The main theme of the book is comfort for God’s people. This includes comfort during difficult circumstances, but the real focus is on assurance of salvation and resting in God’s promises. Boekestein discusses the book in depth during Episode 214 of Christ the Center.

As members of the OPC, our family uses the Westminster Standards. However, I think it is valuable for adults and children alike to have an understanding of other catechisms in the Reformed tradition. This book pairs well with Weight of a Flame, which I read and reviewed last month.  Olympia Morata’s journey ends (1555) in Heidelberg, Germany, shortly before the Heidelberg Catechism was written (1563).

William Boekestein (M.Div., Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary) is pastor of Covenant Reformed Church in Carbondale, Pennsylvania.  He previously taught in a Christian school for several years. He and his wife, Amy, have three children.

The book itself is appealing, with a beautiful cover illustration and highly readable typesetting. Carr includes a map, cast of characters, glossary, timeline, and resources for further study.  These features show the author’s careful research and overall understanding of her subject matter.

The story covers several years of Olympia’s life, from 1539 to the end of her life in 1555.  The chapter headings include dates and locations, which is helpful for following Olympia’s journey.  The narrative traces her life from Ferrara, Italy, to Heidelberg, Germany.

An early theme focuses on cultivating and using the gifts God has given to each individual.  For Olympia, this means using her mind and language skills for God’s glory.  The story also features a loving father/daughter relationship, a godly courtship and marriage, and a heroine whose faith grows strong through trials and persecution.  Young girls will be encouraged by Olympia’s example, and they will perhaps consider the strength of their own faith as a result.

Overall, “Weight of a Flame” was both informative and enjoyable.  This book is highly recommended.

A note to parents: Young readers could be confused by the frequent use of “Lutheran” to describe Protestants.  The author defends this term by saying that it was how sixteenth century Protestants would have referred to each other.  Carr also mentions that John Calvin occasionally referred to himself as a Lutheran.  Because the term “Lutheran” has a more narrow meaning today, parents might want to discuss these differences.

After reading the introduction and first chapter, I am looking forward to completing the book and writing a full review. Classified as historical fiction, it’s already clear that Simonetta Carr researched her story extensively. She includes several pages at the beginning of the book that provide historical details about each character in the story.

I will admit that I know almost nothing about the Italian Reformation. I anticipate that this book will be a pleasant, yet informative, read. Although the intended audience is young readers, I found myself drawn in by the story during chapter one.

Stay tuned for the full review. Normally this would be a Saturday afternoon read, but it might take a while longer with a four month old keeping me busy.

Julie Lowe – Teaching children who are reluctant to change from CCEF on Vimeo.

Winston Smith – Am I equipped to counsel an abused spouse? from CCEF on Vimeo.

This year I was looking for something to incorporate into family worship. The McCheyne plan is great for this as well since two of his chapters are meant to be read as a family. This is a great way to provide structure to your family Bible reading. Print a PDF of the plan and start working through it with your family. I trust you will be richly blessed (yes, even as you get to explain all those “difficult” stories as well as read through Numbers and Chronicles!).

Carr maintains the same organizational structure throughout, beginning with a brief overview of each life and some of their significant contributions to the Church.

Carefully, she transitions into the culture and politics that were present during their upbringing. This is essential in understanding Augustine’s education, for example, which was drastically different from our own today. She also highlights important incidents that shaped each life further down the road. For Augustine, this was a prank of stealing pears that he later reflected on as he grasped his sin. John Owen endured a rigorous training that left him with little sleep, potentially damaging his health as he grew older. Finally, throughout the book, Carr traces each life chronologically, noting various theological issues and debates that arose during their lives. Most of these concepts are difficult for younger readers, but Carr does an excellent job using terms they are familiar with and highlighting incidents that they can relate to. Notably, Carr explains Augustine’s challenges in exposing the false teachings of the Manichees, which is conceptually difficult for younger readers, in a way children can understand.

The illustrations throughout are tastefully done, capturing what life would have looked like. Also, they expose key events in each life, many of which were very dramatic. Carr also includes current pictures of locations. For Augustine, she inserted the ruins of Carthage, and in John Owen’s biography, various portraits taken at the time. Finally, one of the most helpful aspects, are the maps Carr includes at the beginning. These allow the readers to trace and understand where significant events happened.

Carr has summarized these lives clearly and in a way that younger readers (age 6 -12) can not only read but also enjoy. Her illustrations and age appropriate wording make these books ideal for covenant families. These books will be used in our home as we seek to give our children an appreciation for those faithful believers who have gone before us.

If you ask the average Christian to cite the main differences between Baptists and Reformed Christians, the first thing that would come to mind is probably baptism, its mode and its recipients. Specifically, while there may be mild disagreements over the use of immersion or sprinkling as the mode by which the water is applied, of much greater contention is the issue of who exactly should be baptized. Is baptism only for those who have professed personal faith in the work and death of Jesus Christ or is it to be applied to the children of believers as well? Are the children of believers full members of the covenant community or are they technically outsiders who enjoy certain benefits by virtue of being raised in a Christian family but not because they are members of the Visible Church?

For those of us who adhere to the Reformed Confessions, the answers to those questions are clear and should shape our view of children in the church and what it means to raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. However, it seems that more often than not, the way children are raised in Reformed Churches is no different than what could be found in typical Baptist or evangelical churches that do not subscribe to paedo-baptism. Children are dropped off, prior to the Sunday worship service, with the child care ministry where they are taught Bible lessons, given arts and crafts activities, or participate in children’s church.

Parents do this with good intentions, believing that their children would find the “grown-up” worship service boring. The net effect, however, is that these children of Reformed believers are being implicitly taught that they are not true members of the covenant community since they are not expected to participate in worship with the rest of the church community. Perhaps it should come as no surprise when we find that these same children grow up seeing Sunday worship as something merely optional. Further, as a result of this separation between children and their parents, the children of Reformed believers often grow up without regularly hearing the Scriptures preached and without seeing the sacraments administered. It is no wonder then when many never develop a proper understanding or appreciation for God’s ordinary means of grace.

Parents who are Reformed Christians need to reconsider if raising their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord does not entail having them participate in the regular Sunday public worship. After all, is that not the occasion where God has ordained that we are to worship Him in community and where he reveals himself to us through the ordinary means of grace? Why would we want to deprive our children of the opportunity to hear God’s Word preached with power and to see the drama of redemption played out in the administration of the sacraments? Instead, we try to replace these God ordained means with teachings and drama provided by the latest hip Bible lesson or the newest episode of the Veggie Tales.

My hope is that those of us who claim to be heirs of the Reformed tradition and who have vowed to raise our children as covenant members would consider more fully the implications of those vows. Perhaps we would then see that all the benefits of being members of the covenant community, including access to Word, sacrament, and prayer, properly belong, not only to us, but to our children.

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Books by Wendell Berry

• What are People For?
• Hannah Coulter
• A World Lost
• The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays of Wendell Berry
• Jayber Crow
• Sex, Economy, Freedom and Community: Eight Essays