What a good premise for a book: an eight-year-old precocious child carrying on a theological conversation with her 73-year-old grandfather --- not just any grandfather but a noted "Reverend Canon Professor…" who has edited a volume on Christian dogmatics. In an introduction, Solveig Lucia Gold explains her book's origin: "It all began on a dark, chilly night, sitting by the fireplace long after my bedtime at [my grandparents'] home in Princeton, New Jersey. I had a theological question to ask my grandfather (Poppi)… Poppi gave a lengthy reply that led me to ask him more theological questions." The next morning her grandmother suggested that further conversations be taped and transcribed "to turn them into a book."

In a second introduction, Dr. Jenson explains that the conversations were "wholly unscripted" and edited ever-so-slightly. Topical subheads have been added (something less than chapter demarcations) to introduce conversational shifts. Occasionally the narration is so conversational that I had to read a sentence twice. But a heavier edit probably would have interfered with the spontaneous and playful tone of the mischievous child, who sometimes teases her grandfather and even brings up Dante and his view of purgatory (which Solveig's father has explained to her).

After starting at the obvious place, a discussion of "the beginning" --- the Genesis creation story, the introduction of sin, the fall of Lucifer --- much of the book follows the whim of a child's curiosity. Christmas is approaching, and Santa Claus --- or the bishop St. Nicholas --- wanders in and out of the conversation, as does the mysterious role and work of the Holy Spirit, as does the first line of a Lenten hymn, about Jesus's temptation in the wilderness: "Forty days and forty nights…"

And yet young Solveig isn't just running at the mouth. Here's her summary of the metaphysical discussion that starts with the question, "Could God make two and two equal five?": "Two plus two is four because God knows it, and he knows it because it is true… If God knows it is true because it is true, he knows that it is true because it is true. But he also knows that it is true because he knows it."

Ultimately Solveig isn't in control of the conversation. Grandfather sometimes cuts in with an authoritative statement, based on the scriptural account or theological tradition. When Solveig proposes that "Jesus has his own thoughts, and God has his own thoughts. They don't think alike --- they do think alike. But Jesus could be watching over one continent, and God could be watching over…" Poppi cuts in with "No, no, no!"
 
Eventually the book is less randomly structured than at the beginning. The conversation turns to the phrases of the Lord's Prayer and then the Nicene Creed, which Grandpa Jenson (a Lutheran) and Solveig (an Episcopalian) repeat as part of every Sunday service.

A few conversational points --- about seasons of the church calendar, for example, or the wording of the creed --- will be best understood by readers who attend liturgical churches. But there is something here for all Christians --- or skeptics --- from adolescents to grandparents, who read for insight as well as whimsy.