Ask the Bible Geek: Fascinating Answers to Intriguing Questions

by Mark Hart - published by Servant Books, 2015

A Book Review by Father John McCloskey

Mark Hart is a well-known author and producer and one of the most sought-after speakers in the Church today, particularly among high school and college students. In this updated and expanded edition, Ask the Bible Geek extends to issues concerning the latest social media and technology. Although students are a natural audience for this book, it can also help parents who want to catechize their children in their early years in a way that is entertaining and informative at the same time.

For an idea of his approach, look at some of the questions considered in the section entitled "Finding God in Every Day." For example, is the snooze button a gift from God? Why did God create things the way he did? Did Jesus ever have to run errands or do chores?

Clearly, Hart knows teens (and adults) inside and out, and his book realistically and with honesty addresses concerns about God, temptations, personal issues in social media and technology and more. His solutions to typical situations that the young and not so young face today are rooted in Scripture and in Catholic Tradition. They provide fascinating advice and strong encouragement for living an authentic Christian life.

As a priest who has spent many years working in both high schools and campus ministry, I found this book a joy to read and an example of successful evangelization to an important but often-hard-to-reach population.

This book is a boon to parents and Catholics involved in youth ministry. It is a truism that the future of the Church depends upon the formation in faith that our young people receive as adolescents. However, this is especially the case in our own time, when the young are exposed to influences increasingly accepted by large swaths of the population that would corrupt their understanding of even the most basic foundation stones of a good life, such as the family. In addition, our consumer society tempts even believers to consciously or unconsciously accept some version of what Protestants call the "prosperity gospel."

It is, of course, primarily the job of the parents, starting at an early age, to form their children in the Catholic faith in a way that will convey its beautiful truths and establish the groundwork for them to develop their own relationship with Christ: the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Hart's updated effort to convey the moral and intellectual aspects of the faith to teens and young adults soundly and attractively supports the evangelization of our young people.

First appeared on National Catholic Register in October, 2015.