Rating: 
Summary: For the first time, I can imagine God as a Person...
Review: ...rather than just an Omnipotent, Omnipresent Being somewhere up there in the sky. I was recommended this book by my father and pleasantly surprised to find Yancey is a thinking-person's evangelical. This is the first of his books I've read and I'll read more because of this one. Really made the Bible into a logical, understandable story about the Creator's relationship with humankind. I highly recommend this book to anyone with doubts (who doesn't have them?) about God's love for him or her and for those who ask, "If God exists, why does He allow bad things to happen? Why doesn't He just prove His existence to me with a miracle? Why doesn't He just tell me what He wants me to do?" and so on. Not a book with hellfire and brimstone, I promise, but neither is it a book that puts aside the Bible in favor of popular opinion and culture.
Rating:
Summary: No disappointment in this book.
Review: Yancey has once again taught me by both his words and his example. To know God, we need to read His love letter to us. Philip Yancey did exactly that, and came out with deep insights into at least one aspect of God's view of the nature of His relationship with mankind. At the time I read this book, I was experiencing a deep disappointment with my life, and, while not exactly feeling disappointed with God, I certainly wasn't feeling trust. However, inspired by Yancey's exploration into the Word, and by the insights he derived from that experience, I began my own, similar journey, and found the same deeply loving God that Yancey so ably introduces. And now, some non-God-believing friends are being introduced to Him through this book. I thank you, Philip Yancey. And, I recommend this book without hesitation to those who have simlilar questions.
Rating:
Summary: One of Kind
Review: Philip Yancey is my favorite author. Period. And in this book he outdoes himself. Yancey writes about difficult issues in a direct, searching, and honest way. Yancey doesn't pretend to have all the answers, which is what makes him and this book such an excellent spiritual guide. A journalist by vocation, Yancey is wonderful at tackling thorny theological issues and writing about them in ways that the ordinary reader can understand. In this particular book Yancey looks at people who have been disappointed in some way by God. Yancey does a great job of outlining what Lutheran theologians call the "The Theology of the Cross" (as opposed to "The Theology of Glory"), although he doesn't use that term himself.
Rating:
Summary: He has been reading my mind
Review: Philip Yancey has obviously been recording my thoughts, because I found many of them written down in _Disappointment with God_. Mr. Yancey asks many questions that are probably considered "sacreligious" in most Christian circles. It was so refreshing for an author to finally tackle these questions instead of skirt them and point the blame back at the Christian asking them, i.e., "you need more faith," "just trust God and everything will be OK," or some other cliche. At times Mr. Yancey would discuss something, and I'd think, "Yeah but..." and then he'd ask the same "yeah but" question. It gets so tiring hearing all the "if you're not hearing from God something must be wrong with your life" cliches, and I so enjoyed a BIBLICAL perspective on the questions and thoughts that I have had during times of God's silence. Theologically I'd have to ponder on some of the comments that Mr. Yancey makes, but overall this is a MUST READ for anyone experiencing any sort of trial and wanting to know where is God and why won't He answer me???
Rating:
Summary: No disappointment here
Review: I am one of Philip Yancey's biggest fans, and this book, one of his earlier efforts, did not disappoint me in the least. Yancey is an evangelical Christian who is not afraid to ask the tough, honest questions that everyone has but many people refuse to face. The framework for this book is a continuing dialog Yancey had with a former believer who wrote a brilliant book on the biblical book of Job, but wound up renouncing his faith after some devasting events in his life. This led Yancey to an intense period of Bible study to attempt to find honest answers to what seems to be the silence and even unfairness of God.In this book, Yancey focuses much of his attention on the book of Job, where God's fairness was questioned. Yancey does a marvelous job of discerning the way God works in our world and our lives today, compared with and contrasted to His workings in the ancient world where Job resided. Did God's more direct intervention in Old Testament times result in more faith and obedience on the part of His people? Or are we really better off today, where God's work seems more indirect or, sometimes, even non-existant? Yancey brings up many excellent points here, making this book almost required reading for frustrated believers, or even non-believers.
Rating: 
Summary: No Longer Dissappointed!
Review: No longer dissappointed with God, all I need to know is that God is still God and His ways are definitely not our ways Thank the Lord! Because if it was up to foolish me I'd have taken away cancer from someone I love and given it to someone else for very selfish reasons. This book has many good points but frankly it's wasn't that helpful to me. I read it but I could put it down... a lot.
Rating: 
Summary: Raises many questions
Review: I thought this was a well written and thought provoking book. It does raise a lot of troubling questions as to how humans view God and you almost end up feeling we don't know "him" at all. Yancey tries to show that miracles in the old testament genre don't happen anymore because they didn't increase the faithfulness of Israel (which may tie in with Jesus' reluctance to perform them at times as well). Instead of knowing God through miracles we are supposed to know him by "faith". Yet one could easily argue that Richard, the theology student in the beginning of the book, had, at least at certain times in his life, sufficient faith that he should have "known" God but somehow it seems like he really never did. Why?
If as Yancey suggests, miracles (as interpreted as direct physical interventions from God) don't happen anymore, then why bother to pray for the "miraculous" healing of someone in your congregation? Or is the act of praying meaningful because it exemplifies "faith"? Or is it ultimately just a coping mechanism for physical and emotional pain?
Some of the difficulty may stem from the fact that Yancey obviously reads the bible from a fairly literalist point of view. In my experience this inevitably leads to having to do an inordinate amount of mental gymnastics, which ultimately leaves you frustrated and confused.
Maybe we really don't know "God" at all.
Rating:
Summary: A Long Time Christian
Review: This book is certainly one of the most honest in the manner it deals with the devastating disappointments a small (thankfully)number of genuinely committed christians experience in their life.
Although we know that God is really unknowable this side of death some of us are given the 'grace' or the horrific burden of doing everything possible to in fact, try.
The character in his book who looses his faith, is quite real.
To be disappointed by God is surely the worse fate any human can experience.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Book
Review: I like the book. Unfortunately, Yancey makes a number of statements that I would describe as Arminian. From my point of view, a slightly more Calvinistic attitude yields more satisfying answers in that God has a purpose in everything. Still, I agree with Yancey's overall conclusions regarding the heavenly significance of the problems here on earth, and he expresses himself well on this score, so I do like the book and can recommend it as offering some good insights.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Insights that rocked my world
Review: I think Phillip Yancey did answer the 3 questions he asked in his book: Is God Hidden? Is God Fair? and Is God Visible? I agree with Yancey that God were none of those things in the old testament but i was sad at the end of reading the book because i think and i want god to be with us like he was with his people before. I want him to walk as a pillar of cloud by day i want to walk through the garden with him but because our ancestors messed up i feel as though we are feeling the effects of there sin so i still feel dissapointed because i want to see him. i still love you Yancey you changed my life for the better and yes You must buy this book.
|
