:: in.a.mirror.dimly ::

It’s not every day that you run into a book on theology written for adults that addresses the questions brought up by children in such a way that both children and adults will benefit from it. Then again, Jim Speigel, the author of Gum, Geckos, and God is not your ordinary theologian, philosopher, professor, writer, or father for that matter. In fact, it’s the way he balances all of these roles that makes this book so good.

In July I’ll be posting during the book’s blog tour, so I’m holding off on my review until then. However, I thought it would be helpful to post on what I know about Jim because any time you can make things a bit more personal, I think it’s easier for readers to connect with the author (knowing Spencer Burke through several ETREK courses meant I had a VERY different take on his book A Heretic’s Guide to Eternity than many other Evangelicals).

Jim Speigel is a Philosophy and Religion professor at Taylor University. I took a general education course with him on ethics and theology with about 40-50 others. So I didn’t know him personally through that. However Jim was one of those profs who connected easily with students, performed at student venues (with his guitar that is), spoke at chapel, and stayed in touch with alumni via e-mail. When I was looking for guidance for Coffeehouse Theology, he was one of my first contacts, and he has been right there for me providing his take and even sharing an endorsement. I know many others keep in touch with him via e-mail as well.

Jim is very down to earth, and one of his most beloved rituals was bringing his wife and children into class with cookies. Just that is enough to show you what kind of guy he is and why he’s writing a theology book answering his kids questions. These may as well be our own questions since it sometimes takes a child to ask such bold, basic, and essentially mysterious questions. I think I’m afraid to ask someone, even Jim, “What is God like?” Call it pride or lack of child-like wonder, but I think I need to follow the lead of his kids.

Having dug into the first chapter so far, it’s been a quick, insightful read. I’m looking forward to whipping through it and posting on it in July. Stay tuned. If you want to pick up this book, which I think is an excellent idea since you won’t be disappointed, it’s available at Amazon.