Status
Checked out
Due 5 May 2024
Call number
Publication
Hodder & Stoughton
Collection
Description
The author, a journalist and spiritual seeker has always struggled with the most basic questions of the Christian faith. The question he tackles in this book concerns the practical value of belief in God. His search for the answer to this question took him to some amazing settings around the world: Mumbai, India when the firing started during the terrorist attacks; at the motel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated; on the Virginia Tech campus soon after the massacre; an AA convention; and even to a conference for women in prostitution.
User reviews
LibraryThing member johnfgaines
Philip Yancey, What Good Is God?
Yancey recalls ten speeches he gave between 2003 and 2009 as well as the circumstances behind each of his trips and the stories behind the speeches. The narratives – speaking in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech student massacre and speaking to survivors of
Yancey is a talented communicator who has a quite a lot of worthwhile things to say. The first chapter (about the Virginia Tech shooting) is riveting reading and leaves the reader with much to ponder about how God and evil intersect in the world. It alone would be worth the price of the book. The story of Yancey meeting undercover with house church leaders in China gives a fascinating glimpse into how belief in Christ is growing in the world’s most populous country. Unfortunately, not all the stories are as interesting.
More serious objections arise from what appears to be personal “baggage” the author brings to his writing. Much of Yancey’s writing is centered on the subject of grace. That emphasis continues in What Good Is God? Good, biblical teaching on the subject is much needed, but it is possible to stretch one’s understanding of grace so far that biblical teaching about grace is compromised by a sincere desire to be inclusive and forgiving. Without extending this review into a full discussion of Yancey’s treatment of grace, I will be content to express my opinion that he creates some inconsistencies between what he allows and what can be justified by Scripture. Perhaps this is a roundabout way of advising readers to read with careful discernment. Find and benefit from the much good teaching found in Philip Yancey’s writing (including this book), but be cautious that you do not accept some of his conclusions that he cannot support with carefully-reasoned biblical teaching.
A free copy of this book was provided through the Library Thing Early Review program.
Yancey recalls ten speeches he gave between 2003 and 2009 as well as the circumstances behind each of his trips and the stories behind the speeches. The narratives – speaking in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech student massacre and speaking to survivors of
Show More
terrorist attacks in India just after they happened, speaking to persecuted believers in China, speaking to a conferences of prostitutes and of people struggling with alcoholism, speaking to a church made up altogether of expatriates in Muslim Bahrain, speaking to thriving churches in post-apartheid South Africa, celebrating C. S. Lewis in a speech at Cambridge, England, speaking about grace at the strict Bible college he attended as a young man – all serve to illustrate to point that faith in God makes a critical difference, especially in times of crisis and hardship.Yancey is a talented communicator who has a quite a lot of worthwhile things to say. The first chapter (about the Virginia Tech shooting) is riveting reading and leaves the reader with much to ponder about how God and evil intersect in the world. It alone would be worth the price of the book. The story of Yancey meeting undercover with house church leaders in China gives a fascinating glimpse into how belief in Christ is growing in the world’s most populous country. Unfortunately, not all the stories are as interesting.
More serious objections arise from what appears to be personal “baggage” the author brings to his writing. Much of Yancey’s writing is centered on the subject of grace. That emphasis continues in What Good Is God? Good, biblical teaching on the subject is much needed, but it is possible to stretch one’s understanding of grace so far that biblical teaching about grace is compromised by a sincere desire to be inclusive and forgiving. Without extending this review into a full discussion of Yancey’s treatment of grace, I will be content to express my opinion that he creates some inconsistencies between what he allows and what can be justified by Scripture. Perhaps this is a roundabout way of advising readers to read with careful discernment. Find and benefit from the much good teaching found in Philip Yancey’s writing (including this book), but be cautious that you do not accept some of his conclusions that he cannot support with carefully-reasoned biblical teaching.
A free copy of this book was provided through the Library Thing Early Review program.
