Holy Curiosity: Encountering Jesus' Provocative Questions [Paperback]

Winn Collier (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2008

As Jesus was known in his day as a teacher who spoke with authority, it may be surprising to discover just how many times he asked a question of his listeners rather than telling them something outright. What kind of an all-knowing God asks questions of mere humans? This thought-provoking study of the "questioning" Jesus is a unique exploration of one of his most subversive teaching tools. In Holy Curiosity, popular author and columnist Winn Collier invites readers to hear Jesus's persistent questions, to allow them to penetrate the soul, and to be called to the untamed life that Jesus offers. The questions covered include • Who condemns you? • Why do you doubt? • Do you believe this? • Does this offend you? • and more Collier challenges readers to see Jesus in fresh ways, discarding sterile caricatures for a Jesus that is real, strong, and absolutely relentless in his pursuit of us.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

There's nothing quite like a pointed question to elicit an honest answer. Jesus knew this. He used convicting questions throughout his ministry--not to find out something he didn't know but to probe into people's deepest, most unsettled places. In Holy Curiosity, Winn Collier leads us to encounter Jesus in a new way by helping us face Jesus' questions in the Gospels, including: • Why are you afraid? • Are you being willfully stupid? • Do you believe this? • Why do you doubt? We quickly see that we are no different from those Jesus questioned--the grieving and hopeless sister, the fearful friend, the power-crazed hypocrite, or the wallowing invalid. And the questions are just as relevant and life-changing to us today. Collier shows us that Jesus' motivation in asking such provocative questions is true friendship and fierce love. If we allow ourselves to grapple with the issues these questions raise, we will emerge better able to embrace the life-giving power Jesus offers. "Winn Collier has once more produced a very loving, gentle, enticing book of practical but substantial theology. That is a rare feat, and in this case, a very grace-filled one."--Phyllis Tickle, author of The Great Emergence: How Christianity Is Changing and Why "Winn Collier is one of the few young authors writing today who is as comfortable around Thomas Aquinas as the Simpsons, Søren Kierkegaard as Anne Lamott, Martin Luther as N. T. Wright. With a curiosity that embraces the great and the grating, Collier takes the reader on a joyous journey of discovery: each of us is part of God's answer to each of Jesus' questions."--Leonard Sweet, Drew University, George Fox University, www.sermons.com "I'm a huge Winn Collier fan. In addition to being a great writer and thinker, he's not afraid to wrestle with the hard issues of life. This is a book you don't want to miss and a voice you need to hear."--Margaret Feinberg, author of The Organic God and The Sacred Echo

About the Author

Winn Collier (ThM, Dallas Theological Seminary) is that author of Restless Faith and Let God and is a regular columnist for Relevant magazine. He is leading the formation of a new church community in Charlottesville, Virginia. Collier and his wife have two sons. You may connect with him online at winncollier.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Baker Books (October 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801068339
• ISBN-13: 978-0801068331
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,475,152 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Winn is a husband, dad and friend. He is also the author of Restless Faith: Holding on to a God Just Out of Reach, Let God: The Transforming Wisdom of Francois Fenelon and Holy Curiosity: Encountering Jesus' Provocative Questions. Winn and his family live in Charlottesville, Virginia where he is the pastor of All Souls Charlottesville.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Pastor's Heart and a Journalist's Inquisitiveness, November 16, 2008

By 

Cara Davis "cheap ways to" (Orlando, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Holy Curiosity: Encountering Jesus' Provocative Questions (Paperback)

Winn Collier writes with a pastor's heart and a journalist's inquisitiveness. The combination fits well as the title to his new book, Holy Curiosity. In it, Collier takes a look at a handful of well-placed, probing questions that Jesus asked His followers.

Unpacking these inquiries create a fascinating framework for successful Christian living today. With questions like: Who condemns you? Why are afraid? How much bread do you have? Why do you doubt? What do you want? Collier hits on heart issues like shame, fear, doubt and desire that often prevent Christians from living in authentic, deep relationship with God and others.

