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Summary: If only we had more people like Phil Yancey...
Review: I love the honesty of Yancey's work. Soul Survivor is possibly his most personal, most effective book yet. Phil Yancey tries to approach life without blinders. Soul Survivor is a wonderful retelling of his journey so far.Yancey does not pull any punches in recounting his past. From being raised in a narrow, racist, legalistic church, to the influences that changed him into the man he now is...it is all told here in Yancey's interesting, engaging manner. I would give my left arm for more honesty in our nonfiction writers. Yancey achieves meaningfulness by confessing his past and present shortcomings in this book. It is a shame that we don't see such openness in more authors. Honesty is probably my favorite thing about Yancey as an writer. I really enjoy Yancey's descriptions of those who have influenced his life. It was great to read about how Yancey's old writing partner Dr. Brand affected his life. I think my favorite part of the book is his profile of Annie Dillard. I have recently started reading Dillard myself, and I am blown away by her. I recommend this book. I encourage you to get a copy today.
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Summary: Renewed Hope!
Review: Yancey, once again does tremendous work in this book. He is open about his own failings resulting from growing up in a racist southern church. He sites the influence of the church on his early views of Christianity and how much he has grown over the years. He continually brings the Christian life into perspective as he goes through other lives of people who have had an impact on his own journey as a Christian. I would highly recommend this book to folks who 1) want a great book to read 2) need to hear an open and honest perspective on the church in the life of a Christian and 3) for those who need to see that "going to church doesn't make you a Christian anymore than going to Mac Donald's makes you a hamburger," as Keith Green used to say. Yancey does an excellent job of bringing the lives of Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. Paul Brand, Dr. Robert Coles, Gandhi, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky into focus such that one can get a good view of what it means to be a Christian or live a Christian life based on the principles Jesus espoused while here on earth. It's an excellent book for a discussion class and has lots of tough questions along with examples of lives that went beyond the Pollyanna or cliché phrases you hear from many so called Christians. Read it, absorb it, and let its affect cover your whole being. I think you'll grow from it, I know I did.
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Summary: Eye opening. A great book of even greater souls
Review: In short, this is a brief introduction of thirteen great souls who influenced Philip Yancey, one of the best Christian writers of our time. They include Martin Luther King, G.K. Chesterton, Dr. Paul Brand, Dr. Robert Coles, Leo Tolstoy, Feodor Dostoevsky, Gandhi, Dr. Everett Koop, John Donne, Annie Dillard, Frederick Buechner, Shusaku Endo and Henri Nouwen. No matter whether you know their names/works or not, your interest to know them more will be much increased after you read this book like I do. In fact, I had already ordered some books by Chesterton and Tolstoy immediately after I finished reading those chapters about them. I believe that only very few readers who have not read Yancey's other books will have interest in this book. And if you are already a fan of Yancey, this one definitely wont disappoint you but will bring your perspective to a new horizon.
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Summary: A Great Starting Point For Further Study
Review: Mr. Yancy, an excellent wordsmith and essayist, writes chapters about 13 people (Martin Luther King, G.K. Chesterton, Paul Brand, Robert Coles, Leo Tolstoy & Feodor Dostoevsky, Gandhi (a non-Christian), Everett Koop, John Donne, Annie Dillard, Frederick Buechner, Shusaku Endo and Henri Nouwen). Each of these people, none of whom are "professional Christians", exemplifies by their lives and achievements an application of Christian faith and principles that allowed them to make a difference in the world. All of them did so as individuals working outside the organized structure of the church. Their lives and comments provide inspiration to any Christian who would go beyond the faith as only a road to their personal salvation in the next world and toward applying their faith to creating a better life for people in this world. Soul Survivor is good starting point for further study because Yancy concludes each chapter with specific recommendations for further reading in the lives and writings of each subject. I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Book
Review: What I liked about it: Real stories of real people struggling to figure out how to authentically answer the question "How then shall we live?" What set this book apart however, was its realness. All of the characters are presented with their tragic flaws. Thus, we're not left with any feeling of defeat ("oh how could we ever be perfect like they were"), instead we're challenged to recognize that each one of has the potential to effectively change our world on behalf of the gospel - and it would be best if we prayerfully consider in which ways God is leading us to do just that! I was very moved by Yancey's personal struggle with Martin Luther King, Jr. I could identify with the evangelical skepticism of this man, having been brought up in a tradition with a lot of sidestepping when it came to civil rights. The man's foibles were too clear. Seeing how Yancey drew strength from his life (the good and the bad) helped me grow a much deeper appreciation myself.
