Bruce Ware, professor of Christian theology here at Southern Seminary, has written a very unusual systematic theology book. It’s for kids. Actually, it’s for parents and their children to read through together, as they learn the doctrines of the Christian faith.
The book, Big Truths for Young Hearts: Teaching and Learning the Greatness of God, just published by Crossway, is written toward teaching children, but the theology is recognizably Wareist. He defends God’s glory and sovereignty, shows why it’s important that God is a community of Persons, and he exults in the magnificence of God in saving sinners.
My favorite part, though, is the foreword. The foreword is written by Bethany Strachan and Rachel Ware, the daughters of Bruce and Jodi Ware. I teared up as I read their words about their Dad. They talked about how Bruce would teach them as they grew up, sometimes by singing hymns, sometimes as they drove along on trips, sometimes on one-on-one dinners together. They write: “Dad really believes the things that are in this book.”
They further write: “To parents: it may sound cliche, but we followed our father’s teaching in part because he practiced what he preached.”
Moments after I read those words, I said, through tears, to a friend in a similar context: “Oh, how I pray one day our children could write words about loving and following the same gospel we’ve preached and taught. I can think of no greater blessing in this life.”
But, as Bruce Ware’s book, notes: this is hard but joyous labor, and it is a long-term project. I hope that those of you who are parents will pick up a copy of this book, and that you’ll use it. And I hope you’ll pray as you do that, one day, your children will be able to say or write the kind of testimony found in the opening pages.
