FORGOT YOUR DETAILS?

The Old Schoolhouse® Product & Curriculum Reviews

With so many products available we often need a little help in making our curriculum choices. The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine family understands because we are in the same boat! Do you need more information on a product before you buy? With over 5,500 products listed in 52 easy-to-use categories, much of the information you need to know is only a click away! Let our reviewer-families help yours.
Do you want to get the word out about your product or service to the homeschool community? Email Jenny Higgins and share a little about what you´d like showcased, and we can help with that!

God the Reason: How Infinite Excellence Gives Unbreakable Faith Review by Leah Courtney

Craig Biehl
1-215-646-1077
PO Box 27
Horsham, PA, 19044
http://www.pilgrimsrock.com

God the Reason: How Infinite Excellence Gives Unbreakable Faith by Craig Beihl is a paperback book containing fifteen chapters. The book also contains a comprehensive Works Cited section, an appendix that explores the problems with rationalism and empiricism, and an appendix that considers the difference between a justified and unjustified faith.

In this book, author Craig Beihl examines various attributes of the perfection of God and looks at the affect that those attributes have on various elements of life. The idea behind the book is that, as believers understand the impact that God’s perfection has on every part of life, we’ll see how aspects of the world and universe that seem unrelated really connect and will be able to knowledgably defend our faith to unbelievers.

Craig Beihl does this in God the Reason by exploring a different aspect of the perfection of God in each chapter. He examines attributes such as God’s wisdom, His knowledge, His truthfulness, His love, and others. After he explains that attribute of God in the chapter, he goes on to give readers implications that this attribute has on our lives and on the sharing and defending of our faith. Throughout the book, he gives excellent endnotes that offer additional explanation and that provide Scripture references and book references that support his writing.

Although I love to read fiction, every once in a while I like to pick up a “meaty” nonfiction book, one that is going to make me think as I read and that is going to change me by challenging my beliefs or by expanding and explaining them. God the Reason is one of these books. I picked it up to read for myself and to preview to see if it a book that my high school students could read and understand.

I wasn’t disappointed. God the Reason has plenty to think about. The author does a good job of presenting in depth information that will make the reader think but presenting it in a way that the average reader can understand. The way that he organizes the book with each chapter presenting the perfect attribute of God and then having subheadings that explore the implications of the attribute helped to keep me focused- almost like providing an outline of each chapter. Because of this setup, I could skim each chapter and know what I was going to read about and then read the chapter for more detail.

After reading, I’m not sure that my older students would be able to understand the book without guidance. Although the author does a good job trying to explain difficult concepts, I’m not sure that many high school students will “get” it. I did see that the author offers a complete course using this book and other resources to teach the material. I think that with some guidance and direction, the book would be a useful one to discuss with students.

I am pleased with God the Reason. It is a book that is deeper than my typical fiction reads, and I enjoy the opportunity to read and think on the information that the author presents.

—Product Review by Leah Courtney, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, February, 2016

TOP