Scan barcode
stephaniesteen73's review against another edition
5.0
This book really wrestles with the unanswered, wrenching questions of faith, and while it doesn't provide pat answers (thankfully), it validates our struggle and really ends on a message of hope. Beginning with Genesis, the first part of the book reviews all of the Bible from God's point of view instead of our own. It then, in light of this shift in perspective, re-asks the central questions of "Is God unfair?" "Is God silent?" and "Is God hidden?"
One of my favorite parts (page 245): "The Bible never belittles human disappointment...but it does add one key word: temporary. What we feel now, we will not always feel. Our disappointment is itself a sign, an aching, a hunger for something better. And faith is, in the end, a kind of homesickness - for a home we have never visited but have never once stopped longing for."
Finally, page 253 rings so true: "It is a hard thing to live, uncertain of anything. And yet, sobs can still be heard, muffled cries of loss, such as those expressed in literature and film and almost all modern art. The alternative to disappointment with God seems to be disappointment without God."
One of my favorite parts (page 245): "The Bible never belittles human disappointment...but it does add one key word: temporary. What we feel now, we will not always feel. Our disappointment is itself a sign, an aching, a hunger for something better. And faith is, in the end, a kind of homesickness - for a home we have never visited but have never once stopped longing for."
Finally, page 253 rings so true: "It is a hard thing to live, uncertain of anything. And yet, sobs can still be heard, muffled cries of loss, such as those expressed in literature and film and almost all modern art. The alternative to disappointment with God seems to be disappointment without God."
shubbard116's review against another edition
5.0
Yancey does a great job at not being afraid of the hard questions and hitting them head on. Great book for someone going through deep suffering and wondering if God even cares.
midwifereading's review against another edition
4.0
Dain and I both give this a high rating. This book actually takes questions of doubt seriously, attempting to answer them thoughtfully, thoroughly, and truthfully. It's not a feel-good book. It is a humble look at faith in its most stripped down form. Well done.
jfraser82's review against another edition
3.0
Although there was some great thoughts, this is not a book I would recommend to someone going through a major faith crisis. I found it just added to the crisis and I want to step away from God at times. I'm sure God is so engrained in who I am, that I can't do that completely - but for people who's faith is new and not firm...this may turn them away completely.
ansmbc's review against another edition
5.0
This book is for every Christian who has struggled with their faith walk. It provides a new way of looking at the Book of Job and God. This book challenges the westernized view of Christianity and presents a new prospective.
beckykeister's review against another edition
4.0
A really thoughtful book. It doesn't have all the answers; it just approaches these big, hard questions with a fresh perspective (at least for me).
brendaclay's review against another edition
4.0
It took me FOREVER to finish this book due to the intensity of the topic. Philip Yancey is great at creating a safe place to wrestle with hard questions about God's goodness and fairness, while also providing different and helpful perspectives. I'll probably revisit this one.
rcgarcia's review against another edition
4.0
This is a sensitive book that does not downplay anyone's suffering.
mschlat's review against another edition
4.0
Yancey takes on three basic questions in this book: Is God unfair? Is God silent? Is God hidden? His aim is to explore the sense of disappointment experienced by people of faith (primarily Christian) when they believe the answers to one or more of the above questions is yes.
The first part of the book is a retelling of the Bible in terms of God's perspective, and to be truthful, I found it somewhat facile. Yancey focuses on the person of God, drawing on metaphors such as parent and lover to explain God's actions, including some of the actions that cause people to think God is distant. It's an interesting approach, but I found it a narrow lens through which to view the scriptures.
However, that discussion makes a good preamble for the second half of the book, where Yancey focuses on the believer's experience of disappointment, and many of the themes in the first half bear fruit. By emphasizing the story of Job and the crucifixion of Jesus, Yancey connects the sense of loss experienced by humans with the same loss experienced by God. The result is a focus on compassion and condescension (in the sense of descending with). You can think of the book as a less mystical version of Saint John of the Cross's Dark Night of the Soul with a heavy dose of influence from twentieth century English Christianity (C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, Chesterton, ...).
The first part of the book is a retelling of the Bible in terms of God's perspective, and to be truthful, I found it somewhat facile. Yancey focuses on the person of God, drawing on metaphors such as parent and lover to explain God's actions, including some of the actions that cause people to think God is distant. It's an interesting approach, but I found it a narrow lens through which to view the scriptures.
However, that discussion makes a good preamble for the second half of the book, where Yancey focuses on the believer's experience of disappointment, and many of the themes in the first half bear fruit. By emphasizing the story of Job and the crucifixion of Jesus, Yancey connects the sense of loss experienced by humans with the same loss experienced by God. The result is a focus on compassion and condescension (in the sense of descending with). You can think of the book as a less mystical version of Saint John of the Cross's Dark Night of the Soul with a heavy dose of influence from twentieth century English Christianity (C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, Chesterton, ...).