Kids ask a lot of questions and that's a good thing. There are times when parents love questions and there are times when we fear the question and there are some questions we'd flat out rather avoid. Enter, the 21 Toughest Questions.

However, the first and most important question is: Can Alex McFarland answers these questions? Alex has an impressive resume which includes being president of the Southern Evangelical Seminary. He's shared the stage on speaking engagements with some heavy apologetics hitters like Chuck Colson, Josh McDowell, Ravi Zacharias, and Frank Turek. He is a recognized expert on world religions. Yes, he can answer these questions.

Why does the book exist?

The stated purpose of the book is very clear. It's in the title, it's on the back cover, it's explained in the introduction: Kids ask tough questions and parents need to be ready to offer a confident answer.

The book succeeds in this by offering Biblical insight, pro and con arguments, along with what Alex calls "Hope filled answers." The "Hope filled answers" are not sugar coatings. The questions are tough and sometimes the answers aren't easy to hear. Alex doesn't shy away from that. For any answer that might cause a child to despair the "Hope filled answer" is the reminder that Jesus does not abandon us in the struggle to find the answer.

How to use this book

21 Toughest Questions is not an encyclopedia. It's not meant to be a "if your child asks this question give them this answer" kind of book. Instead it poses a tough question and then leads you through the evidence in scripture to build a fully developed answer. Along the way throwing in background and stories to help illustrate.

It's this approach that makes this book worth the effort because, frankly, if you don't care, the book won't help. It's not an easy-out for the parent who doesn't have time and it's not a replacement for a parent unwilling to dig in to some hard topics. You, as the parent, must be willing to go through this book with your child.

The Setup

The book is divided into six parts: Questions about God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, the Bible, the Church, and the last section is directed at parents. These really are the tough questions. We're not talking — how many animals did Noah take on the Ark? We're talking about "Why does God allow evil and suffering?", "Is Jesus really God?", "Will the Holy Spirit leave me if I keep sinning?", "Is the Bible really the word of God?", and maybe the most poignant for the parent, "What will your family legacy be?" To name just a few.

My advice

When your child starts asking the tough questions, instead of waiting for each question to come up, make a plan to go through this book from beginning to end. Give them the education and the reinforcement before the question comes up and they'll have a better understanding of how to deal with the question if you're not there. Let's face it, the questions never come up at a good time. They always come up when we don't have time. So take the initiative.

This book is not a replacement for studying the Bible on your own, or with your child, but like a good commentary it will help clarify some misunderstandings.

The Wrap Up

This book is worth your time as a parent, no matter your kids age, and it's also worth your time as a student of the Bible. Some of these questions are ones we never deal with in our Christian walk and Alex's style is an accessible way to start digging.

PS One thing to watch out for on page 116. Alex refers to Lutherans as Post-Millennialists. This is not true. Lutherans are amillennialists. So, let's get that fixed in the reprint, Alex. *Yes, I'm just having fun. I mean, it's true, but still, just having fun.*

PPS I received a free copy of 'The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask About Christianity' from Tyndale publishing, but was not required to write a positive review. It just turned out that way.

Just the other day, my eight year old daughter asked, "Daddy, I know the Bible says believing in Jesus is the only way to be saved from our sins, so what happened to all those people who lived before Jesus was born?" How would you answer that question? Are your kids asking you questions about Christianity? If they haven't yet, standby, because its not a matter of "if" but "when" they will ask. Are you prepared to give an answer?

The book, The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask about Christianity, is a great resource to equip you to give your children (or kids you interact with) answers to many of the tough questions they will ask (and maybe even answer some of yours!). Author Alex McFarland is clear, simple, and biblical in answering the 21 questions, which he divides into five categories (God, Jesus, the Trinity, the Bible, and the Church).

I've received formal training in the Bible, so most of the information was a great review for me, but what impacted me most was the idea behind why the child asks the question and how to evaluate it and use it for their growth.

"When children and teens ask questions about God, the Bible, Christianity, or something that touches on a spiritual matter, our first reaction may be to blurt out an answer. There are times when that approach is called for, but it's better to pause and think, Why is my child asking this question? What information (or misinformation) is in her mind that may be influencing her? Has a recent event or circumstance in his life prompted this line of thinking?"

I'm one of those that is quick to blurt out the answer as if I'm the Bible Answer Man, rather than ask what possible issue my child is wrestling with. This was one of those "Aha!" moments for me. I don't want my children just to have the "right answers," I want them to use their God given minds to reason through the Scriptures and apply them to their lives.

Mcfarland goes on to teach the parent/teacher/pastor how to use their child's question as a teachable moment by asking further diagnostic questions to get to the heart of the issue and ultimately help the child.

