The Case for Heaven, Young Reader’s Edition

Lee Strobel

I live with seven children and youth, I work with even more children and youth, and one of the constants of my days is the peppering of questions at just about every waking moment. They need to know the basic shape of the day, pertinent information that helps them connect with others, and bits of trivia that matter to their lives. They also have deep questions about their places in this world. I’ve become a curator; collecting quality resources for children and youth to use to help answer their questions. When The Case for Heaven, Young Reader’s Edition landed in my mailbox from the publisher, I scooped it up and started to read, wondering if it would make a good addition to my curated collection.

This book provides Scriptural and experienced based truths that help children understand what they can be certain of about heaven. Chapters focus on topics like whether we have souls, will there be pets in heaven, and will there be rewards in heaven. When read alongside an adult who can wonder alongside the reader and help them answer further questions, these chapters can be wonderful tools to help them deepen their understanding of heaven. Each chapter has a section at the end that is entitled ‘cross examination’. These questions can be used as discussions with trusted mentors or as points for further research. There’s a tidy resource list at the end of the book, along with a collection of Scripture passages that discuss heaven. 

If readers walk away with one tidbit to help guide their wonderings, it should be from the story of Zayden in chapter 6. This twelve year old decides to ask many trusted people about heaven and comes away with the decision that he should focus on what he does know as factual. Yes, we will always have questions and wonderings. These should be tools that help spur us further into research. But the presence of questions does not negate what is true. This book can be a good tool for adults to use with children as they wrestle with questions about their faith. Providing space for wondering, ways to find information, and the knowledge of what is true go long ways to building on a person’s spiritual development.