Late night reading...

Well, I finally finished reading Philip Yancey's Disappointment With God about an hour ago. I've had the book for awhile... I'm sure my church library hates me, haha. Whenever I read books about Christianity or philosophy though, I always take awhile. I guess I'll be reading and then when an interesting idea/insight comes up, I always take my time to digest it and marinate on it. I guess it's more leisurely pace I have toward reading, compared to when I'm reading a periodical, a piece of fiction, or a biography - I just blaze straight through those at warp speed.

I think this is the third Yancey book I've read and I'm pretty impressed with his abilities as a writer - his style has this honest candor that makes for easy reading, and the way he illustrates his idea, the clarity he brings - traits I can only dream of having in my only writing.

Anyways, the focus of Yancey's writing in Disappointment With God revolves around 3 fundamental questions:

Is God fair?
Is God silent?
IS God hidden?

Yancey approaches each of these questions in a way that instead of seeking to give "pat answers", he looks at the questions and issues surrounding from perspectives we may not have considered. In other words, he lays out a different way of thinking about things, and lets you come to your own conclusions.

One example that sticks out in my mind that Yancey talks about is the book of Job in Bible and how his story involves all three of the "questions". Job was a good man in perfect health, a faithful believer in God with 10 children, incredibly rich - and suddenly, everything he has is taken away - his property stolen and destroyed, his 10 children killed in a freak accident, and his body afflicted with painful sores. His friends come to see him and for almost 40 chapters of poetic verse, they debate they causes of pain, suffering, justice, and the existence of God. Finally, God Himself speaks, and Job is restored - his health, his family, and his wealth.

I had always thought of Job's story as an illustration of human pain and suffering in unjust circumstances, but Yancey approaches the story from a difficult angle - that Job's story is a story of faith inspite of unjust circumstances.

Yancey writes that one of the most pivotal points of the story is the very first chapter - what he calls "The Wager" between God and Satan. Job's story begins when God mentions Job by name to Satan, praising Job as faithful and good man. Satan replies that the only reason Job chooses to trust God is because God has granted him health, wealth, and a large family. God disagrees, and to prove his point, Satan is allowed free reign to kill Job's children, take his wealth, and afflict his health as long as he does not kill Job.

In Yancey's eyes, "The Wager" goes to core of the story of God and his creation, humanity - if people have the free will to accept or reject God, what will they do? The debate between God and Satan is a clash of philosophies - on one hand stands Satan, as Yancey writes is:

"...the first great behaviorist: Job was conditioned to love God, he (Satan) implied. Take away the rewards, and watch his faith crumble. The Wager put Satan's theory to the test."

On the other side stands God, whose stance straddled an idea that I had already knew yet never considered nor thought about deeply: human beings, despite their circumstances, despite every reason they can have to not trust, still have the capacity to choose to believe in God. That somehow, humanity can concieve beyond this seen world to an unseen one, a spiritual one.

For myself, it was convicting thing to read. In everything that's happened to me in my life - the deaths of father and other family members, an unmentored youth, the disappointments with church, with school, with career - the nagging doubts - will I still choose to cling to a faith in God who sometimes seems hidden, distant, and absent?

I'm still marinating on that.

My favorite passage from the book:

Very often, disappointment with God begins in Job-like circumstances. The death of a child, a tragic accident, or a loss of a job may bring on the same questions Job asked. Why me? What does God have against me? Why does he seem so distant? As readers of Job's story, we can see behind the curtain to a contest being waged in the invisible world. But in our own trials, we will not have such insight...

For Job, the battleground of faith involved lost possessions, lost family members, lost health... we may face a different struggle... at such times the outer circumstances will seem the real struggle.

But the more important battle, as shown in Job, takes place inside of us. Will we trust God? Job teaches that at the moment when faith is hardest and least likely, then faith is most needed. His struggle presents a glimpse of what the Bible elsewhere spells out in detail: the remarkable truth that our choices matter, not just to us and our own desiny but, amazingly, to God himself and the universe he rules...
posted by G at 4:46 AM   |

in?scrip?tion (n-skrip-shun)n.
1. The act or an instance of inscribing.
2. Something, such as the wording on a coin, medal, monument, or seal, that is inscribed.
3. A short, signed message in a book or on a photograph given as a gift.
4. The usually informal dedication of an artistic work.
5. Jeremiah 31:33