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Big Questions
How Can I Be Sure What’s Right and Wrong?
Apologetics for kids and tweens on the source of moral truth. How can I be sure what’s right and wrong? Is it all just a matter of opinion? Do we really need God to tell us how to be good people, or can we just figure it out for ourselves? What about situations where there is no one right answer, or when we disagree with others about what the best thing to do is? In this fun and fast-paced book, Christian Studies teacher and school chaplain Chris Morphew walks 9-13-year-olds through various questions about morality. He makes the case that there is such a thing as right and wrong, and that we need to go to God for solid and satisfying answers. � An apologetic case for objective morality which connects with the culture today’s children are growing up in � Points children to the grace and truth of the gospel message � Includes chapters on disagreeing well with others � Written for kids who don’t yet identify as Christians as well as those who do
96 pages, Paperback
Published August 1, 2023
1 person is currently reading
26 people want to read
About the author
Chris Morphew
34Ìýbooks152ÌýfollowersChris Morphew is an author, teacher, and school chaplain living in Sydney, Australia.
He has written twelve books for the best-selling Zac Power series, as well as his own six-book young adult series, The Phoenix Files. He’s also co-written The Gateway, an eight-book series for primary school kids about a hotel for aliens, alongside Rowan McAuley and David Harding.
His latest books are Best News Ever, a 100-day guide to the Gospel of Mark, and The Big Questions, a series of short books answer tough questions about life and faith.
Chris enjoys Mario Kart, obscure board games, and superhero movies, and has been told he looks like Chris Hemsworth from the back.
He has written twelve books for the best-selling Zac Power series, as well as his own six-book young adult series, The Phoenix Files. He’s also co-written The Gateway, an eight-book series for primary school kids about a hotel for aliens, alongside Rowan McAuley and David Harding.
His latest books are Best News Ever, a 100-day guide to the Gospel of Mark, and The Big Questions, a series of short books answer tough questions about life and faith.
Chris enjoys Mario Kart, obscure board games, and superhero movies, and has been told he looks like Chris Hemsworth from the back.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 19, 2023
This is another great installment in the Big Questions series for tweens and teens. Chris Morphew is a teacher and school chaplain at a Christian school, and his experience interacting with kids comes through clearly in his writing. He gets to the heart of what kids are really asking, and as he provides Bible-based answers to their complex spiritual questions, he uses humor and relatable illustrations that kids will connect with. This book explores an essential question and its very practical implications, and Morphew answers common questions like, "Can we ever really know what's right and wrong?" and "Can't I just decide what's right and wrong for myself?" while keeping everything basic, straightforward, and kid-friendly.
Throughout the book, Morphew provides clear, logical explanations for why different human methods of defining morality inevitably fall apart, and he directs his readers to God as the source of moral truth. He also addresses practical questions for moral decision-making in the real world. These chapters use the redemptive story as a lens for helping kids contextualize their growth in character and wisdom as Christians, and other chapters address how people can handle disagreements about ethics with their friends and other people in the church. The book is very thoughtful and well-reasoned, and Morphew uses Scripture and logic to support his arguments. He also avoids unhelpful controversies over specific issues, and just focuses on broad ideas.
How Can I Be Sure What’s Right and Wrong? is a great book for tweens and teens. This will appeal to readers who are new Christians, and to those who have professed faith at a younger age but are figuring out what the Christian life looks like for them now that they are older and can take more responsibility for their relationship with God. Morphew also talks directly to kids who are curious about faith or have Christian family members, but who don't believe in Jesus themselves. This book can appeal to a broad age range, and the short chapters and conversational style will help it appeal to reluctant readers. I highly recommend this book along with the rest of the series.
I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Throughout the book, Morphew provides clear, logical explanations for why different human methods of defining morality inevitably fall apart, and he directs his readers to God as the source of moral truth. He also addresses practical questions for moral decision-making in the real world. These chapters use the redemptive story as a lens for helping kids contextualize their growth in character and wisdom as Christians, and other chapters address how people can handle disagreements about ethics with their friends and other people in the church. The book is very thoughtful and well-reasoned, and Morphew uses Scripture and logic to support his arguments. He also avoids unhelpful controversies over specific issues, and just focuses on broad ideas.
How Can I Be Sure What’s Right and Wrong? is a great book for tweens and teens. This will appeal to readers who are new Christians, and to those who have professed faith at a younger age but are figuring out what the Christian life looks like for them now that they are older and can take more responsibility for their relationship with God. Morphew also talks directly to kids who are curious about faith or have Christian family members, but who don't believe in Jesus themselves. This book can appeal to a broad age range, and the short chapters and conversational style will help it appeal to reluctant readers. I highly recommend this book along with the rest of the series.
I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
July 27, 2023
This book is an apologetics book for children 9-13 years old. This book really makes a case for objective morality and addresses both children who are believers and those who are not and points them to the gospel message.
Moral relativism is addressed and agrued against. Chris breaks down some of the arguements for moral relativism and shows why these arguments don't hold up and how we can discover what is right and wrong. He points children to God's goodness and wisdom and love and shows his readers how these aspects of God's character help us to know that His ways are perfect and right.
While I loved the idea of this book, I was not as huge on the execution of it. I felt like God's love was emphasized over His other attributes. Love is an important aspect of who God is, but it is not more important to who God is than all of His other attributes.
Chris teaches that we need wisdom to use what we know to make good choices and tells how we can get wisom...
