The Ology: Ancient Truths Ever New by Marty Machowski

This reference style book starts out with a short story of Carla and Timothy who, while exploring a very old church, find a hidden door leading to a storage room. On a table, they find a package and open it with excitement. Inside, they find a letter and a book. The letter explains that this may possibly be that last book of The Ology in existence, a book that helps children understand what the Bible says about “God, people, sin, and God’s plan of salvation through Jesus.” The children begin to read.

The book is then split into 11 sections covering different topics of “The Ology.” The sections are The Ology of: God, People, Sin, the Promise and the Law, Christ, the Holy Spirit, Adoption into God’s Family, Change, the Church, the End Times, and God’s Word. Each section has several sub-topics. Under The Ology of Sin are topics like Sin Entered the World Through Adam, Sin Always Brings Judgment, Sin Spreads like a Disease, and more. There are 71 “chapters” covering each of these smaller sub-topics.

It ends with the children realizing that there is more to the story because every page has Bible verses attached to it. They see that The Ology is supposed to point back to God’s word.

This is my absolute favorite theology resource to recommend. It is thorough, understandable, scripture saturated, and can be used with children 3 years old through adults. Although this is a basic introduction to systematic theology, it’s not insulting to a child’s intelligence while also using language that is understandable and will resonate with children, teens, and even adults.

“After Adam and Eve sinned, they hid from God. We do the same thing when we sin–we try to hide from God and get as far away as we can. Without God’s help, no one would turn to him. We are all like runaway trains, speeding away from God toward a terrible crash. But because of his love and not because of anything we have done, God chose to save some who ran away.”

For those wondering about the section on the End Times, Machowski does a wonderful job of simply relaying what orthodoxy would agree upon: there will be judgment, the end of the world, and a new heavens and a new earth.

This book is an outstanding resource. What a fantastic gift to be able to answer big questions for children even before they have them. Obviously, this can’t answer all questions of theology, but giving children this knowledge and the Bible verses to support it will certainly strengthen their young faith. There are some parent notes as well as questions for each subsection. I highly recommend this book for your home library!

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