What do you tell the young person you love as they head off to a world that will challenge everything they believe?
When his niece and nephew left for college, Dr. Al Gotch didn't hand them an apologetics textbook or a stack of lecture notes - he wrote them letters. Twenty-seven of them, sent one at a time over a school year. Therefore I Think collects those letters into a short guide to biblical worldview thinking, written for the exact moment young adults are asked to rethink everything they've been taught.
Following the tradition of the Uncle Eric series and C. S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters, each letter is brief and conversational, yet opens onto the biggest questions a student will face on campus: What is truth? Does God exist? Can two contradictory worldviews both be right? Drawing on David Noebel's ten-category framework, the book moves through theology, philosophy, biology, psychology, ethics, sociology, law, politics, economics, and history - short enough for coffee, substantial enough to fuel dorm-room discussion, and built to be revisited whenever a new class or conversation calls a student's convictions into question.
This isn't a book of easy answers or forced conclusions. It's an invitation to think, wrestle with ideas, and test what's true against Scripture and reason. Dr. Gotch writes as an uncle, not a lecturer - sharing his own struggles alongside the wisdom he wants to pass on, so this feels less like a syllabus and more like a note from someone who's already walked the road and still remembers the fog.
Therefore I Think is ideal for graduating seniors, college freshmen, homeschool or Christian school students, and any parent, aunt, uncle, or mentor looking for a graduation gift that will get read - short enough for a backpack, substantial enough to return to all four years: a starting point for the conversations that matter most, right when they matter most.
If you're sending someone you love out into the world this fall, send this book with them. It might be the letter they didn't know they needed.
What Others Say About this Book:
We all do our best to raise our children, set an example and train them up to live a Godly, impactful and fulfilling life. But, time flies and before you know it, they are off to college and on their own. Now what? Will peer pressure, new independence or a crafty professor erase everything you've instilled. Is your child's foundation and worldview theirs or yours? Therefore I Think will insure they are rooted and ready for lives next journey. Tip the scales to allow them to be influential and not influenced. A must read for all parents and a must presentation to every child on college move-in day!
-Michael DelGiorno, Premiere Radio Networks national morning host of Your Morning Show
About the Author:
Dr. Al Gotch is a native of northeast Ohio with a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Purdue University, where he studied artificial photosynthesis after earning his B.A. in Chemistry from Thiel College. He taught college chemistry for 20 years at three different institutions, serving nine years as department chair, and mentored dozens of high school and college students through research in environmental chemistry, biomaterials, energy storage, and chemical catalysis. A published author of 12 peer-reviewed papers, he has given presentations on technology, chemical education, philosophy of science, and biblical worldview. He now works as a Lead Analyst and Production Manager at a specialty metal recycling company. Therefore I Think grew out of a series of letters Dr. Gotch wrote to his college-bound niece and nephew, distilling decades of biblical worldview thinking into short, engaging chapters for the next generation. He has been married to Karla for 40 years and has two married daughters and four grandchildren.
Dr. Al Gotch is a native of northeast Ohio with a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Purdue University, where he studied artificial photosynthesis after earning his B.A. in Chemistry from Thiel College. He taught college chemistry for 20 years at three different institutions, serving nine years as department chair, and mentored dozens of high school and college students through research in environmental chemistry, biomaterials, energy storage, and chemical catalysis. A published author of 12 peer-reviewed papers, he has given presentations on technology, chemical education, philosophy of science, and biblical worldview. He now works as a Lead Analyst and Production Manager at a specialty metal recycling company. Therefore I Think grew out of a series of letters Dr. Gotch wrote to his college-bound niece and nephew, distilling decades of biblical worldview thinking into short, engaging chapters for the next generation. He has been married to Karla for 40 years and has two married daughters and four grandchildren.
