When I received the opportunity to review Vanishing Grace, by Philip Yancey, I was seriously excited. This new title from Philip Yancey is a follow-up book to his book, “What’s so Amazing about Grace
?” which was first published in 1997, which is the year that I became a Christian.
Vanishing Grace: What Ever Happened to the Good News?What’s So Amazing About Grace?
At that time the Christian Church at large read with great interest his premise and concerns regarding “Grace” and how we find it amazing that God would extend “Grace” to a sinful people. He initially had titled that book, “What’s so Amazing about Grace, and Why Don’t Christians Show More of It?” but dropped the last eight words from the title at the request of the publisher. As he so poignantly points out, though, the question has only become more urgent in the years that have since passed.
Vanishing Grace explores how Christians live in the midst of hostility and rejection today, which is interesting to consider. As the public opinion on Christianity swan dives, and the interest in spirituality soars, Christians are forced to consider how it is we’ve lost the respect, influence, and reputation that we once knew. Furthermore, we must explore how it is that we are to remain relevant in a post-Christian culture and how we can communicate faith in a way that appeals to future generations.
In the first chapter, Yancey writes about the great divide and uses C.S. Lewis analogy of communicating faith in secular Britain.
“…I thought back to C.S. Lewis’s analogy of communicating faith in secular Britain. It’s the difference between courting a divorcee and a virgin, Lewis told a friend in a letter. A divorcee won’t easily fall for sweet nothings from a suitor–she’s already heard them all before– and has a basic distrust of romance…”
As I read that, I couldn’t help but think of the many people I know that have a basic distrust or dislike of Christians. They, too, are like the divorcee. In most of them, their abhorrence for Christian’s can be linked back to a time when they felt let down or abused by someone of faith. It’s absolutely heartbreaking. I even have family members that have such a profound disdain for Christianity as a whole that I am often confounded that they will even speak to me, knowing my own faith. With them, I may as well be speaking to a brick wall rather than try to speak of my faith. Instead, I must live it and let my life speak the words they will not hear from my lips.
As Yancey writes, “Whoever desires to remain faithful to Jesus must communicate faith as he did, not by compelling assent but by presenting it as a true answer to basic thirst.” Vanishing Grace is a must read for all Christians who wish to have a true and lasting impact on the culture around them.
Vanishing Grace is available on Amazon and at some local retailers.
I would get a new KJV bible
I would get the book the rush of heaven from Zondervan
Mother and daughter willow figurine.
love the way do we call it christmas. thankyou, ken
I would buy Moments Together for Couples: 365 Daily Devotions for Drawing Near to God & One Another
10 Great Dates Before You Say ‘I Do’ looks like a good book!
I would love to get gifts for my children. My daughter would love the purple planner.
I like this Adventure Bible Purple Backsack
I like this Classic Frame Design Bible: Compact, Large Print (ESV)
I would get Jesus Calling the 10th anniversary edition!
I would also like to have Grasping God’s Word.
I would probably get some CDs..
I would get a Willow Tree figurine.
Hope as an Anchor Journal.
I would like the joyce meyers book battlefield of the mind.
I’d buy some Melissa & Doug puzzles for my daughter.
I like the veggie tale blocks
I would like to get a DVD bible.
I would love to win the Amazing Woman Casserole Dish
I would love to get the Bible Memory Games
I would like a veggie tales dvd like Beauty and the Beet.