The God Contest by Carl Laferton & Catalina Echeverri – A Review

We love The Good Company’s colourful, fun and engaging Tales That Tell The Truth series in our house, and The God Content already looks set to be a favourite within that series.

Carl Laferton re-tells the imagination-captivating story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal and their ‘God Contest’ between the God of the Bible, Yahweh, and the false god, Baal, from 1 Kings 18. This is framed in contemporary language that children will connect with: ‘Maybe Baal was the real God. Maybe Yahweh was. Maybe both of them were. Maybe neither of them were… How could they decide?‘

We get all the fun of Elijah’s infamous mockery of Baal’s non-appearance, as well as a clear sense of the awe that Yahweh’s display of fire is meant to prompt.

But rather than leaving things there, Carl brings us forward in salvation history to Jesus’ death and resurrection as another ‘God contest’, where Jesus proves himself as the one true God, who made everyone, rules everywhere, and loves everyone. Elijah’s escapades aren’t left disconnected from twenty-first century life, but instead we see how these two extraordinary events speak into the questions, doubts and experiences of growing up in a pluralistic age.

As ever, Catalina Echeverri’s beautiful illustrations are a huge part of the attraction of these books. Vivid and delightfully detailed, they bring these stories to life for young eyes, as well as capturing a sense of the present-day applications for the lives of the readers. The thin roughly A4-size hardback format also gives the book a sense of weightiness, making for a perfect gift.

Our just-turned 4 year old loves being read The God Contest and our 7 year old loves reading it, so I’d put it in the 3-8 year old ball-park.

You can pick up a copy of The God Contest from the publisher here.

Disclaimer: I received a free review copy of this book, but I hope this is a fair and honest review.