Show Less
LibraryThing member hollysing
“Sojourns of Journalist a Metaphor for Spiritual Journey of Believer”
Phillip Yancey is one of the most influential writers in the Evangelical world today. “I write books for myself,” he says on his blog, “searching for a loving, gracious God.” Yancey writes about God’s grace instead
Yancey brings us a new format in his book, What Good is God. He takes us on a global trek to ten distinct groups of people to determine if the faith he writes about holds up through the tough issues he encounters in the “refiner’s fire of oppression, violence, and plague.” We see underground Christians in China, the horrific lives of those thrown into prostitution, recovering alcoholics in Chicago and life on campus in a 1960s Bible College. The idea for the book came to him while on an airplane. After his book tour in India was bumped because of the terror in Mumbai in 2008, Yancey instead spoke to a small group in an Indian church. His theme: How do we find comfort in the midst of disaster and suffering?
During his quest, Yancey, the journalist observed with a practiced eye while Yancey, the believer, probed his soul for answers. His sojourns through the dark places of our planet and its broken people are metaphors for his own spiritual journey. Yancey’s answer to What Good is God? echoes that of a pastor preaching from a passage in Romans following the Virginia Tech campus massacre. “Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.”
The design of the book was refreshing. Effective illustrations precede each chapter. The poignant cover shows a small lantern perched high above an unnamed modern city. Faith in God makes a difference—not just in a small 18th century church, but in the indescribable suffering of today’s world.
Compassion may have been the only gift Phillip Yancey felt he could give to the broken and injured he met on his travels. The message of What Good is God, however, is clear. Good exists in this flawed planet because God is here. By encouraging believers to allow the light of Christ to illuminate the darkest places of our experiences, we are reassured that our vigilant God is present, no matter what tragedy we stumble upon.
Reviewed by Holly Weiss, author of Crestmont
Phillip Yancey is one of the most influential writers in the Evangelical world today. “I write books for myself,” he says on his blog, “searching for a loving, gracious God.” Yancey writes about God’s grace instead
Show More
of the God he feared because of the hell and brimstone preaching he received from what he calls a “toxic church.” Yancey brings us a new format in his book, What Good is God. He takes us on a global trek to ten distinct groups of people to determine if the faith he writes about holds up through the tough issues he encounters in the “refiner’s fire of oppression, violence, and plague.” We see underground Christians in China, the horrific lives of those thrown into prostitution, recovering alcoholics in Chicago and life on campus in a 1960s Bible College. The idea for the book came to him while on an airplane. After his book tour in India was bumped because of the terror in Mumbai in 2008, Yancey instead spoke to a small group in an Indian church. His theme: How do we find comfort in the midst of disaster and suffering?
During his quest, Yancey, the journalist observed with a practiced eye while Yancey, the believer, probed his soul for answers. His sojourns through the dark places of our planet and its broken people are metaphors for his own spiritual journey. Yancey’s answer to What Good is God? echoes that of a pastor preaching from a passage in Romans following the Virginia Tech campus massacre. “Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.”
The design of the book was refreshing. Effective illustrations precede each chapter. The poignant cover shows a small lantern perched high above an unnamed modern city. Faith in God makes a difference—not just in a small 18th century church, but in the indescribable suffering of today’s world.
Compassion may have been the only gift Phillip Yancey felt he could give to the broken and injured he met on his travels. The message of What Good is God, however, is clear. Good exists in this flawed planet because God is here. By encouraging believers to allow the light of Christ to illuminate the darkest places of our experiences, we are reassured that our vigilant God is present, no matter what tragedy we stumble upon.
Reviewed by Holly Weiss, author of Crestmont
Show Less
LibraryThing member bakersfieldbarbara
Journalist and spiritual seeker Philip Yancey has written another tremendous book, uplifting for one's faith, as he tries to answer life's most profound questions. Mr. Yancey visits ten memorable places, meeting with world leaders, leaders of underground churches in China, with prostitutes,
I was unable to put this book down, and this happens to me with regularity; the difference is that this was a book I borrowed from the library. I will run out and buy this book for my personal library, to read and reread, and to affirm my belief in God when things around me are on shaking sand., Does Faith really matter, when struggling with life's problems, or when the headlines are blaring the latest terrorist attack? Is there such a thing as Grace? Could I endure what some of these individuals went through and come out on the other side, still believing and still knowing that God was there all of the time? After reading this book, I have no doubt in my God being with me through everything, and walking right beside me, never leaving me alone. This brilliant, graceful writer once again reminds me that there is a God, and He lives today.
