Philip Yancey - What Good Is God?: In Search of a Faith That Matters

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Copyright 2010 by Philip Yancey and SCCT

Chapter 1 and Study Questions Copyright 2013 by Philip Yancey and SCCT

All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the authors intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the authors rights.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

The author is represented by Creative Trust, Inc.

Jericho Books

Hachette Book Group

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Originally published in hardcover by Faith Words as What Good Is God?

Second ebook edition: August 2013

Jericho Books is an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

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The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

ISBN 978-0-446-57425-9

I love Philip Yanceys work. He is a brilliant, graceful writer.

Anne Lamott

Philip Yancey is a much respected and treasured colleague whose gift for speaking candidly, faithfully, and pastorally all at one and the same time is a constant model for those of us who work in the field of religion writing. Even more to the point, it is a benison for thousands of his readers and, thereby, for the Christian world in general.

Phyllis Tickle, author and lecturer

Philip Yancey is one of my favorite writers. His observations on religion and how it fits into modern life leave me looking at faith in a new light.

Rosalynn Carter

Out of all the spiritual writers flooding the marketplace, Philip Yancey has beenfor mea unique beacon of both brutally honest and warmly compassionate insight. There are many writers who emphasize one or the other but no one who so capably offers both in almost every sentence.

Dr. Tim Johnson, Senior Medical Contributor, ABC News

There are very few authors writing today that I drop everything to pay attention to; Philip Yancey is one of them, and I am glad I have WHAT GOOD IS GOD? and many other of his books to stop, ponder, and pray through to grow in grace.

Makoto Fujimura, artist and author

Yancey continues the thoughtful examination of the challenges of authentic faith for which he is known Reflecting on his experiences and sharing some of the messages from his speeches, he notes that we are not designed to bear pain alone and how desperate situations provide an opportunity for believers to model Christ.

Christian Retailing

There is no writer in the evangelical world that I admire and appreciate more.

Billy Graham

To the people in ten different parts of the world who shared the experiencessome tragic, some poignant, all illuminatingwhich gave birth to this book.

Thanks to Kathy Helmers, Joey Paul, Wendy Grisham, Michelle Rapkin, and David Graham, who made valuable contributions to the editing process. Harold Ficketts superb analysis (for which Im more grateful now than I was at the time) led to an entire rewrite. Veronica Sepe and Andrea Kellner of Hachette and my assistant Melissa Nicholson made sure the facts were accurate and the words and illustrations got to the right place at (almost) the right time. Brenda Quinn worked diligently on the reflective questions included at the end of the book. Finally, I thank my wife Janet who accompanied me on almost all these trips, enduring the normal vagaries of travel as well as unplanned adventures along the way.

W hen the hardcover edition of this book came out in late 2010 I wrote a few guest blogs for the likes of CNN.com and the Huffington Post. The heated responses soon gave me a glimpse of how much hostility the topic of religion stirs up.

In answer to the question What good is God? I mentioned that I have seen positive benefits on three levels. First, on an individual level, faith can help transform the lives of the needy, such as prostitutes, alcoholics, Dalits (Untouchables), and leprosy victimsthe stories recounted in my book. Second, the community of faith also responds with comfort and practical help to those in need, both in natural disasters, such as an earthquake in Haiti or a hurricane in New Orleans, and in human ones, such as the mass murders at Virginia Tech and Newtown, Connecticut.

Finally, the gospel spreads like yeast in bread, as Jesus predicted, affecting whole societies. I recalled my first trip to Sweden, not long after I had read historical accounts of the Vikings. For two centuries many prayers in Europe ended with the line, Lord, save us from the Vikings. Amen. Yet modern Swedes are known for their charity, cleanliness, honesty, courtesy, and hospitality. What happened to change a culture from raping-and-pillaging barbarians to this admirable society that tourists like to visit? Christianity happened. It took several centuries, but gradually the transforming power of the Christian gospel percolated through the entire culture.

Perhaps Im naive, but I had no idea that such assertions would whack a hornets nest of protestors. A couple of thousand posted comments took me to task. What an idiot I must be! How can I possibly suggest that religion ever does any good! Dont I know about the Crusades and the Inquisition? Religion does little but delude people, strip them of money, and foster violence and ethnic division. Here are a few samples of the comments, quoted verbatim:

• God makes waffle batter fluffy. His only power. Little known fact.
• Whatever good religions do has absolutely nothing to do with the alleged goodness of an alleged god. Contrariwise, it is not difficult to show that following biblical injunctions is more likely to lead to harm than good. It seems people are good in spite of religion rather than because of it.
• Religion and a nickel will get you a cup of coffee.
• The question for evangelical ministers isnt whether there is or isnt a God or whether God matters. The question for their flock simply is; WHERES THE MONEY? SHOW ME THE MONEY!