Review of Living Under God
(Living Under God was provided to me free of charge by Mind and Media, who received it from the publisher for the purpose of being reviewed.)
Living Under God: Discovering Your Part in God's Plan by Toby Mac and Michael Tait is a patriotic book. It consists of 60 four-page chapters, each containing a story from America's history, a Bible story or passage, and a devotional designed to help teens apply the principles illustrated.
I enjoyed reading stories of some of the lesser-known figures from our country's history, like Angelina Grimke, Theodore Weld, and Peter Muhlenberg. These stories from the past show how people of faith relied on God for strength, wisdom, and supernatural help in times of struggle and hardship.
The devotions at the end of each chapter are definitely geared toward teens, dealing with topics like knowing God's will for your future, standing up for your faith, and how God desires for you to use your resources.
The only reservation I have about this book is the lack of a bibliography, footnotes or source notes. For a book that is full of quotes, stories, letters and anecdotes of historical figures, it is surprising to find no mention of sources. I know that history has sometimes been re-written to take God and Christianity out. I also have seen instances where the Christianity and faith of historical figures have been exaggerated.
Maybe I'm cynical, but in today's world of e-mails being forwarded that contain no truth whatsoever, even from our brothers and sisters in Christ, I found myself wanting to check other sources for many stories. I did not have time to check every one, and I did not find any glaring errors in the ones I did. In future editions, a bibliography and footnotes would be a good addition.
Because each story tells only a portion of the subject's life, they sometimes portray a one-dimensional view of the person. For instance, Sojourner Truth is portrayed as an evangelical Christian with an orthodox faith, and yet at one time of her life she was involved with a cult called the Kingdom of Mathias. Thomas Jefferson's Christian faith is emphasized, with no mention of the fact that he revised the Bible to omit any miraculous events. In a book with this format, I'm not sure how this could be avoided.
In the end, I would still recommend this book. Adults will enjoy the lesser-known historical anecdotes, and teens will be challenged by the personal application.
Living Under God: Discovering Your Part in God's Plan by Toby Mac and Michael Tait is a patriotic book. It consists of 60 four-page chapters, each containing a story from America's history, a Bible story or passage, and a devotional designed to help teens apply the principles illustrated.
I enjoyed reading stories of some of the lesser-known figures from our country's history, like Angelina Grimke, Theodore Weld, and Peter Muhlenberg. These stories from the past show how people of faith relied on God for strength, wisdom, and supernatural help in times of struggle and hardship.
The devotions at the end of each chapter are definitely geared toward teens, dealing with topics like knowing God's will for your future, standing up for your faith, and how God desires for you to use your resources.
The only reservation I have about this book is the lack of a bibliography, footnotes or source notes. For a book that is full of quotes, stories, letters and anecdotes of historical figures, it is surprising to find no mention of sources. I know that history has sometimes been re-written to take God and Christianity out. I also have seen instances where the Christianity and faith of historical figures have been exaggerated.
Maybe I'm cynical, but in today's world of e-mails being forwarded that contain no truth whatsoever, even from our brothers and sisters in Christ, I found myself wanting to check other sources for many stories. I did not have time to check every one, and I did not find any glaring errors in the ones I did. In future editions, a bibliography and footnotes would be a good addition.
Because each story tells only a portion of the subject's life, they sometimes portray a one-dimensional view of the person. For instance, Sojourner Truth is portrayed as an evangelical Christian with an orthodox faith, and yet at one time of her life she was involved with a cult called the Kingdom of Mathias. Thomas Jefferson's Christian faith is emphasized, with no mention of the fact that he revised the Bible to omit any miraculous events. In a book with this format, I'm not sure how this could be avoided.
In the end, I would still recommend this book. Adults will enjoy the lesser-known historical anecdotes, and teens will be challenged by the personal application.
posted by Carrie @ 7:34 PM
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