Show More
alcoholics, Bible College Students and even endures the horrible bombing in Mumbai by terrorists. As he relives the ten occasions, the author tells the dramatic "story behind the story" as well as what he said at the time he addressed the people. This journalistic approach provides a compelling reading experience, as well as a firsthand accounting of how faith really does make a difference, even when the belief system is being severely tested.I was unable to put this book down, and this happens to me with regularity; the difference is that this was a book I borrowed from the library. I will run out and buy this book for my personal library, to read and reread, and to affirm my belief in God when things around me are on shaking sand., Does Faith really matter, when struggling with life's problems, or when the headlines are blaring the latest terrorist attack? Is there such a thing as Grace? Could I endure what some of these individuals went through and come out on the other side, still believing and still knowing that God was there all of the time? After reading this book, I have no doubt in my God being with me through everything, and walking right beside me, never leaving me alone. This brilliant, graceful writer once again reminds me that there is a God, and He lives today.
Show Less
LibraryThing member pmfloyd1
While I have read a number of Phil Yancy other novels... This one is more relaxed and story telling. I especially enjoyed his first person accounts... His Christian college experiences were funny and similar to my own. In the end, this book challenges the reader to once again face the question of
Show More
how and why God fits or does not fit into one's life. It is a good place to start for those who are not all that familiar with Yancy and his writings. For strong Christians I would recommend it.... As you can see how he has developed and changed his own views about God. 4 out of 5 stars. Paul Floyd mpls, mn Show Less
LibraryThing member hermit
Phillip Yancey is Evangelical continually seeking answers to questions of faith where ever he is and foremost a journalist. There is no question in reading his writing that this man has faith in God. This book consist of a compilation of ten lectures the author gave over the years with a brief
What is common throughout the book is his focus on Grace. There is nothing new expounded upon yet he shares his personal experience with people in trying and desperate times and shows the undying truth that God's Grace is everywhere.
Each chapter could stand on its own so that though they are listed chronologically you may read them in any order that would be most relevant to the reader. Each section is a background of the ten distinct groups of people who live in a situation when faith would easily come into question. We then get to read his wonderful edited talks to these people. They are inspirational and any person can benefit from a reading.
I do not know the author but from this writing a sincere compassion shines through and inspires one to pay more attention to his talks. Many of the troubled areas and tragedies he talks about most readers will be familiar with. From around the world he shares his universal story. From a journalist perspective the author is able to give a glimpse into the effect that many missionary have witness and participated in...awaken people to God's Grace. And as he reminds us the harder our life or environment the easier it is for us to remember and accept God's saving grace.
Show More
introduction of his background and what brought him to each lecture. To some he was invited on others he was on a book publicity tour. His lectures are well presented for as he explains in the beginning the areas of his talks that would be repetitive have been edited. Thus making the sections enjoyable and enlightening without obvious repetition.What is common throughout the book is his focus on Grace. There is nothing new expounded upon yet he shares his personal experience with people in trying and desperate times and shows the undying truth that God's Grace is everywhere.
Each chapter could stand on its own so that though they are listed chronologically you may read them in any order that would be most relevant to the reader. Each section is a background of the ten distinct groups of people who live in a situation when faith would easily come into question. We then get to read his wonderful edited talks to these people. They are inspirational and any person can benefit from a reading.
I do not know the author but from this writing a sincere compassion shines through and inspires one to pay more attention to his talks. Many of the troubled areas and tragedies he talks about most readers will be familiar with. From around the world he shares his universal story. From a journalist perspective the author is able to give a glimpse into the effect that many missionary have witness and participated in...awaken people to God's Grace. And as he reminds us the harder our life or environment the easier it is for us to remember and accept God's saving grace.
Show Less
LibraryThing member whiteknight50
A surprising book. When I first saw this book, and read the review, I had a very different impression of what it was than what it turned out to be. For me that was disappointing. I expected Philip Yancey's more traditional serious, somewhat academic, but wholly penetrating insights into the heart
Having said that, I do not want to do the book injustice. As always, the ideas, insights, and truths in Philip's books are worth the effort, time and energy devoted to absorbing them.
I think if the book did not appear to be passed off as if it were a single unit, one threaded treatise, that it would have been a different experience. It is much like a set of devotional messages. Very good ones at that.
I would actually recommend this book to others, but would always feel the need to set the stage a bit so that people get an idea of what the book really is before starting.
Overall, the ideas, insights and truths are wonderful, as is always true of Philip Yancey's writing. The structure of the book, at least in my mind, was disappointing.