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Summary: Philip Yancey Re-Discovered...
Review: I have not been a big fan of this well-known writer since being assigned,"The Jesus I Never Knew" for a preaching class titled, Preaching Jesus in the Gospels. We were challenged to read two books from perspectives of Yancey, Marcus Borg and N T Wright...
I did not delve as deeply in Yancey's perspective. Now in this newest discovery of 13 persons who became his "Unlikely Mentors To Help Him Survive the Church," I really became identified! I too was a victim of the typical Southern Conservative, Labeled Fundamentalism. So when I went into the early years of seminary, carrying my Scofield Bible, I soon replaced it with what W.W. Adams referred to as your "Reviled Standard Perversion!" When I began perusing this new discovery in my favorite neighbor-hood book store, I loved his "Unlikely Mentors" because some of them had already adopted me! When I got into his Preface where he re-visited 9-11...then his first chapter where he describe his in-depth struggles with his church and small Bible college, I was hooked. Upon reading parts of his longer chapters on MLK, Gandhi, Robert Coles, I knew that I must buy the Whole Book! There he jumped-out at me with creative sub-titles, MLK- "A Long Night's Journey Into Day" ; GK Chesterton- "Relics Along the Seashore" ; Robert Coles- "Tender Lives and The Assaults of the Universe" ; Tolstoy and Dostoevsky- "CHASING GRACE!" After noted pictures of the giant intellect, Chesterton, who did't like to travel, since he carried his rollicking adventures around in his great craggy head, I saw how he had written over 100 books which were published as his secretary recorded from his first drafts! On top of these creative, unlikely mentors, he spun his web more deeply through Robert Coles, Ghandi, John Donne, Buechner and Henri Nouwen. Each of these men touched profoundly my four lives since years in seminary...Churches, CPE, Chaplaincy, efforts of writing. Nothing in what I'm recently reading about writing on mentors, theology, or autobiograpy has sparked my interest in such a dramatic fashion! Thanks to Philip Yancey, From Retired Chaplain Fred W Hood
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Summary: Honest and richly rewarding
Review: A book that has required me to underline, dog-ear, and write abundant notes to myself on nearly every page. A rich, wonderful look at the lives of 13 people who, in enormously rich ways, ask deep and penetrating questions ... the kind that make some uncomfortable ... This book asks one to think, to challenge onseself, to grow toward a much richer relation with the Christ. Written in the engaging style typical of Yancey, this is a rewarding book, an easy read, but a richly rewarding one. One of the best books I've read. Makes one think, question, and ask oneself what it really means to follow Christ. A wonderfully honest and rich book; a great read.
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Summary: Great food for thought !
Review: Must be read by all who struggle with living the life that we should. The chapter on John Donne - "as I lay dying" was particularly profound and I express posted it to a friend fighting his own battle with pain and death from urinary cancer. The quote "I have noticed that a lot of Christians tend to get very angry towards others who sin differently than they do" rings so so true - you need go no further than some of the negative reviews on this book. A great self-examination read.
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Summary: A Divine Appointment...
Review: I bought this book about a year ago, just because it is Yancey. I must say that I am already a big fan of his. I was first introduced to him by reading "The Jesus I Never Knew". My favorite, up to now, is "What is so Amazing About Grace". He has an honest style of writing that really catches the heart. He makes you feel as you are taking a spiritual journey with him. For me, he is like a friend who offers advice by using examples from his own personal experiences. I appreciate the way he can convey a point without expecting you to check your brain at the door. Intellectally stimulating as well a heart warming...what a dicotomy. Yancey manages to make the marriage of the two seamless. I have recently left the church that I used to attend because it suffered an ugly split, which left many of the congregation in a spiritual turmoil. Being one of them, I was in dire need of food for thought and soul. I started reading "Soul Survivor" and once again, My "friend", Mr. Yancey, was there for me with his pearls of wisdom. Why I was reading a book, which speaks of the church's shortcomings and and how we can overcome them with faith and forgiveness, at this point in my life... well...I can only think of it as a Divine Appointment. Thank you Mr. Yancey for your guidence through the years. Read this book...you'll be pleasently surprised.
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Summary: Fresh Perspective
Review: I appreciated this book because it helped me reframe my perspective of the church in a more positive way.
Yancey writes of the lives of people who deeply touched him, gave him insight, and brought reality into his life - the reality of trying to reflect the nature of Christ - of being frustrated with the blatant failures of the Christians around us and those in the public spotlight, and of realizing that we often have the same flaws in ourselves that we find so unforgivable in others.
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