Cold-Case Christianity for Kids

Question 1 (Before You Read the Book) - Do you believe that Christianity is true? What evidence do you have for this belief?

Discussion Guide - This is a great question to guage where your child is in understanding the truth of the Christian worldview. Chances are, if your child responds to this question with a yes, she probably will not have much evidence to support this belief. That is okay. Evidence for Christianity will be addressed throughout the book. If your child does not believe that Christianity is true, this is a great opportunity to find out why. Many uncertainities will be addressed in this book. However, if this book doesn’t address you child’s specific questions, it will provide a great starting point to begin searching for answers.

Question 2 - Throughout the book, Jeffries trains his cadets to think like detectives. Which two detective strategies stand out most to you and why? (Hint: It's not cheating to look back through the book.)

Discussion Guide - There is no right or wrong answer to this question (so long as your child provides actual strategies mentioned in the book). The purpose of this question is to remind your child or what he learned, thus solidifying the concepts in his mind. You can then bring up these strategies mentioned in everyday discussion to remind him, and your whole family, of both sound investigating strategies and the truth of the Christian worldview.

Question 3 - On page 31, Jeffries explains that a good detective separates what's most reasonable from all the stuff that's just possible. Let’s pretend we leeave our house one morning and it was a mess - dirty dishes and clothes everywhere. However, when we return in the evening, we find the house spotless. What are some reasonable explanations of how this happened and what are some explanations that are just possible?

Discussion Guide - Talk through several possibilities, categorizing each as a reasonable explanation or a possible explanation. Remind your child that explanations that are merely possible shouldn’t be strongly considered. Then turn to page 34 and discuss the different possible and reasonable explanations of what happened to Jesus’ body.

Question 4 (After Finishing the Book) - After reading Cold-Case Christianity for Kids, do you believe that Christianity is true? What evidence do you have for this belief?

Discussion Guide - Discuss the different lines of evidence for Christianity presented throughout the book (Jesus’s resurrection, the design in the universe, the eyewitness testimony of the disciples, the chain of custody, etc.). If your child is not convinced Christianity is true, ask her what evidence she would need to believe it was true. Then discuss whether the evidence she requires is reasonable or unreasonable.

Bonus Question - If your child has gone through Foundation Comparative Worldview Curriculum, say, ”On page 47, Jeffries says, ‘Information like this sentence always comes from intelligence.’ What evidence did we see for this claim in Unit 3 when we explored the question, ‘How did life begin?’”

Discussion Guide - Discuss the letter tile activity where we saw that information always comes from intelligence. Then discuss the example of the regular rocks on Mount Rushmore and those that were carved.

Bonus Question - If your child has gone through Foundation Careful Thinking Curriculum, say, “On page 20, Jeffries says, ‘If we're going to solve mysteries, we have to look at the facts and not assume we know the answer before we gather all the evidence.’ What skills have you learned for evaluating the evidence supporting a claim?”

Discussion Guide - Discuss making sure a claim follows its own rules, looking for careful thinking mistakes, and making sure evidence (support) comes from a trusted source.