We’ve been arguing for years that The Gospel Coalition (TGC) has abandoned the gospel — but it’s usually in favor of some form of social justice activism. This time, TGC invites suffering adults to abandon the specific knowledge and revelation of God in favor of “children’s books” that can bring healing.
No, this is not satire.
In an article penned at TGC by Quina Aragon titled Why Suffering Adults Need Children’s Books, the author describes the typical situation where she suffers from her “darkest seasons” and “found it nearly impossible to read through long treatises on the character and love of God.”
Those long treatises on the character and love of God are “wonderful,” she summarizes, but pale in comparison to the “ministry of children’s books.” She writes,
I’ve picked up children’s books and been warmed by their simple and beautiful reminders of the truth of God’s love for me. C. S. Lewis was right: “A children’s story which is enjoyed only by children is a bad children’s story.”
And it’s suffering adults who especially need the ministry of children’s books.
Of course, this is nonsense to any rational-thinking Christian and, further, it is contrary to what the Word of God actually says, which is the exact opposite — specific knowledge of Christ is peace.
“That their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” — Colossians 2:2-3
