Reading what our children are given to read

I have spent the last year or two undertaking to read some of the books that our young people are given to read in schools to see what was being recommended and influencing the minds of teenagers in schools. It has been interesting.

There are great books like the Alex Ryder series, of which Stormbreaker, was made into a film last year. In it Alex plays a young spy recruited by MI5, these are just good fun books. Another series I've enjoyed are the Eragon books, of which a third is out later this year - again good stories about dragons and elves, good versus evil. There are of course the Harry Potter books, which have provoked a lot of debate but which again are about good verses evil and contain many potential discussion points about Jesus and God.

But then there are books which are altogether more worrying. Not least among them is Philip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy which will soon be coming to the big screen. I didn't really enjoy the books, but they twist reality so that the church is an evil agent of a perverse God who wants to keep mankind trapped. Christianity is viewed as an expensive mistake which wastes the lives of its victims. The Third book in particular attacks the church and God, as Lyra the heroine takes on the role of the second Eve destined to free man from God's clutches. In The Times (18 Oct 2000), Sarah Johnson described His Dark Materials as ‘the most savage attack on organised religion I have ever seen.’ And therein lies its danger it is written as a novel for children and teenagers espousing aggressive atheism.

It is a challenge for us to engage with such books, maybe even to read them ourselves and be equipped to discuss what they say and why they say it. Are our own children reading them? Or those in our church or youth group? How can we help them to examine the ideas behind the story?

In contrast to what Pullman maintains the evil in the world around us is not the result of God but of our rejection of him, the answer is not to overthrow him, down that road lie the further consequences of Romans 1:18-32. In fact it is telling that in the century when society did leave God's laws and standards we have definitely not bettered ourselves.

Back and tired

Just back from a youth weekend which was great fun if very cold and tiring. How they managed to stay up until 4 in the morning on two consecutive nights I'll never know! Perhaps it's just a sign that I am getting old after all that I was in bed long before they were.

It was a good weekend which raised all sorts of issues that this group felt under pressure about. But fundamentally it raised one issue, though it was present only under the surface - is God good? That may seem like an odd question but it was in the context of why does God give us guidelines about who to date, whether to use drugs or alcohol etc...

It is a world of pressure for those who are trying to stand up for their faith in school or college. Ultimately it is an issue of whether what God says is for our good. Is it because God has my best interests at heart that the Bible says don't date someone who doesn't share your faith? Is it because God is good and loves me and wants what is best for me that the Bible says don't get drunk? And what about the drugs issue, the Bible doesn't clearly say don't, so what does it say?

It struck me that we assume young people will pick up on these things without maybe teaching them so explicitly, or we teach them as divorced from the character of God and they seem like arbitrary rules without the over arching reasons why God says. So the danger is that the question becomes why shouldn't I?

So why does God say date a Christian? Because you can grow together, because you can spur one another on, because it saves you from heartache, because you will be able to share everything. Because ultimately God loves you and he wants you to know what is best and to know him better.

The drink and drugs issues need to be taught in a similar framework? With the why not just what the Bible says.

It was a great weekend and a real encouragement to see young people wrestling with these issues and wanting to live godly lives among their friends.