Atom and Iota help children bring science and Christian faith together

Ryan, tell us why you have produced these books—what’s the inspiration for them?

Well as a young parent, one of the first things you realise is that you’re seeing everything as if for the first time all over again, right? When your child starts walking, it’s not just a walk - it’s a myriad of discoveries. A pinecone, a caterpillar, even a sunset becomes brand new. My goal with these books was to take that wonder of youth and recognise it for what it is, truly wonderful, and then ask and answer: why is it wonderful?

I wanted to help children engage with the ideas of general revelation and special revelation. General revelation is enough to tell us there’s a God, he’s God, and we’re not. But we don’t yet know what he wants or who he is. That’s the Romans 1 idea, we just know in our gut: God is God and we are not. Either we recognise that or reject it, and then Romans 1 unfolds. Special revelation is God speaking, he’s told us who he is, his will, who his Son is, and he’s revealed himself in his word.

What I wanted to do was look at the wonders of science and creation and, through story, see the theology of it

I always use this example: if you’re on the subway in New York and you see a young professional, you can make all sorts of assumptions by looking at him, but you don’t really know him until he opens his mouth and speaks. That’s what general revelation is like, it gets you so far. You need special revelation for the rest.

Atom and Iota were designed with that in mind. Atom is the smallest unit of matter, so he represents general revelation—all the beauties and wonders of DNA, the cosmos, biology. He goes around saying, “Wow, look at this!” Iota, named after the smallest Greek letter, represents special revelation. He’s more the artistic one. So, Atom might say, “Wow, look at this baby and how she’s growing!” and Iota says, “Did you know our Creator wrote the map of life for this child?” My goal is to help kids see the wonder of creation and then connect that wonder to God’s revealed character and creative intent. It’s about seeing everything as glorifying to God, but only as far as we give him that glory—that’s our job, to see and glorify him.

Were you reacting to something? Were you thinking people aren’t doing this?

I wanted something I could show my own girls. I didn’t see anything out there that combined story, characters, science, and theology in a way that bridges the gap. I see it all as integrated, we have a God who created it all. A lot of kids’ books are fine, but they tend to be either moralising or just about feelings or ideas. What I wanted to do was look at the wonders of science and creation and, through story, see the theology of it.

If a kid asks about water, I want to talk about why water is amazing, surface tension, freezing points, the properties of water, why it’s so cool that we have water on Earth. That’s how my brain works, and I want to explain it to them.

Read more:

Jesus Our True Friend makes an excellent Christmas gift for children and parents alike

Abigail and the Waterfall: A beautiful way for Christian parents to encourage their children to care for God’s creation

Green Ember: The book series for youth and children that rivals Narnia

How do you make these things accessible without making them dumbed down in an unhelpful way?

This is where story matters so much. It’s more showing than telling. Instead of just saying, “Here’s the idea, now understand it,” you see a way of interpreting creation, and it’s baked into the story.

At the end of each book, there are parent prompts for discussion and Scripture. For instance, the first book has a section called ‘Exploring Glory.’ One exercise is to go outside, collect things that make you go, “Wow,” and as a parent, talk about how they point to God, even to Christ. A pinecone is a seed of life yet to become life. If it’s buried and ‘dies,’ new life comes forth. That’s an amazing connection: a Saviour who died so that new life could come forward. Pinecones aren’t a type of Christ, but as parents we can point our child’s wonder to the wonder of God in salvation. It’s about being aware and seizing those moments, not just teaching a concept, but revelling in it together, so your child becomes a revealer, too.

Every child is a theologian in the making and every parent is a theologian, whether they realise it or not

You could have written these just for children, but you’ve topped and tailed them with sections for parents

Yes, that comes out of our own journey as parents. Educating our own kids redeemed our education, we’re relearning things in a better way. All of parenting is discipleship, for yourself as much as for your kids. I want to expect more from parents, give them something not just to keep their kids quiet, but an excuse to learn and love the Lord more, and transfer that to their kids.

I don’t assume parents always understand this stuff, but I do assume they want to and are willing to engage if you give them the occasion. They might not be in seminary, but if you give them a reason to engage, it’s wonderful.

You’re promoting a much more interactive, conversational approach, was that conscious?

I think it’s just baked into what I think parenting is. My wife and I run an online community of parents called Fierce Parenting, we have three tenets:

1. children are a blessing
2. family is God’s idea, and
3. all of parenting is discipleship

Every choice, from what sports your kids play to which books you read, is a discipleship decision. It’s about what it does to their soul and the family.

As part of Fierce Parenting we run Theology Kids as a resource for parents. We have five outcomes:

1. doctrine (giving kids categories for faith)
2. discipleship (stirring their affections for the Lord)
3. defence (helping them give a reason for their hope—these books fit here, showing why DNA isn’t arbitrary)
4. doxology (worship—hymns and verses)
5. and dissidence (being rooted enough to stand for Christ in a culture pushing back).

We want something for all ages and stages, and in different teaching modes—reading, singing, playing, and so on.

What do you hope your children and parents will take away from these books?

At a high level, my goal is for parents and children to have greater affection for the Lord and appreciation for his goodness, which then results in worship, obedience, and a hunger for God. We wanted the books to be accessible and beautiful. Selena, my wife, insisted they rhyme (which made my life harder!). When I wrote the book on ‘life unfolding’ (about conception), I even figured out something to rhyme with ‘uterus,’ though that didn’t make the final cut! We wanted a fully orbed experience that grows both parents’ and children’s affections for God.

We don’t worship God outside our minds; we worship him with our minds, and that overflows into family life

What has Selena’s input been in all this?

I wrote the books and ran them past Selena. She’d tell me if they’d land with mothers. She was a high-level editor, especially for the rhyming and illustrations. We hired an illustrator from Ukraine and worked for over two years. Selena made sure the images were beautiful and interesting; one bone I have to pick with some Christian kids’ books is that the illustrations can be underwhelming. We wanted to create something truly beautiful to stir a sense of wonder. As image-bearers of God, let’s make beautiful things!

Anything else you want to say about raising kids?

We’ve had great feedback from families and I think the books are landing as we hoped. I’d encourage parents to check out Theology Kids as a tool. Every child is a theologian in the making and every parent is a theologian, whether they realise it or not. Let’s get our theology right, not just for what we know but for how our minds, hearts, and actions connect. We don’t worship God outside our minds; we worship him with our minds, and that overflows into family life.

NB: The Atom and Iota series is currently only available in the USA.