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Your God Is Too Small

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Do you struggle to understand why God didn't answer your prayer?
Are you convinced that He will like you more if you do the right things?
Or do you think God is a lovable papa bear in the sky who only wants you to be happy? Reading Phillips' classic may disturb you into a proper understanding of the real and living God, a mystery whose ways are higher than our ways, whose thoughts are unfathomable.

In this pocket-sixed book, Phillips deals with incorrect ideas about the God of the Bible. He's not a cosmic policeman or a divine grandfather. Neither is He a bellhop, a tottering old man, nor a fire-breathing despot. He is a God who loves the world for His own glory and calls everyone to repentance for their sins against Him. Does that fit your understanding of God? If not, you may be deceived. Don't let yourself exist with a God too small for your life.
Read this book. Come to know the infinite Almighty.

In this 40-year-old short Christian classic, Phillips does a masterful job showing just who God isn't...and is. There are certain false images that we may have of God, but Philips tackles these in the first half of the book. I believe much of the views today's America has about God come from the media and their stereotypical nonsense--this is the kind of thinking Phillips seeks to destroy. The second half is dedicated to the constructive view of the authentic God who, it should be pointed out, is much greater than the limited box many stick Him in.

I picked up an early edition of this book at a used book sale recently. I had heard of Phillips, but had not read any of his writings. Unlike an earlier reviewer, I enjoyed the second half of the book much more than the first. I am a C.S. Lewis fan, so I am already quite familiar with the "destructive" views of God which are briefly examined in the first half of this book. But, the second part of the book in which the "constructive" view/feel for God is explored is, in my estimation, good and original stuff. [I liked that Phillips used the word "stuff" so I thought I'd add it here.] Like Lewis, and unlike so many of the more modern Christian writers, Phillips can certainly "turn a phrase". He writes so well that it makes his constructive vision of God, in the person of Jesus, come alive and convince. Christians should share/mention the book when evangelizing; non-Christians should read it to see that God is big enough to handle their questio ns and criticisms.

This book will show you how we all want to define God as we want to, not as God wants. You will see yourself in the pages of this book and hopefully, you will make an honest effort to rise above your restrictive defintion of God. If so, it will have expanded your understanding of your world. This is a good book for a class in spirituality to discuss.

This book helps us learn to accept God as He is rather than as we imagine Him to be. It helps those who have either an authoritarian view of God or a permissive view of Him. We must also face the fact that God does not operate in ways that we can predict. Hence, for example, the challenge of suffering and evil.

I first read this book in the mid-70s after a few semesters at Bob Jones University and it confirmed the rightness of my decision to move on from fundamentalist and conventional Christianity, including the parochial Catholicism I grew up with. This, and Robinson's Honest To God, helped me in the personal journey from Sunday school and catechism piety to an authentic adult spirituality. Adults everywhere have been making the same move over the past thirty years and it is helping our religions to grow up as well. Read this book and join the movement from the pious pablum of traditional religion to the savory sustenance of adult spirituality.

This book is really rather easy to read and fun. We often "assume" God is supposed to be one way (God is our conscience, God is a policeman, etc) where in truth those ideas are derived from other sources and have nothing to do with scripture. This book points us in the right direction and is refreshing reading for both believers and non-believers.

...then keep reading to move towards a better understanding of him.

In church school classes, in Bible studies, even in pulpits, I constantly encounter people who have a neatly categorized, labeled and filed-away God. The most common thing I see is people who reject a particular doctrine, Scriptural passage, or the like, because they know "God wouldn't do that". And how do they know? Because THEY wouldn't do that if THEY were God. Yes, their God is too small; and probably so is yours and mine. Reading this book will help us realize how great he is.

The first half of this book is devoted to demolishing destructive views of God. Phillips can be as unsparing at this as Nietzsche or Feuerbach. Especially shocking is his section entitled "Pale Galilean." The second half of the book attempts to reformulate the Biblical view of Jesus and to make his sayings palatable and comprehensible to modern readers. Some readers may feel that Phillips "tames" Jesus's hard sayings to the point that they become unrecognizable. On the other hand, for those who are looking to escape from fundamentalism into a more liberal version of Christianity, this book just might be the key.

An oldie but a goodie. If taken literally, it can seem quite dated and out of touch, but if one takes Phillips' questions and discusses them with contemporary examples, the book can still be vibrantly relevent.