6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I think this will be a very helpful book for Christians, September 19, 2001
This review is from: FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions About the Christian Life (Paperback)
I wasn't sure what to expect in a book which is in this question-and-answer format. Would the questions in it be the ones I ask? Would they be answered briefly, as they must be when asked on a call-in show? Or in more depth?
I was very pleased, therefore, to find that the questions in this book are not the kind that people might have fun with, but which don't really affect us as Christians, in any serious way. They are more of the type that keep believers up at night, weeping, wondering what God is up to in their lives or the lives of those they love. Or in despair, wondering why they seem to be still struggling with the same sins/habits that have plagued them for decades. Or confused, wondering how they can possibly know what God's specific will is, for their own life.
And the answers are whole chapters - substantive, thorough responses to the questions that believers struggle with, that really matter. They are inherently Biblical but not in Christianeze that makes them hard to read. Some personal experience is shared but nevertheless all the answers are both overtly and implicitly based on the Bible as the primary resource for Christians to teach them 'the way they should go'.
There is a lot about how to handle suffering in the Christian life - of course, since Christians do suffer and this is one of the things most likely to cause a Christian to give up on God or to draw wrong conclusions about His love and care for His children. (If no adequate answers are given, when a Christian begins to ask: "If God is good and if God loves me, why are these very difficult and painful things happening to me and/or my loved ones?")
Who could have predicted it - but, perhaps that makes this a particularly timely book, in view of the terrorist attacks that happened September 11, 2001. Many people are asking more questions about God and suffering at such a time as this (just one week later), and will be for a while, I believe.
I hope this book gets to some of those people; I think if it does they will find comfort and help in it, that does address their deepest needs, as Christians; that will give them hope, encouragement and strength to carry on in spite of difficult and confusing circumstances. It is good that Christians are writing books like this; I hope it will help many.
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