Show More
of who God was, and why we need him so desparately. What the book ended up being is 'sound bites', a collection of some of Philip's sermons, experiences, and commentary on those events. While these were still insightful, moving, and even sometimes resonated with my heart, the overall book was disappointing to me. Specifically, it felt like several speeches strung together with some minimal commentary, and a half hearted 'wrap up' at the end, that was supposed to make it all come together. I never did get a real sense of the main message of this book.Having said that, I do not want to do the book injustice. As always, the ideas, insights, and truths in Philip's books are worth the effort, time and energy devoted to absorbing them.
I think if the book did not appear to be passed off as if it were a single unit, one threaded treatise, that it would have been a different experience. It is much like a set of devotional messages. Very good ones at that.
I would actually recommend this book to others, but would always feel the need to set the stage a bit so that people get an idea of what the book really is before starting.
Overall, the ideas, insights and truths are wonderful, as is always true of Philip Yancey's writing. The structure of the book, at least in my mind, was disappointing.
Show Less
LibraryThing member mrkurtz
Philip Yancey is a writer who specializes in searching for the Christian faith in a United States where the people are losing faith. He is an apostolic writer that tries to show the relevance of Jesus Christ in the lives of people. In "What Good is God", he searches for a faith that matters.
He
"What Good is God" is a good book about a loving God, but it is not Philip Yancey's best writing. The composition of the book, a chapter telling where there is a need for God followed by a chapter telling what Yancey told the audiences about how God was present in the most dire straits is part of the problem. In past books Yancey has used multiple illustrations of other apologetic Christian authors and ministers that was relevant to the topic being discussed. These points of discussion strengthened Yancey's position and made his arguments more convincing and true. Although he peppers some of his writing in "What Good is God" with these quotes and points, it is not nearly as many or as pertinent as in books like "Where is God When it Hurts", "Prayer, Does it Make Any Difference" and "Disappointment With God".
He
Show More
tries to explain where we can find Jesus Christ in acts of violence such as the massacre of students and faculty by a deranged student at Virginia Tech. There were 32 deaths and many injuries of students who were going to class where the student decided to bring his two semi-automatic pistols to class and shoot whoever he could find without any explainable reason. Yancey was asked to attend church services that were conducted by campus ministries just six weeks after the shooting. He took with him to these services a victim of the Columbine High School shootings who could identify with the victims in Blacksburg, Virginia. There were 1200 students and friends who attended the two services on the Virginia Tech campus. Yancey told the attendees that he could not tell them that their pain would go away, but he told of the life of Jesus Christ who lived and died and was resurrected and quotes Paul as saying in Romans 8: 12-13 "Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live." Yancey is convinced "that neither death nor life, angels or demons, the present or the future will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord." "What Good is God" is a good book about a loving God, but it is not Philip Yancey's best writing. The composition of the book, a chapter telling where there is a need for God followed by a chapter telling what Yancey told the audiences about how God was present in the most dire straits is part of the problem. In past books Yancey has used multiple illustrations of other apologetic Christian authors and ministers that was relevant to the topic being discussed. These points of discussion strengthened Yancey's position and made his arguments more convincing and true. Although he peppers some of his writing in "What Good is God" with these quotes and points, it is not nearly as many or as pertinent as in books like "Where is God When it Hurts", "Prayer, Does it Make Any Difference" and "Disappointment With God".
Show Less
LibraryThing member cee2
I've seen Philip Yancey's books on store shelves but never really was interested enough to buy one. That's going to change.
This book is a a straighforward accounting of his speaking engagements in 10 locations aroung the globe. In each onee, he either inadvertantly encounters a harrowing situation
Mr Yancey is a journalist who is also Christian. He has the ability to listen before responding and the humility to admit he doesn't have all the answers. What he does have (knowledge and experience of God's grace), he offers.
The format is a collection of the talks he gave to each group preceeded by an explanation of how he came to be speaking to that group.
My description of this book doesn't do justive to my feeling about this book. He has a way of conveying the way God's grace is working in the lives of the persons he is speaking to that spoke to my own heart and uplifted me greatly.
This book is a a straighforward accounting of his speaking engagements in 10 locations aroung the globe. In each onee, he either inadvertantly encounters a harrowing situation
Show More
(Mumbai during the terror attacks) or has been invited to speak to a group of persons who are struggling to live out their faith when the odds seems to be against them (underground churches in China). Mr Yancey is a journalist who is also Christian. He has the ability to listen before responding and the humility to admit he doesn't have all the answers. What he does have (knowledge and experience of God's grace), he offers.
