A Surprising God: Bible Stories for Children and Adults - Paperback

by Jim Shull (Illustrator), James V. Parker Ph. D. (Author)

A Surprising God is much more than just another collection of Bible stories for children. A Surprising God relies on up-to-date knowledge to make sense of enthralling, but often perplexing and frightening bible stories. A Surprising God is an adventure in storytelling that recaptures stories first told by people just like ourselves. Their stories help us understand that God loves children, the poor and the underdogs. That is the reason for telling these stories once again. A Surprising God is written for kids and also for their parents and teachers. Parents will especially appreciate the introductions to each story, and they will find that a "Storyteller's Toolkit" in the appendix helps them read the Bible stories to their children with understanding and meaning. A Surprising God is Bible stories for children and adults, for questioners of all ages.

Author Biography

James V. Parker, Ph.D., has been learning about the surprising God from children, who blurt out perceptive questions as they hear Bible stories for the first time, and from their parents, as they heard them in their own childhoods. After taking degrees in religious studies at the Gregorian University in Rome and the University of Leuven in Belgium, Parker became a pastor and a teacher of high school students, graduate students, and adult learners. Since marrying Kathleen Culligan, designer and editor of this book, he has shared the stories with his stepchildren and stepgrandchildren. Parker has published a study guide for adult Bible groups, Food for the Journey (Ave Maria Press, 1986). He is also the co-author of The Animal Research War (Macmillan, 2007) and the author of Animal Minds, Animal Souls, and Animal Rights (University Press of America, 2010), books that grew out of his work at a research center of the National Institutes of Health. Parker lives in Portland, Oregon.