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cosmicbookworm's review
5.0
In preparation for writing this book Mr Yancey retreated and read the whole Bible at once. Doing it this way he saw things that he hadn’t seen before.
iggnaseous's review
4.0
An accessible treatment of the problem with evil, or at least is milder cousin the problem of "disappointment." Yancey draws on the insights Frederick Buechner, C.S. Lewis, and Charles Williams in several places. I found it helpful.
kath61's review
3.0
A sensitive and well thought out book. It doesn't answer questions but poses more to think about.
bishoyzaki's review
4.0
Phillip Yancey attempts to provide answers for three questions that can rattle the faith of any theist; Is God unfair? Is He silent? Is He hidden? Not through philosophy but through the Christian faith and how the Bible addresses these issues throughout the old and new testaments with a focus on the story of Job, alongside a few personal stories of the author's friends one of whom—Richard—lost his faith because of those same questions.
The book is wonderfully written in a way that's organized and easy to follow. The first half tries to analyze God and His actions seen through the lens of the Bible vs our own expectations of Him. The second half uses that analysis to try and answer those 3 questions. (I really liked how Yancey chose to use biblical verses in his chapters while leaving the refrences for the end of the chapter)
I found some of the arguments presented to be very beautiful, some others I already knew and agree with. I found a couple of arguments honestly irrelevant. And I really wished some ideas would be mentioned but weren't. Anyways, the book as a whole does a really good job of discussing these questions in light of Christian faith, yet I couldn't help but notice how this book is influenced by western culture and its problems, because although these questions plague every believer no matter their ethnicity, the entitlement of western society and their reliance on miracles as a proof of faith is itself an obstacle to profound faith thus the author had to state some basic concepts of Christianity that don't receive much attention anymore in the west and aren't a part of the rhetoric they regularly hear in sermons, which I completely understand. That's why I feel like these same topics would have been tackled a bit differently had the book been written by someone with an eastern Christian background. Nevertheless, I greatly enjoyed this book and learned from it especially that I have pondered the answers to those questions countless times before and still do from time to time.
The book is wonderfully written in a way that's organized and easy to follow. The first half tries to analyze God and His actions seen through the lens of the Bible vs our own expectations of Him. The second half uses that analysis to try and answer those 3 questions. (I really liked how Yancey chose to use biblical verses in his chapters while leaving the refrences for the end of the chapter)
I found some of the arguments presented to be very beautiful, some others I already knew and agree with. I found a couple of arguments honestly irrelevant. And I really wished some ideas would be mentioned but weren't. Anyways, the book as a whole does a really good job of discussing these questions in light of Christian faith, yet I couldn't help but notice how this book is influenced by western culture and its problems, because although these questions plague every believer no matter their ethnicity, the entitlement of western society and their reliance on miracles as a proof of faith is itself an obstacle to profound faith thus the author had to state some basic concepts of Christianity that don't receive much attention anymore in the west and aren't a part of the rhetoric they regularly hear in sermons, which I completely understand. That's why I feel like these same topics would have been tackled a bit differently had the book been written by someone with an eastern Christian background. Nevertheless, I greatly enjoyed this book and learned from it especially that I have pondered the answers to those questions countless times before and still do from time to time.
yaymanda's review
I respect what an author has to say most when they are upfront about the things they don't know. Rather than trying to answer the questions of why God doesn't intervene, why bad things happen etc. Yancey paints a picture of the history of God's involvement in human affairs, along with potential reasons He may choose to act in the way he does. This was a good big picture look at an issue we take very personally, while opening up the door for new, different questions.