The format is a collection of the talks he gave to each group preceeded by an explanation of how he came to be speaking to that group.
My description of this book doesn't do justive to my feeling about this book. He has a way of conveying the way God's grace is working in the lives of the persons he is speaking to that spoke to my own heart and uplifted me greatly.
Show Less
LibraryThing member khiemstra631
As usual, Philip Yancey has written a thought-provoking book dealing with the question of what purpose God serves in the modern world. Yancey traveled to ten different locations around the world to give speeches and as he did, gathered the material for this book. The locations included Virginia
Show More
Tech, China, Memphis, TN, South Africa, the Middle East, Cambridge, England, Mumbai, india, his own Bible college campus, a convention of former prostitutes in Green Lake, WI, and an AA meeting in Chicago. Each section includes introductory material followed by the text of the speech given in that location. All demonstrate the power of Jesus at work in today's world, often in unexpected ways. Good insights are gained concerning the cultures of each of the areas covered. This book is an interesting read that I highly recommend. Show Less
LibraryThing member Florinda
I’m not sure what I was expecting from this book, but I don’t think it was what I found, at least in terms of its structure. What Good Is God? In Search of a Faith That Matters is a collection of talks that Philip Yancey has given in various places around the world, each prefaced with a chapter
In some instances, Yancey addressed communities in the wake of traumatic events; in others, he spoke to groups who were marginalized and persecuted. He spoke in Memphis, Tennessee - a place I know pretty well, and one where nearly every issue is quite literally black or white - on the day after the 2008 presidential election, discussing the healing influence that the Church Health Center has had on this city with a notorious civil-rights history. He talked in South Africa about how the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission has approached its mission. He brought survivors of the Columbine shootings with him to a talk at Virginia Tech just after it suffered its own similar tragedy, knowing that they’d be able to reach each others as few could. He spoke at a Cambridge University conference about C.S. Lewis, and that chapter may have been the one I least expected; it actually made me want to read C.S. Lewis’ writings on Christianity.
Yancey was brought up in a narrow-minded, fundamentalist church, but has arrived at a more expansive worldview - and God-view, which is what he communicates to his listeners. He comes across as evangelical in some ways, but with a rather non-sectarian approach, and the more time I spent with the book, the more appealing I found that. He takes a pretty strong stand against what he calls “legalism,” or the excessive focus on “rules” about the “proper” way to believe and express one’s faith that often seems to lead to “my Christianity is better than your Christianity” competitiveness - not especially Christian behavior, in my opinion. In contrast, he seeks to convey what Christianity is by going back to its roots, the teachings of Jesus and writings of his early followers.
Despite some redundancies that I think are at least partly the fault of the book’s structure, I think that Yancey does a pretty effective job of getting his Christian worldview across to his readers and listeners; I rarely felt that I was being preached at, and I was surprised to find that I shared some of the viewpoints he expressed. I’m not sure that what’s presented in this book truly matches the premise of its title, however. “In Search of a Faith That Matters” implies, to me, a personal faith journey in some form, and that’s really not what’s chronicled here. On top of that, the central question “What Good is God?” really doesn’t seem to be answered. I’m not uncomfortable with that, personally - as I’ve said before, the questions are what interest me - but I do think that some readers might feel a bit misled. Having said that, I’m not sorry I read this one, and it’s left me with some real food for thought.
Show More
reflecting on the circumstances under which they were given. In some instances, Yancey addressed communities in the wake of traumatic events; in others, he spoke to groups who were marginalized and persecuted. He spoke in Memphis, Tennessee - a place I know pretty well, and one where nearly every issue is quite literally black or white - on the day after the 2008 presidential election, discussing the healing influence that the Church Health Center has had on this city with a notorious civil-rights history. He talked in South Africa about how the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission has approached its mission. He brought survivors of the Columbine shootings with him to a talk at Virginia Tech just after it suffered its own similar tragedy, knowing that they’d be able to reach each others as few could. He spoke at a Cambridge University conference about C.S. Lewis, and that chapter may have been the one I least expected; it actually made me want to read C.S. Lewis’ writings on Christianity.
