I was suddenly made aware from multiple directions that there is a new solution to children’s discipleship that is going to fix the next generation and be sure to keep them in the faith.  While other kids are growing up to question their faith and leave the church in their 20s, your kids or grandkids won’t.  They will stay strong in the faith because you bought them a copy of “Systematic Theology for Kids”!  It was half off at $35!  You got a deal. After all, what price would you put on a guaranteed solution for your children?  The publisher Valorrea wants to save your kids and grandkids!

The book is okay in its content.  The graphics are likely produced by AI.  The content is stolen from another author who sells the book for half of what you will pay for this Chinese rip-off deal.  It is a scam.  And it makes me angry.

I heard about it, researched it, and found it to be a scam mere weeks before a copy of it was sitting on my desk for my review.  I’ve had grandparents and parents ask me about it.

The content comes from an author named Jenny Ingram, and the real title of the published book is “Bible Study Workbook for Kids”.  It is not systematic theology for kids.  It is a good study book that guides kids into questions that really are good and beneficial.

So it might be a reasonable question to ponder: what is the harm in good Christian content being republished in China with new AI-generated illustrations, and then sold to Americans for twice the price?  The capacity to do this is one half of the problem, and the gullibility of American Christians is the other half of the problem.

To clarify, it isn’t gullible to find a good resource and buy it.  It is gullible to believe any marketing that tells us that our kids will NOT walk away from their faith if we buy them a 52-week study book.

But my two concerns run like this:

First, the very fact that someone in China has found it profitable to steal and repackage Christian resources is deeply concerning.  This is going to get crazy in this age of increasing AI, marketing algorithms, and social media.  It is only a matter of time before I buy the newest John Piper book, only to find that it ships out of China, has no copyright page, the publisher’s name is spelled wrong on the spine, and it is written from an Arminian perspective.  When the digital lies flow off the screen into my print books, the deception is almost complete.  We are right around the corner from not being able to trust the authenticity of the book we hold and not merely the screens we read.  This is a Pandora’s box I had never considered until Valorrea came to my attention a few weeks ago.

Second, my concern is for Christians that are looking for quick fixes to ancient generational problems.  The need for long-term, relationship-driven discipleship and education of children has been known for millennia. There are no quick fixes in spiritual growth.  It will always take time.  It will always take focus.  It will always take sacrifice on the part of parents and grandparents to instill faith and godly living.  The Spirit has been pushing me on to grow in my faith for 45 years, and I still have much more to learn.

There is not a 52-week study that can guarantee that your children will be doubt-proof in their 20s!  We need to start recognizing false promises as . . . false.  This goes beyond the adage “if it’s too good to be true . . .”  But it ought to be more like . . . I know Jesus.  I know His Spirit.  I know how He’s worked in my life.  And it’s going to be a series of relationships, connection to a church, and a lifelong study of God and His Word that is going to anchor my kids or grandkids.  It is going to be God and not a book that is put forth as the secret solution.

We need wisdom, in a world where the sources of truth are being torn apart by the seams.  I am glad that people have reached out to me as their pastor about this “new” resource.  And I am glad to be able to point them toward other resources, including the original copyrighted content by Jenny Ingram.

But my hope and prayer for the church is that we would become increasingly Biblically literate in a way that protects us from a potential wave of AI-generated “Christian” content.  The evil one has always dealt in lies.  The church doesn’t buy because the church possesses the written Truth.

To be clear here in the end.  The stolen content found in “Systematic Theology for Kids” is NOT heretical as far as I can tell.  It is just stolen intellectual property, retooled by AI, remarketed, and printed and shipped out of China. But I am confident that more sinister AI-generated content is on the way.  The boundaries are tested now for the purposes of clicks and dollars, but dangerously false content is coming soon to a publisher near you . . . (Or that claims to be near you.)