Wrestling with God: Loving the God We Don't Understand [Paperback]

James Emery White (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 28, 2008

Recipient of a 2004 Award of Merit from Christianity Today! (Originally published as Embracing the Mysterious God.) We give ourselves to God and then struggle profoundly with the relationship. We are drawn in and then want to flee in fear. We move from faith to doubt, trust to confusion, intimacy to a feeling of abandonment. Coming to faith is like falling in love. It can be a head-over-heels rush to the altar or a slow acceptance that slips into a heartfelt embrace. Either way, eventually romance crashes headlong into reality. Often we make things worse either by feeling guilty about our struggles with doubt or by trying to dismiss them as unimportant or insignificant. We may even become resentful that God does not simply step in to clear up our confusion. When we find ourselves in any of these predicaments, the only way out is to face our uncertainties about God--deliberately and directly. In Wrestling with God James Emery White explores these struggles we all face--struggles of heart, soul, mind and strength. And struggles to love our neighbors as ourselves. Here you will find your tough questions about God addressed. Better still, you will find the way to renewed faith.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Embracing the Mysterious God is relevant, fresh, honest and forthright. In this most readable book, James E. White wrestles with the mysteries of our great and majestic God with a remarkable sensitivity to the struggles and doubts of faithful Christ-followers and seekers as well. Those who read this book carefully and reflectively will indeed be drawn to embrace God faithfully and to love him fully with heart, soul, mind and strength." -- --David S. Dockery, seminary president and editor of Shaping a Christian Worldview

"James Emery White lays bare the tension points--doubt, confusion, resentment--that stifle true intimacy with God. By walking us through our deepest struggles to understand God, White is just the person to chip away at the wall separating us from our deepest desires to know and be known by God and each other." -- --Dr. John Maxwell, author, speaker and founder of The INJOY Group

"Wrestling with God is an anointed book. As I read, I felt constrained to stop frequently to think, to take notes, to reflect on my own spiritual journey and, finally, to thank God for such a rich feast of thought and insight." -- --Gordon MacDonald, author of Ordering Your Private World and Mid-Course Correction

. . .well-written and clear. . .White's book is a good, solid starting place for college students and others in the beginning stages of theosophical research. -- --Laurie J. Wolcott for The Christian Librarian, volume 49.1, 2006

. . The book's moving, well-crafted illustrations--from the faith wrestlings of a young Mother Teresa to a moving story from Corrie ten Boom's childhood--give color and depth to the discussion. Reflecting a breadth of knowledge, this book will appeal to more educated readers, yet its accessibility and brevity will give it a much wider audience." -- --Publishers Weekly (starred review) June 24, 2003

About the Author

James Emery White is the founding and senior pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, and president of Serious Times, a ministry which explores the intersection of faith and culture. He is also professor of theology and culture on the Charlotte campus of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, for which he served as their fourth president. Dr. White holds M.Div. and Ph.D. degrees from Southern Seminary, where he was awarded a Garrett Teaching Fellowship in both New Testament and theology. He has also done advanced university study at Vanderbilt University in American religious history, and continuing education at Oxford University in England.

James Emery White is the author of over a dozen books, including such Gold Medallion nominees as Serious Times and A Search for the Spiritual, Christianity Today Book of the Year award-winner Embracing the Mysterious God, as well as The Prayer God Longs For and Rethinking the Church. His most recent publications include The Da Vinci Question and A Mind for God. Collectively, his books have been translated into ten languages.

Product Details

• Paperback: 174 pages
• Publisher: IVP Books (May 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830833633
• ISBN-13: 978-0830833634
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #181,875 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poignant and profound - highly recommended for every follower of Christ or those struggling with the idea of the goodness of God, July 3, 2008

By 

Dan Panetti "Worldview Director" (Plano, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wrestling with God: Loving the God We Don't Understand (Paperback)

Fast becoming one of my favorite authors and cultural commentators, James Emery White hits a home run with this book. First published as Embracing the Mysterious God (which I gave away to a friend without reading), Wrestling with God is all about walking in obedience to God trusting in His goodness even without seeing or understanding it at times. I've heard it said before that in Psalm 23 it says that we walk through the valley of the shadow of death - we don't stop and rest there, we march on through many difficulties and trials in life - and the one thing that keeps us going through the trials is our faith in Christ, our hope in His redemptive plan, and our obedience to a loving, merciful and almighty God. White reminds Christians that they "are called first and foremost to Someone, not to something or to somewhere."

Following the example of Lewis, White looks to have an open and honest dialogue about the difficulties of following God in this dark and decaying world. He reminds those who look but do not see God, that it is not God who is absent...silent maybe...but not absent. White also gives comfort that God's silence comes not from His apathy, but from His wisdom and grace. It is an outstanding book for all believers on this journey that is filled with potholes and speed bumps along the way. The book is especially poignant for those followers of Christ who are truly struggling to see how an omniscient and omnipotent God could allow so much pain and suffering in this world...especially in the lives of those He loves as His children. But a copy for yourself...and a couple of copies as gifts for others.