PERIL AND PEACE
Vol. 1: Chronicles of the Ancient Church
By Mindy & Brandon Withrow
Christian Focus. 223 pages. £5.99
ISBN 1 84550 082 2
MONKS AND MYSTICS
Vol. 2: Chronicles of the Medieval Church
By Mindy & Brandon Withrow
Christian Focus. 223 pages. £5.99
ISBN 1 84550 083 0
These books are written by two authors who work at Westminster Theological Seminary in the US.
The two volumes are written in a modern and relaxed style with plenty of action and dialogue. Characters such as Polycarp, Origen, Boniface and John Wyclif leap out of the pages. They are a brave attempt to introduce church history to a wider readership and are aimed at children aged 9-14.
However, as the print is small and a little faint and the prose is hardly broken up except by chapter headings, I doubt whether the average nine-year-old would find the books immediately appealing. The reader needs to be very literate to cope with some of the sentence construction and language. Fiction and fact are intermingled and the stories are exciting and with a hint of gore in places.
Some of the stories would be ideal for reading aloud and form a helpful basis for an RE lesson for children of secondary school age. A lot of theological jargon is used as well as ecclesiastical terminology which both need more explanation than is given. A glossary would have been a helpful addition to each volume.
I was disappointed at the little attention given to assessing how far the practices of the early and medieval church followed the teaching of the Bible. This is confusing even to the adult reader with some grasp of church history. The paucity of critical appraisal of some important practices, belief and movements is concerning. There would be a lot to unpack to help a child benefit in the way the authors intend.
Nevertheless, these books are a commendable attempt to produce something out of the ordinary. They make a refreshing change for the older child of discerning parents and a good source book for RE teachers.
Sheila Stephen,
Sunday School Co-ordinator, Carey Baptist Church, Reading