Collier weaves in ancient and contemporary insights for a well-rounded, soul-stirring read that ends all too soon. Any Christian who wrestles with questions of faith will find a kindred spirit here.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Like a mirror, I saw a piece of myself in each encounter., October 27, 2008

By 

Melissa Ann Hansen "Missy" (Salem, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Holy Curiosity: Encountering Jesus' Provocative Questions (Paperback)

What an amazing gift to be able to hear a speaker's and a writer's voice develop. Winn is a dear friend and shepherd and it has truly been my privilege to hear his voice grow, change, and deepen as his own journey has taken him to new places. Holy Curiosity, in my opinion, is hearing his writer's voice at a new level. With the ending of each chapter, I longed to continue reading, to hear more of his heart and what he would say, entwined with the questions of the Christ. If I have any complaint about the book, it is that it was too short. I wanted to continue to hear more of what Winn would say in his Winn-way with his redeemed heart discussing Jesus' questions.

It was also interesting for me to read Holy Curiosity because I had been a part of the community where Winn first began to explore Jesus' questions in a sermon series. I enjoyed the series, but I enjoyed reading Holy Curiosity much more. Perhaps the difference is that the ideas were taken to the next level, or perhaps the fact that I was alone with the book rather than in a community of listeners. But no matter what, I found myself my own experience echoed in the characters of Scripture to whom Jesus asked these profound, soul-searching questions. I found my struggles, heartache, sin, and searching in Christ's questions and I also found something of who God is forming me to be (and has been forming me to be) in the encounters Winn explores. It was a profound experience when I would allow Christ to speak through words he spoke long ago in a very different context.

Holy Curiosity will be a book I will re-read and which will shape my understanding and knowledge of who Christ is and His loving approach toward others as well as myself. I hope you also find truth and life in Winn's words as he echoes the heart of Christ toward humanity. I know if you take your time and allow the words to speak to you, they will speak, and Jesus' questions from hundreds and hundreds of years ago, will touch your soul in ways you never imagined.

Thank you, Winn. What a privilege to hear your voice again.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Curiosity killed the cat - but dogs loved it, November 17, 2008

By 

Rick Stilwell "Coffee, Books, Mini" (Cayce, SC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Holy Curiosity: Encountering Jesus' Provocative Questions (Paperback)

I love questions. For me, a good question should lead to a good answer that in turn leads to even better questions. I'm not scared of questions, not afraid to question, and appreciate the way a good question can get after the truth in specific and meaningful ways. Along comes this book, and from the opening pages I am reminded of my love for questions, my understanding of Jesus' questions, and ... wait a minute. A twist? A book that uses my questions against me?!?

"Jesus' questions probed the soul, and they were not easily ignored. He posed one question to a grieving sister emptied of hope. He directed one toward a friend who couldn't muster up the courage to trust, and another toward the ears of a band of piously religious hypocrites.... These Jesus-questions refuse to stay put in dusty Palestine.... We discover that Jesus' questions - first tossed in their direction - become our own disorienting, gracious queries. this soul work, this asking of true heart-deep questions, is an art we learn from Jesus.... [But] if our questions become the goal, we are no longer being honest but merely using our questions to hide. This will never do." (from chapter one)

Collier crafts new questions and new responses to age old questions popping up in the gospels around Christ and the Disciples, while still remaining true to the text. And he turns our ideas of safety and security upside down when we think of Jesus and the way He responded to His followers.

"Jesus did little to provide calm. Rather, He tugged at His followers' fears, prodded and provoked them. Following Jesus meant surrendering any assured solace in the most basic human acts.... Perhaps God wants to move us to a deeper peace than we know, a deeper joy and rest than we have experienced - but perhaps we have to move through our insatiable fears of losing control to get there." (from chapter three)

And that's where I think he has meddled with me - in a good way. Questions are tools of control, and I've been guilty of being small, of hiding behind my faux depth. Jesus' questions, framed in His life and continued interaction with us, are deeper and more curious than I've been following. But I'm encouraged to keep asking, to keep resting, to allow those questions their place in me, in my journey, in my own growth in him.

Curiouser and curiouser.