Can I Ask That?: 8 Hard Questions About God & Faith: A Sticky Faith Curriculum

by Jim Candy, Brad M. Griffin, Kara Powell

Teenagers are tired of vague or nonexistent answers to their tough questions about God, the Bible, and Christianity. Just when they're capable of diving into the deep end of their faith, all too often the church keeps them splashing around in shallow waters. As eight years of Sticky Faith research on teenagers has shown, it's not doubt or hard questions that are toxic to faith. It's silence.
The trusted voice of the Fuller Youth Institute and proven best practices from churches around the country converge to provide you with tools both to start conversations about hard questions, as well as to lead students toward discovering their own faith convictions. Designed for use in small groups alongside the Can I Ask That Student Guide , these eight sessions tackle the following tough
What is the Bible, anyway?  Why does the Bible contradict itself?  Can I be a Christian and believe in evolution?  Does God discriminate against women?  Is Jesus really the only way to God?  What does the Bible say about being gay?  Does God endorse violence?  How can I follow a God who would let Christians do such bad things?

Genres: Christian, Young Adult

210 pages, Paperback

First published February 3, 2014

Reviews

[David Lipely · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow! I read through this book and it's sequel in one sitting because it is a quick and easy read.

First the good-
-this book is fast pace and makes it easy to construct lesson outlines and discussion questions from within it.
-this book is easy to follow and interesting to interact with.
-this book deals with many controversial topics that many other books will not touch.

Now the bad-
-though it is a quick read that means sadly that it leaves out many supporting scriptures and leaves the reader to make a choice from almost nothing but their own opinion in things that can easily be added in from the biblical text. (Though the teacher could do this them self with lots of extra work.)
-though the book deals with many controversies, never once does it actually deal with them, but instead it leaves them in the hands of the youth this book is assigned to, to make up their own decision.
That is scary. The book gives them thoughts and ideas which i am totally okay as kids should think for themselves, and doubt their faith in growing it stronger. But then it gives them no scriptural or little scriptural support as to either side of these issues, making the decision, like i mentioned above, to be made on opinion of the youth reading it as a devotional, and not leaving the decision to Gods word.

So in closing-
-this book can be a wonderful tool if used properly and if pre read to avoid awkward silence in small group discussion...as well, if planned out discussion lessons are formed from it's outline type layout you may be able to make a pretty cool and teachable series from it!

[Scott Hayden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good in concept and design. Get kids talking. Expose them to variant ideas. Let them know that it's not just ok, it's essential to ask questions.

It's a leader's guide to a curriculum. You have to buy the curriculum for students if you want to follow their plans. But you can still get a good idea of how to design sessions like this to open up conversations about difficult topics.

The authors admit they are biased on certain topics. And it comes through. For example, in the chapter on evolution, they focus the entire conversation on different ways of interpreting the Genesis texts. However, they do not even hint that there are different ways of interpreting scientific data. Too bad that they make it out to be completely a problem with the Bible, as if Science is the infallible source of knowledge and what we think of the Bible must bow to it.

[Karol · Rating 4 out of 5]

The leader guide had many points and some additional background material that was helpful in leading teens through discussions. The organization of it was difficult to follow at times, however. It wasn't always clear what was in my materials vs. what was in the teen's hands. So I constantly had to shift back and forth between the two books to keep sight of where I was.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, thought-provoking questions that dig deep into different topics in faith and prompt further study and conversations around touchy subjects. Doesn't shy away from the hard questions that don't have black-and-white answers. Candy provides sections with practical applications for the student-age crowd.

[Michelle Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part of the Stick Faith Curriculum, this is a great leader guide to help youth ask hard questions about God and faith. The back cover says, "Because doubt isn't toxic to faith. Silence is." It's a great kick start to youth programming, encouraging teens to dive into their faith.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great idea to consider what teens might want to ask about faith but are a little scared to ask. Great 8 weeks study for anyone, really!!!

[Alexia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read in highschool but so good! I honestly need to read this again! Also such a good book to recommend!!