d be just fine without him… But if Jesus is who he says he is, then being without Jesus is like kissing a Dementor. If Jesus is “the light of the world” (John 8:12), then being without Jesus means living in terrible darkness…. If Jesus is “the way” (John 14:6), then being without Jesus means being eternally lost. And if Jesus is “the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25), then being without Jesus means being finally, utterly, everlastingly dead."Those familiar with Confronting Christianity will probably recall this section of that book and see how with just an added metaphor the concept is powerfully and memorably conveyed to a younger audience.McLaughlin has spent much of her adult life engaging with objections to Christianity in a secular academic setting. She herself holds a PhD in Renaissance literature from Cambridge as well a theology degree. Yet, she has noticed a trend in much of Evangelical thought (one I’ve noticed as well) which she describes as, “One of my frustrations with apologetics over the years has been that it hasn’t always represented the best Christian thinking. We are often trying to take down academic fields without first listening to the Christians who are world leaders in those fields and leveraging their insights.” Much of McLaughlins work is framed around trying to be a bridge between the academic and the popular. One of her gifts is not weakening the structure of this “best thinking” but recasting it in a form that can reach a wider audience. Here in this latest book she has wonderfully recast such thought to fit into the intellectual and imaginative world of the teenager. Well done Rebecca, there is no book of its kind that I would recommend over it.

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommend

j. · April 27, 2021

Excellent book that is relevant and timely. It is a must for Christian families with pre-teens and teens. Read it together with your teen. Open the door to conversations. Listen to their questions and use this book to help you find the answers together.Rebecca McLaughlin interweaves pop culture references like Frozen, Aladdin, Harry Potter, and The Lord of Rings to connect Biblical truths to modern questions. The text is engaging and scriptural references support all of her answers. Above all there is grace and love through out. If you are looking for a book that answers some of the pressing questions of our day, this is the one that balances truth and grace - something we desperately need right now in our society.I have worked in family ministry for 12 years, I am a homeschool mom of 2 boys, and I am currently studying at seminary. I will read this with my sons, I will use this with my middle school and high school ministry teachers and I will strongly encourage all the parents I know to read this.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great to read with teens

W.W. · May 4, 2023

I took our high school youth group students through this book and loved it. It’s aimed at a Jr. High/Freshman level but applicable beyond that. This covers a wide variety of things that teenagers are facing today and articulates them in a really helpful manner. A modern day cultural apologetics guide. The author brings tons of grace to every chapter, while still giving confidence in the truth and integrity of the Bible. Highly recommend!A note to anyone who is concerned that this brings up “dangerous” topics… these are all topics that the world is weighing in on. The church needs to have confident answers to questions, and more than anything a willingness to talk about uncomfortable things.

I didn’t enjoy this book.

A.カ. · June 20, 2021

The discussion was all superficial and wasn’t dug deep enough to answer complicated questions that teens might ask. She says that the ground of her belief is the Bible, but in the book it sounds like her ground is what “smart people” (as she refers to in the book over and over) believe.

Fantastic , Honest and Clear

K.C. · September 17, 2022

Fantastic Book, read as a family with my 2 teenage daughter, closing the book with the gospel is spot on. I highly recommend this book as a family read.

Great for older kids

J. · March 19, 2024

This book was purchased because my 13 year old had questions about topics she was hearing with her friends. This book covers important discussions like lgbt stuff, trans, race, sex before marriage, boyfriends and girlfriends etc. it comes from a biblical background and does not include anything too sexual or dark. My teens liked it and we discussed as they read.I would recommend definitely older, 15 or so and up, unless a parent is comfortable with younger kids reading these topics.

Gives reasons for christian faith

M.K. · March 16, 2021

Thank you! It’s a wonderful bookBought the kindle version today Will be buying paperbacks for our four teenagers and be praying they buy them for friendsGreat toneFaithful to scriptureAnswers the real questions

Very good!

A.C. · June 8, 2021

This book is simply incredible. It is excellently written and I as a 30+ year old really enjoyed it! I also read this again but with my 11 year old daughter and she enjoys it too. Highly recommended and I look forward to Rebecca’s next book. I think I’ll be reading all her future books!