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Soul Survivor How My Faith Survived the ChurchThe following report compares books using the SERCount Rating (base on the result count from the search engine). |
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Aftersleep Books - 2005-06-20 07:00:00 | © Copyright 2004 - www.aftersleep.com () | sitemap | top |
It is very refreshing that Yancey can find inspiration in the troubled and downtrodden; and even in non-Christians like Gandhi. It seems, that Yancey relates to such people who
struggled with faith as he admittedly does. And he does succeedin producing golden nuggets from each of the lives that he writes about. Especially the life of Martin Luther
King Jr.
There is much to be gained by conservatives who will expose themselves to Christians who would normally be overlooked by traditional churches. Conservatives will find that
God can use even the stragglers and troubled of the faith. A refreshing thought for all of us who struggle to some degree with the faith and the life such faith would have us
pursue. It is an especially appealing message for Western Christians who are increasingly influenced and compromised by an increasingly decadent Western lifestyle.
Yet Yancey does us a grave disservice by not including even one traditional Christian saint. Not a traditional martyr among them! While it is comforting to know that Hindus,
celibate homosexuals, adulterers, and a divorcee with a 3 pack a day smoking habit can indeed be used by God. It is troubling that Yancey can't find a "hero" among all the worlds traditional Christian martyrs and persecuted, past and present. It seems that those who are "persecuted" by Yancey's "conservatives" with mere words and attitudes are
more deserving of his accolades than those who have risked life and limb and even given their lives for the faith and their fellow Christians.
This predisposition of Yancey's of seeing the whole church and the whole faith only in light of his struggle with his boyhood "conservative church" severely limits Yancey's
truly gifted writing and ministry. If Yancey would overcome this predisposition and "spread his wings" he would be one of God's greatest.
Yancey, describes his faith as a "Pascalion Wager", referring to the mathematician Pascal who decided to believe in God simply because if he was right he would gain everything, and if he was wrong the results would be the same as if he bet that there was no God. He admits that he is troubled by many doubts. Perhaps, this is why he fails to include a Paul, a Watchman Nee, a Deitrich Bonhoeffer, or any other Christians who developed rock
solid faith and morals and shed their blood as an undeniable testimony to such faith. Yancey even includes quotes in which his "spiritual influences" say, in effect, that such
faith is impossible.
I highly recommend the book. Allow Yancey to expand your horizons and your faith. But beware, Yancey is a double edged sword, his assumptions about faith can also limit your faith if you let them.