"In the end perfect wisdom is just perfect love, lived out in real life-and so by far the best way to keep growing in wisdom is to keep getting to know Jesus, the one person who perfectly embodied God's love in a human life." His advice to grow in wisdom is to read the biographies of Jesus, connect with Jesus through prayer, and be in a community of Jesus followers. I felt like this answer is missing the whole picture. Wisdom is something that we can only get from God Himself. This is something we need to pray for and humbly ask Him for. It also is concerning to me because it emphasizes gaining wisdom from just Jesus and not the whole of the Bible and who God is as a whole. We get to know Jesus through the whole reading of God's word and how he relates with the rest of the persons of the Trinity. We can't separate them as they work together.
That to be said, he stated a lot of great things too and this book could be used to open up a lot of discussion.
Moral relativism is addressed and agrued against. Chris breaks down some of the arguements for moral relativism and shows why these arguments don't hold up and how we can discover what is right and wrong. He points children to God's goodness and wisdom and love and shows his readers how these aspects of God's character help us to know that His ways are perfect and right.
While I loved the idea of this book, I was not as huge on the execution of it. I felt like God's love was emphasized over His other attributes. Love is an important aspect of who God is, but it is not more important to who God is than all of His other attributes.
Chris teaches that we need wisdom to use what we know to make good choices and tells how we can get wisom...
"In the end perfect wisdom is just perfect love, lived out in real life-and so by far the best way to keep growing in wisdom is to keep getting to know Jesus, the one person who perfectly embodied God's love in a human life." His advice to grow in wisdom is to read the biographies of Jesus, connect with Jesus through prayer, and be in a community of Jesus followers. I felt like this answer is missing the whole picture. Wisdom is something that we can only get from God Himself. This is something we need to pray for and humbly ask Him for. It also is concerning to me because it emphasizes gaining wisdom from just Jesus and not the whole of the Bible and who God is as a whole. We get to know Jesus through the whole reading of God's word and how he relates with the rest of the persons of the Trinity. We can't separate them as they work together.
That to be said, he stated a lot of great things too and this book could be used to open up a lot of discussion.
August 1, 2023
Continuing on with his series Big Question Series, Morphew sets out to answer another big question. In this thought-provoking book, Morphew guides his reader through concise chapters tackling different aspects of morality, ethical dilemmas, and how to approach them.
The strength of this book is the real-life examples and relatable scenarios. This allows the reader to confront their own moral compass and ponder over the choices they have made. This makes the book more engaging and it helps the reader connect with the subject matter on a personal level.
Personally, I felt this book lacked the depth that the other books had. They seemed to be more surface-level rather than deep like the other books. I think the problem is that Morphew tried to cover such a wide range of topics rather than focusing on the main topic at hand.
Despite this, this book is a captivating read that dives deep into a complex question that is geared toward children who are seeking answers. While this is not my favorite book in the series I see the need for this book. I see why Morphew chose this topic. Children and teens alike struggle with this topic because like many of us, they strive to understand the difference between being a good person and being a Christian. All and all this is the perfect book for children and teens struggling to answer moral questions. This book will also leave you with a heightened awareness of right and wrong.
The strength of this book is the real-life examples and relatable scenarios. This allows the reader to confront their own moral compass and ponder over the choices they have made. This makes the book more engaging and it helps the reader connect with the subject matter on a personal level.
Personally, I felt this book lacked the depth that the other books had. They seemed to be more surface-level rather than deep like the other books. I think the problem is that Morphew tried to cover such a wide range of topics rather than focusing on the main topic at hand.
Despite this, this book is a captivating read that dives deep into a complex question that is geared toward children who are seeking answers. While this is not my favorite book in the series I see the need for this book. I see why Morphew chose this topic. Children and teens alike struggle with this topic because like many of us, they strive to understand the difference between being a good person and being a Christian. All and all this is the perfect book for children and teens struggling to answer moral questions. This book will also leave you with a heightened awareness of right and wrong.
November 16, 2024
I started off thinking this would’ve been a great book to read as an inquisitive child with borderline religious trauma. I do appreciate how some of this book contains actual arguments, that are laid out in a non-condescending manner.
However, once I got halfway through the book to the part about how God’s morality actually works�.once I’d laboured through the 50th unjustified assertion that treats the child reader as a sponge to mindlessly absorb “trust me, kid� messages�.I realised: reading this as a kid probably would’ve just made me
an atheist.
However, once I got halfway through the book to the part about how God’s morality actually works�.once I’d laboured through the 50th unjustified assertion that treats the child reader as a sponge to mindlessly absorb “trust me, kid� messages�.I realised: reading this as a kid probably would’ve just made me
an atheist.
October 6, 2023
Chris Morphew does an excellent job at introducing the idea of morality to kids and how we know what’s right and wrong in his newest book, How Can I Be Sure What's Right and Wrong?. He guides us through what it would look like to choose what’s right and wrong by ourselves individually, and then also as a collective group.Ìý
This leads to a more philosophical conversation presenting the idea that either human beings have invented morals for themselves, or perhaps there is something bigger out there, “unchangeable factsâ€� that determine what is right and wrong.ÌýHe then moves into Forms and how to communicate truth in a postmodern world.
Morphew is so great at communicating complicated ideas in a simple way.
The publisher sent me these books for review consideration but all opinions are my own.
This leads to a more philosophical conversation presenting the idea that either human beings have invented morals for themselves, or perhaps there is something bigger out there, “unchangeable factsâ€� that determine what is right and wrong.ÌýHe then moves into Forms and how to communicate truth in a postmodern world.
Morphew is so great at communicating complicated ideas in a simple way.
The publisher sent me these books for review consideration but all opinions are my own.
December 2, 2024
Another great book in this series! Chris does a great job explaining the importance of looking to Jesus for what is right and wrong and does a great job of getting to that point! Another short and simple read! Great for young Christians!
November 30, 2023
I thought this was well done and a great read for middle school age kids (the intended audience). It has a conversational style that should make it fairly easy to read.
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