Yancey was brought up in a narrow-minded, fundamentalist church, but has arrived at a more expansive worldview - and God-view, which is what he communicates to his listeners. He comes across as evangelical in some ways, but with a rather non-sectarian approach, and the more time I spent with the book, the more appealing I found that. He takes a pretty strong stand against what he calls “legalism,” or the excessive focus on “rules” about the “proper” way to believe and express one’s faith that often seems to lead to “my Christianity is better than your Christianity” competitiveness - not especially Christian behavior, in my opinion. In contrast, he seeks to convey what Christianity is by going back to its roots, the teachings of Jesus and writings of his early followers.
Despite some redundancies that I think are at least partly the fault of the book’s structure, I think that Yancey does a pretty effective job of getting his Christian worldview across to his readers and listeners; I rarely felt that I was being preached at, and I was surprised to find that I shared some of the viewpoints he expressed. I’m not sure that what’s presented in this book truly matches the premise of its title, however. “In Search of a Faith That Matters” implies, to me, a personal faith journey in some form, and that’s really not what’s chronicled here. On top of that, the central question “What Good is God?” really doesn’t seem to be answered. I’m not uncomfortable with that, personally - as I’ve said before, the questions are what interest me - but I do think that some readers might feel a bit misled. Having said that, I’m not sorry I read this one, and it’s left me with some real food for thought.
Show Less
LibraryThing member jpogue
Philip Yancey offers us a rare opportunity to travel the world as his companions, searching for what happens when faith “confronts the real world”, in his latest work "What Good is God?: In Search of a Faith that Matters". This illuminating book follows Yancey as he treks, both as a writer and
As an avid reader and an admitted admirer of Yancey, based on the book’s title, I admit that I still expected a rote pain-in-a-box essay on Christian suffering. This guy, however, seldom delivers the “expected”. Once again, I caught myself in a wonderful literary surprise! "What Good is God?" is a blessed peek into Earth’s pain and joy! Yancey takes us to places like a humorous (in hind-sight) conservative Bible college in the 1960’s to the vulnerable, yet saving, grace of addiction. All the while, he does so with a poignant, relevant description of the history surrounding the locale, coupled with a Jesus-centered (spoken) message to its inhabitants. The combination is Yancey at his best.
Each of the author’s ten venues is a captivating glimpse into what it means to build His Kingdom in our own part of the world―about what it means to live on a planet covered by a grace we can’t comprehend. In fact, “grace” is God’s theme, witnessed by people here in the States and those fifteen time zones away. Yancey covers the seemingly impossible growth of the Church in China, the world’s most populous nation. He delves into Mao’s “Cultural Revolution”, in which almost all Christian missionaries were evicted from the country. Decades later Christianity has not only survived, this author has seen, but flourished beyond any one’s imagination. And Yancey delicately describes the tension, and winds of change, that exist between the West’s capitalism and the East’s tradition.
We’re also invited to visit the Virginia Tech campus after Seung-hui Cho’s 2007 senseless killings. And South Africa during the redemption of apartheid. One of my favorite stops was at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, where Yancey reflects on the profound impact C.S. Lewis personally had on him.
For a journey into the depths of God’s grace, and His mind-blowing work around the world, Philip Yancey covers the globe in "What Good is God?" His wisdom and understanding of Jesus’ work on Earth, both historically and biblically, is a trip into the unknown for most Westerners. Yet its familiar strain of God's grace will ring true to all believers who have witnessed His transforming power in their everyday lives.
Show More
a speaker, to ten different locations across the globe, from Green Lake, Wisconsin, where he spends time with professional sex workers and those trying to help them find another way of life to Mumbai, India in the midst of the 2008 “26/11” attacks, in which ten coordinated terrorist attacks shook the country to its core.As an avid reader and an admitted admirer of Yancey, based on the book’s title, I admit that I still expected a rote pain-in-a-box essay on Christian suffering. This guy, however, seldom delivers the “expected”. Once again, I caught myself in a wonderful literary surprise! "What Good is God?" is a blessed peek into Earth’s pain and joy! Yancey takes us to places like a humorous (in hind-sight) conservative Bible college in the 1960’s to the vulnerable, yet saving, grace of addiction. All the while, he does so with a poignant, relevant description of the history surrounding the locale, coupled with a Jesus-centered (spoken) message to its inhabitants. The combination is Yancey at his best.
