They Were Young – Book 3: Questions

They Were Young is an original Ochorus series of true stories for readers aged 13 to 17 about people whose faith began, or was tested, while they were young. Book 3, “Questions”, gathers six who wrestled with doubt and the big questions of faith as teenagers, and found that following Jesus did not mean switching off their minds.

Augustine chased answers through his teenage years in Carthage until a voice in a Milan garden said, “Take up and read.” Blaise Pascal was a mathematical prodigy who found that the God of the philosophers was not enough. Isaac Watts came to trust Christ at about fifteen and wrote hymns still sung today. Jonathan Edwards argued against God’s sovereignty until one verse changed how he saw everything. C. S. Lewis lost his faith at school and became a confident teenage atheist before the long road back. Dietrich Bonhoeffer told his family of scientists at fourteen that he would study theology, and followed that call all the way to a Nazi prison.

The stories are true, with no invented scenes or conversations; where the records are silent or a famous story is only a tradition, they say so. Each ends with the person’s own words, four questions to think through, and a pointer to read on in the library. Books 1 and 2 are not required.