CONVERSION FOR ME WAS NOT A DAMASCUS ROAD EXPERIENCE. I SLOWLY MOVED TO AN INTELLECTUAL ACCEPTANCE OF WHAT MY INTUITION HAD ALWAYS KNOWN.- Madeleine l’EngleWhat’s so amazing about grace - really? Well, for starters, it can pull you out of a desperately Heartless Void into a life of inner abundance and living love. It can plant a seed that will grow enormously, give you rest and shelter, and nourish your parched soul FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. And that’s saying a lot.The world is ugly. Grace is n...

As I remember, he never fully resolves the issue/reason for writing the book.

This book contains a good exploration of the concept of grace, not from a heavy theological perspective but a simpler, practical one, by presenting many modern examples of grace in action along side Biblical references. Some of these were very compelling to me and some fell kind of flat for me, just based on the kinds of stories that interest me. But overall I enjoyed the book and was inspired by it. I would not say it contains anything groundbreaking for someone not new to Christianity, but jus...

Amazing. Grace is amazing. More thoughts soon.***UPDATE***Also posted in It's A Wonderful Bookworld.Except for work-related readings, I rarely read non-fiction books, and if I indeed find myself reading one, it would always be Christian literature. The first time I encountered Philip Yancey was through his book, Disappointment with God, and it was during one of the tumultuous moments of my life. That book did not answer the questions I had that time, but it made me feel that I was not alone in m...

THE GOOD: Not much.THE BAD: Does not clearly define grace and it just seemed to me like he was constantly walking around the subject the whole time. Was not very interesting, although occasionally inspirational. Would not particularly recommend.THE UGLY: Almost did not finish reading this book. Don't waste your time.

Grace is something that is incredibly simple in theory, deeply personal and very difficult to implement in our everyday lives. Grace is the defining element of Christianity and it is beautiful. Yet, the idea that we are loved and there is nothing that we can do that will change that love is met with skepticism at best and usually suspicion. Yancey makes it clear how very beautiful and simple Grace is. But he also covers "Grace Abuse" and forgiveness. All of this was thought provoking and inspire...

This is one of the books that I both like and hate. I agree to how Philip Yancey portrays the "Christians" he has encountered. Many of those who call themselves Christians seem to have an attitude of hate rather than love; who are bent on making rules and making sure everybody follows it, an "modern day pharisee". Then again I disagree with the general definition of grace in the book. Instead of the true essence of grace, it was defined as license, a point exemplified with the story of when the

STILL one of the best books I've ever read, of ANY genre -- also one of the few I've read as many as FIVE times (so far), most recently aloud with my wife, who has long struggled with clinical depression and was deeply encouraged by this work.I've been a Christian for some forty years and have found much 'religious' writing unbearable, particularly that written over the past century (with certain notable exceptions). In an age glutted with so-called 'Christian' politics, posturing, and propagand...

Yancey is thorough in his examples of grace. He uses his own life experiences, everything from being part of a racist church as a child to interviewing President Clinton to dissect grace. Yancey is clear, grace is the true message of Jesus and today's Christians as a whole are not doing a great job of relaying this message. Grace is the idea that God loves us--all of us--no matter what; no one has to earn God's love. Yancey presents many ways in which the world needs grace. His argument is power...

Couldn’t put it down. Top 3 book of the year for me. I didn’t realize how badly I was “thirsting for grace.”

I got the "visual" edition of this book from Stephie right after I became a Christian in South Africa. (Later I read the full edition)So I got to dwell by myself in Africa with a Bible, this book, and an RC Sproul book.The visual pages of What's So Amazing About Grace unfolded as amazing news! Is this really true? God has pardoned dirty criminals through the death of his Son? It's free? No pre-requisites? It's just... by grace? My death sentence for hating God has been paid for by another... whi...

As Yancy usually does, he tackles the hard issues, especially "ungrace" among Christians. He quotes a prostitute about church, "Church! Why would I ever go there? I was already feeling terrible about myself. They'd just make me feel worse." The first section is a beautiful exposition of grace. Yancy uses "Babette's Feast" as a model of grace. C.S. Lewis overheard a debate about Christianity's unique contribution to the world and he responded, "That's easy: Grace." This book establishes the uniqu...

The author is, I gather, popular in evangelical Christian circles. He has some really profound things to say. He starts out by discussing the grace of God and he selects certain parables and examples to make his point that God's grace is boundless, and his forgiveness beyond anything we can imagine. Then he devotes the rest of the book to talking about how much grace--or lack of grace--Christians actually exemplify in their doctrines and lives. He grew up in the southern part of the United State...

I read this book for a book club and strongly disliked it. To me, it was a testimony as to why a journalist should not write theology. I found his thinking to be sloppy, uninformed, and lacking Biblical basis. All of this said, I cannot deny that it fostered a great deal of conversation, and that some of his thoughts were challenging. Just make sure you read a good dose of your Bible before you read Yancy's anecdotes.Oftentimes, when I write a review like this, the post modern challenge is: "Do

Arlington Group: Many members selected this book as the best of the year. Members from all three faith traditions felt strongly that it brought a lot to our understanding and stimulated an excellent discussion. It helped provide a springboard to explore concepts related to forgiveness, universal love, ultimate judgment and sin. One measure of a good DoA book might be the frequency with which it comes up in future discussions and by that measure, this book is a success. Yancey uses many personal...

Few books reveal the core of what the grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ is in its frightening, glorious, unparalled nature. Yancey comes very close to doing so in using an array of diverse, complex, beautiful, and amazing stories to illustrate the true grace of the gospel. These stories aren't cheesy, long-winded, and annoying--as many Christian books succumb to when authors seek to illustrate spiritual/Christian concepts through stories--but are transparent, beautiful, sometimes shocking, and...

This book has honestly changed my perspective on Christianity, religion, politics and my own relationship with Jesus. All too often Christians are viewed as being critical, judgmental, unforgiving, harsh, condemning and downright mean. Yet everything in Jesus' life showcased grace. If I am supposed to be living as an example of Christ to the rest of the world, why do I so often miss the boat when it comes to grace? There were very few instances in the Bible that Jesus responded to situations the...

A review of this book from my blog series on grace...In my discussion earlier in this series of Paul's seminal statement, Ye are not under the law, but under grace I mentioned Philip Yancey's influential book, "What's So Amazing About Grace?" I alluded to the fact that it, along with a few other original works and a whole bunch of copycats, have twisted much of American Christianity's concept of grace into something wholly unrecognizable to our forefathers. In so saying, I am not overstating its...

An easy to read book about one of my favorite words in the English language. It only took so long to read because I hid my Kindle from the GKid then forgot where. But it's the kind of book you can pick up anytime and jump back in. Yancey is a natural story teller and I felt encouraged and enlightened by his examples of grace. Four and a half stars

I believe this is my third time reading this book. I read it when it first came out in 1997. At that time, it totally rocked me. Caused me to look at my faith and grace in a much different way. Soon thereafter, I read it again, desiring to internalize these truths. This must be the first time I have read it in over a decade and I am glad to say, all it did now was confirm and solidify my beliefs and understanding of Christ. So, so much I could say about how this book, written from a very intelle...