Each of the author’s ten venues is a captivating glimpse into what it means to build His Kingdom in our own part of the world―about what it means to live on a planet covered by a grace we can’t comprehend. In fact, “grace” is God’s theme, witnessed by people here in the States and those fifteen time zones away. Yancey covers the seemingly impossible growth of the Church in China, the world’s most populous nation. He delves into Mao’s “Cultural Revolution”, in which almost all Christian missionaries were evicted from the country. Decades later Christianity has not only survived, this author has seen, but flourished beyond any one’s imagination. And Yancey delicately describes the tension, and winds of change, that exist between the West’s capitalism and the East’s tradition.
We’re also invited to visit the Virginia Tech campus after Seung-hui Cho’s 2007 senseless killings. And South Africa during the redemption of apartheid. One of my favorite stops was at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, where Yancey reflects on the profound impact C.S. Lewis personally had on him.
For a journey into the depths of God’s grace, and His mind-blowing work around the world, Philip Yancey covers the globe in "What Good is God?" His wisdom and understanding of Jesus’ work on Earth, both historically and biblically, is a trip into the unknown for most Westerners. Yet its familiar strain of God's grace will ring true to all believers who have witnessed His transforming power in their everyday lives.
Show Less
LibraryThing member PastorBob
Yancey is one of the Christian authours of our day who is readable by believer and non-believer alike. He is engaging, willing to tackle tough questions and face reality without either settling for pat answers, or drifting into academic distance. What Good Is God is not a theological tome, and so
Show More
there is space for someone to dig deeper, but he has a way of putting his finger on the right question without pointing or pontificating, and that's a win. Show Less
LibraryThing member EstherFilbrun
As a young teenager, I remember picking up one of Philip Yancey’s books (Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, coauthored with Paul Brand), and being drawn in by his perspective and the stories he had to tell. After that, I knew I wanted to read more of his writings, so I started collecting his books
As a collection of ten different talks Yancey has given over the years, this book can tend to feel slightly disconnected, but viewed across the broad span of the book, the main theme—seeking to know and understand more of God’s faithfulness even in the most trying circumstances—shines through brilliantly.
I found this book both challenging and inspiring. Challenging, because some of the situations Yancey describes are ones I would find incredibly uncomfortable to navigate. Inspiring, because Yancey manages to pull deep life lessons—and astute observations and conclusions—out of all his varied experiences. Through it all, a thread of faithful perseverance and trust in the Lord is encouraged and lived out.
This was a book I’ll be mulling over for a long time. It’s going down as one of the books I saved the most quotes from in 2023—there was a lot of gentle wisdom in these pages, as well as clarity of thought about situations I’ve never considered before.
If you enjoy being pushed outside of your comfort zone by what you’re reading at times, or enjoy getting a different perspective on the world, or generally want to grow in your Christian faith, I’d highly recommend you pick up this book. It’s a gem, and I’m sure I’ll want to read it again someday!
Show More
whenever I came across them. Collecting books is one thing; getting around to reading them is something else entirely. But I did manage to pick up What Good is God over the last month, and I quickly grew to appreciate Yancey’s writing style and perspective all over again.As a collection of ten different talks Yancey has given over the years, this book can tend to feel slightly disconnected, but viewed across the broad span of the book, the main theme—seeking to know and understand more of God’s faithfulness even in the most trying circumstances—shines through brilliantly.
I found this book both challenging and inspiring. Challenging, because some of the situations Yancey describes are ones I would find incredibly uncomfortable to navigate. Inspiring, because Yancey manages to pull deep life lessons—and astute observations and conclusions—out of all his varied experiences. Through it all, a thread of faithful perseverance and trust in the Lord is encouraged and lived out.
This was a book I’ll be mulling over for a long time. It’s going down as one of the books I saved the most quotes from in 2023—there was a lot of gentle wisdom in these pages, as well as clarity of thought about situations I’ve never considered before.
If you enjoy being pushed outside of your comfort zone by what you’re reading at times, or enjoy getting a different perspective on the world, or generally want to grow in your Christian faith, I’d highly recommend you pick up this book. It’s a gem, and I’m sure I’ll want to read it again someday!
Show Less
Original publication date
2010-10
ISBN
9780340996140
Local notes
242 Yan
Acc # 2458
Book
Acc # 2458
Book