This book is for parents, grandparents, teachers, pastors, and any who deal with children and is a very easy and well worth your time read!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Tyndale House Publishers as part of The Tyndale Blog Network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

I have been looking for a book like this for a few months now. My kiddo is about to be 6 and has been asking a lot of questions, why did Jesus have to die? When can I get baptized? I will say, truthfully a few questions had me stumped. I would answer to the best of my ability, but I wasn't as confident as I should have been. Having read The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask About Christianity by Alex McFarland, I will say, it has offered me a lot of things to think about, and given me the direction I need to go to be able to speak confidently when it's needed on these subjects.

This book drew me in. While reading this book, I broke one of my reading rules, I highlighted, the pages. The pages now looks like a neon yellow, stripped zebras. I only highlight school books, and only when I wanted to remember the important things for a test...well, this was for a far more important subject.

Alex McFarland was able to present his book with humor and many personal stories on how this book came to be. I also enjoyed the quotes that were presented before each chapter. They were fitting. The chapters flowed together and they touched on some hard topics, even for some adults. However, the subjects were brought down to a level (not dumb-down by any means, I want to make that clear), so that a parent could discuss it with a child. It was very easy to understand what was being presented. Everything discussed in each chapter was also backed up by scripture. Not one or two verses, many, and they were brought from every portion of the Bible.

It was great to see/read about the comparisons between things of the Old Testament and the New Testament. How the time of Joseph and then of Moses was so important to the time of Jesus thousands of years later and that of the crucifixion. The Key Concept section with the Question Recap and the Hope Filled Answer was a nice addition to each chapter. It helped bring the chapter all together.

Thank you to Tyndale House Publishers, I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest opinion.

Are the children in your life asking questions about God, Jesus, the Bible, Christianity in general, etc...and you are unsure on how to answer them? This book, The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask About Christianity by Alex McFarland will help guide your discussions with them. There are 280 pages (including notes at the back) in this book. There are six parts: Questions about God, the Father; Questions about Jesus, the Son; Questions about the Trinity and the Holy Spirit; Questions about the Bible; Questions about the Church; and Questions Parents Ask and My Questions to You.

Alex first explains on how to answer the questions that the kids ask you. For example, he mentions that "When giving an answer to a spiritual question, it's much more constructive to dialogue with your children rather than to give a monologue-which they may see as a lecture. In other words, talk with your children, not at them"(pg.9). Each chapter starts out with a quotation, either from the Bible, from an author, from a book/movie. There are key concepts in each chapter. It has a question recap along with some answers and a hope-filled answer. There are also boxes that give you more information on the subject of the chapter. Might be more info about certain terms, a place, something to do with your family (like setting up a family Bible study).

I think this book would be valuable to every Christian who has children or works with children. It is easy to understand and interesting. I was a bit worried about how Alex would answer certain questions/topics but I was fine with what he wrote. I also like that he gives suggestions on how to apply what was being talked about throughout the chapters. Very well written, two thumbs up.

I received this book for free from Tyndale House Publishers in return for my honest review.

Alex McFarland has tackled the tough job of picking the toughest of the tough questions about Christianity and trying to answer them, not for theologians, but for young people. (The 21 Toughest Questions your Kids Will Ask about Christianity: and how to Answer Them Confidently, Tyndale House, 2013)

First of all let me get the 'negatives' out of the way. I was distracted by the layout of this book, too many sidebars, key concepts and quotes scattered throughout each chapter made it hard for me to follow the author's train of thought. I think he also got carried away with some of his answers. I kept thinking about the person who when asked what time it is, answers with the instructions on how to build a watch. When I think kids I usually think under the age of 12, but this book definitely seems to be speaking to an older group, and the biographical data says that McFarland has spoken in "hundreds of churches and university campuses worldwide".

On the positive side, McFarland has done an excellent job of picking some of the questions that most Christian parents are going to have to try to answer for their children. Everyone seems to want to know why we're so 'exclusive', if the miracles really happened, why God allows such horrible things to happen, and how can anyone think that God really loved the world when the Old Testament is full of accounts that should be rated "R" for violence. Children want to understand the Trinity, and unlike adults, they're apt to ask someone to explain it to them. They want to know how Christians can be so mean to other people (and each other) and there are a lot of other questions too. Questions that leave most people trembling as they try to answer without sounding to off base.

This is a much needed book. I wouldn't go so far as to say, like is implies on the back jacket, that we're all theologians, but McFarland's point is really that with a little bit of background information, parents don't need to be afraid to talk to their children about the mysteries of the faith. And he does provide some of that information along with some interesting ways of getting the point across.

Along with some answers, he provides some interesting additional information, geared towards sparking interest in further study on their own. It's not written for little children in the style of a "Beginner's Bible" but he manages not to go so far in the other direction that you need a Seminary education to be able to pronounce some of the words, much less begin to understand them.

I rate this book 4/5.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. (And I've already passed it on to a friend who is helping someone try to make sense of this journey called the Christian Faith.