"What's So Amazing About Grace?" by Philip Yancey

Zondervan 1997
ISBN: O-310-24565-6

I picked up my copy at "Sam's" which I thought an unlikely place to find such a book. It captured my attention immediately. On a scale of 1-10 I would give it a "7".

Not only does the author talk in great depth about "grace" but he also coined a word "ungrace" which I found to be a fascinating idea. There is an abundance of "ungrace" in our world.

One chapter is entitled "Loopholes" and the author talks about the great risk God took by "announcing forgiveness in advance" and that "the scandal of grace involves a transfer of that risk to us." He gives an example of a man who wanted to commit suicide, but decides to commit murder instead. He figures he can confess his sin to a priest before he is executed, and then get to heaveen. The other example he gives is of a friend who decides to leave his wife (and family) for a younger, more exciting woman. He asks the author if he thinks God can forgive him. In other words, he is banking on God's forgiveness even before he has done the deed. The author tells his friend that yes, of course, God will forgive him, but asks his friend if he will really WANT forgiveness later..."especially if it involves repentence." The author uses these two stories as examples of *grace abuse.* Another interesting term, I thought.....

Anyway, I would recommend the book. I found it to be an uplifting and informative work. The author is a Christian writer, provides many examples from the Bible, and never comes across as self-righteous. He strikes me as a man who never really has all the answers, but sure has done a lot of the legwork for us.

Anne

Good referral, Anne. Thanks for pointing us to it.

For those who are interested in finding out more about the book and maybe purchasing it, click here