What Does God Really Promise?  101 Questions And Answers About God’s Promises, The Church, And The Future, written by Carolyn Lassen and illustrated by Amylee Weeks

[Note:  This book was provided free of charge by Tyndale Momentum in exchange for an honest review.]

This book is among those contemporary catechisms that do not have that particular name, likely because the word is overly unfamiliar and has particular unfriendly connotations.  Still, because people have questions and other people presume themselves competent to answer questions, there are a lot of books released that are catechisms but are called by other names [1].  This is not a bad thing–in fact, the book is a very thoughtfully written one, with touching and gentle illustrations, and a very friendly book to the reader.  Although it is not explicitly stated, the general lack of argumentative approach to the questions presented and the flowers and butterflies of the book’s artwork suggests the book, like many that I happen to read, is directed to a female audience, as it is likely that many of these answers, if directed to men, would be answered more fiercely.  It is intriguing to look at how different authors deal with the same question based on their intended audience.

The contents of this book are fairly straightforward, as the book has a very clear structure, being composed of 101 questions and answers, all of them on a single page, divided into three sections:  God’s promises, the church, and the future.  Each of the pages has the same format, with the number of the question/page along with some kind of flower or butterfly, a main question in all caps with a follow-up question below it in smaller point size, an answer of one to three short paragraphs, and a verse or passage below that which deals with the area of concern of the question.  The questions are answered with a great deal of politeness and the author refuses to make confrontational stances even as she answers pointed questions.  From the answers to the book, the author is a Sunday-keeping Protestant, but one who is able to deal with thorny issues like the Sabbath and the primacy of Peter without doing so in a nasty manner.

Indeed, the combination of the author’s willingness to devote several questions to the fourth commandment, none of which presuppose that Sabbath-keepers are legalists, as well as address the issue of there being so many “hypocrites” within the Church, and the author’s graciousness in answering those questions, is striking and distinctive.  It is rare when someone has a willingness to tackle hard questions honestly and openly without answering them in a rancorous fashion.  Although the book would have been even better had it been a bit longer, as a short introductory guide to matters of interest for many readers, this book will likely be read approvingly and enjoyably by many.  To be sure, the author engages in a lot of speculation about heaven and hell.  The author, at times, gingerly dances around common misconceptions about heaven and hell, and shares a few of her own, but although the book is not a perfectly biblical answer, it does address many heresies like the prosperity gospel and it does it in a way that avoids namecalling and abuse.  There is much to commend itself in these pages.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2016/04/25/book-review-the-question-of-god/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2013/08/02/book-review-the-21-toughest-questions-your-kids-will-ask-about-christianity/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2016/08/24/book-review-hearing-god-in-conversation/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2016/08/28/book-review-gratitude/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2016/08/22/book-review-the-spiritual-warfare-answer-book/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2016/03/13/book-review-reasons-to-believe/