Book Review: "How Do We Know God is Really There?" by Melissa Cain Travis

We were given the opportunity to review a copy of "How do we Know God is Really There?" written by Melissa Cain Travis and published by Apologia.

"How do we Know God is Really There" is about Thomas and his dad and their nightly visits to his tree house.  On this particular night, Thomas asks his dad how they can know God really exists other than the Bible telling us He does.  Thomas's dad guides him to the answer by observing space.

When it arrived, I decided to pre-read the book before reading it with my kids.  That way, I would know what it said and wouldn't be thrown any surprises.  I was glad that I read it alone first.  About 3/4 of the way through the book there was a paragraph that sent off red flags in my head.  It talked about how if we reversed time that everything would get squished together and get smaller and smaller until there was nothing at all.   This screamed "BIG BANG theory" to me!  I put the book aside and thought on it for a few days.   I decided that since the book didn't outright say that the world came into being through a big bang and that most of the book was consistent to what I want my children to know, I would go ahead and read the book to them and then discuss with them how I felt the book was in error and how when God created the world, things DID appear out of nothing, but He DIDN'T start everything out tiny and then they grew as the book seemed to imply, but they were the size they are now, just closer together.

I did like how the book explained how things can't create themselves but something outside the universe had to have created it and how the only logical thing to have created it was a WHO -- God.  I also liked how it pointed out that God not only created the world, but the laws of nature and how He gave people the ability to think and learn.

I liked the colors used for the pictures, but found the people unproportional with no chins and huge eyes and mouths on the side of their heads.   I realize they are stylized, but I found them out of character with the quality of the rest of the drawings.

I think this book is good for school-aged children and is a useful jumping off point in teaching children about how we know God is really there because He created the universe.  I do recommend reading it alone and deciding what you will need to explain to your children while reading it.

"How do we Know God is Really There?" is available for $16 (ISBN: 978-1-935495-96-3)

I received a free copy of "How do we Know God is Really There?" in exchange for my honest review.  No other form of compensation was received.