Definitely an inspiring book to read when going through a difficult time. ( )

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When I first read this in 1999, I thought it was an excellent and inspiring book. It looks at people who have felt let down by God. Focussing on the book of Job, the three main questions asked are: Is God hidden? Is he silent? Is he fair?

There are no clichés or pat answers, but several honest attempts to find some meaning and reason in the apparently random quirks of life.

On second reading, ten years later, I did not find it so inspiring... possibly because I remembered much of the contents so there was nothing new. And on my third reading, I thought it encouraging and a great reminder.

Recommended to anyone who has found God or the Christian life disappointing, or who has friends asking difficult questions on this topic.

Latest full review: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2022/07/disappointment-with-god-by-philip-y... ( )

Philip Yancey asks three questions in this book about God and why he doesn't intervene in the here and now. Through examination of the Bible, Yancey finds that God used to do just that. These actions didn't foster faith or respect from his people though. After a while, the people went back to their old ways.

Surely a giant display of power would convert a ton of people right? Everyone would follow that thing and believe. Yancey argues that this is not so, and uses the Bible as demonstrable proof to that effect. Even as Jesus, God didn't do things like turn stones to bread and other stuff, even if he could. Jesus and by extension God, wanted our love and respect, not our fawning devotion.

It answered some of my questions about God being a jerk, but I still don't really like the Bible all that much. Also, I don't really trust it as a source of divine inspiration or anything like that. ( )

I really enjoyed this book, even though the readability was a bit tedious. It deals with the topic of how sometimes (or most times) we feel like God isn't near us. We go through tough times and wonder where God is in all of that, but really, another way to view it is where are we in all of this? What is our response to God when we endure heartache or disease?

Many people want to see God, to have miracles happen all the time, to have every prayer answered. Philip Yancey gives some good arguments as to why God doesn't do this. It's not because he doesn't care or he's not powerful. It's because back in the day, when he did those things with the Israelites, they turned away from Him. A really interesting way of thinking about things, though. ( )