Tell Them of God's Great Deeds: New Book Teaches Kids About Church History

I want my four children to inherit their father’s love for dead people. Reading and researching history is fun because, as Pulitzer-winning historian David McCullough memorably said, we historians are privileged to spend our time reading dead people’s mail. My friend Stephen J. Nichols, a fellow studier of dead people and dust-infested documents, along with our dear brothers and sisters at Crossway books have provided an ingenious new book that will teach children the highlights of church history.

 The Church History ABCs: Augustine and 25 other heroes of the faith (Crossway) examines the big picture of church history by devoting each of the 26 letters of the alphabet to a key historical figure. To wit, “A” stands for fourth century father Augustine and “S” stands for that prince of preachers Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Each letter includes a brief profile of the historic personage and provides parents with opportunities to further discuss church history in greater detail with their children. The book is well illustrated with colorful caricatures of historical figures from the excellent pen of illustrator Ned Bustard.  

As with all the entries, that of Spurgeon begins with the particular letter and related vocabulary words:

“S is for sermons, smoke, and Charles Haddon Spurgeon”

 Then readers meet Spurgeon in person:

“When I was a boy I would sneak off to read books. My favorite was Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. By the time I was sixteen years old I was preaching sermons. By the time I was sixteen years old I was preaching sermons. That’s no surprise, since my family is full of pastors. My dad, granddad, brothers, an even my twin sons were all preachers. So many people came to hear me preach that we build a big church called Metropolitan Tabernacle. It was in a pat of the city of London called “Elephant Castle.” It was big, but not big enough for elephants! I loved to preach sermons to children. I told everyone, small and big, that we are all great sinners, but Jesus is a far greater Savior.”

 Other figures your children will encounter include: Anne Bradstreet, John Calvin, John Donne, Jonathan Edwards, Ignatius, John Knox and Martin Luther, among others. Grab this big colorful book and teach your children about some of God’s choicest servants who have served throughout the ages of His church.

 On Monday, Gender Blog will examine an excellent new children’s story Bible from Crossway.