Customer Reviews

Your God Is Too Small: A Guide for Believers and Skeptics Alike

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This book was recommended to me by a couple of folks and once I began reading I understood why: it's simple, pithy and a thoughtful read. I read it slowly so I could ponder each point of interest. I can truly say my God got bigger by the time I finished reading this book. And that's a Good Thing.

Originally published in 1952, this book is as up to date as tomorrow. For many years, I have observed the truth of the statement that we create God in our own image, resulting in an anemic deity no more wise or powerful than we are, and certainly incapable of creation, maintenance, or salvation. Phillips clearly identifies the source of the powerless god that we humans produce when we make the mistake of beginning with ourselves as a paradigm for holiness.

People have knowledge of God through conscience. However, a feeling of guilt and failure may be quite false. People can be trained to feel that certain things are not done. Some people are abnormally afraid of God.

A child might think that God is an old gentleman living in heaven. Children may outgrow the meek and mild Saviour and find their heroes elsewhere. The meek and mild idea operates below the conscious level of many Christians. Thoughts and actions may be inhibited.

Phillips identifies absolute perfection as a false god. He claims the one hundred percent standard is a real menace. It is a prescription for guilt and misery. Followers of religion have found God to be their refuge and strength. It is not right to view God as party leader of a particular view. No denomination has a monopoly of God's grace. The 'outsider' sees clearly the advantages of a unified Christian front.

Another too small idea views God as a sort of managing director. We should not model God on what we know of man. To some the image of God is a blur of disappointment. Such people do not know the terms under which we inhabit the planet. It is necessary to see the immensely broad sweep of the Creator's activity. The vastness seems to depersonalize God.

Beauty and goodness and the search for truth exert an effect on man. True love and self-sacrifice have always been the most moving human attributes. Christ taught that love should go out to other people and out to God. The truth taught by Jesus is the right way to live. The purpose of life is loving God and doing his will. Christ deemed pride, self-righteousness and the exploitation of others sinful. The follower of the new way is called to spread the good news.

I have had an earlier printing of this book for many years. It has helped me greatly in forming a balanced view of the nature of God. It is thought that individuals form relationships based on what they have been taught, what they have learned, or what they feel. Conservative Christians often experience spiritual development in a context in which God is used to control behavior or meet group expectations. Hence, many individuals with this sort of background reach adulthood with an unhealthy view of God based on what they have been taught and what they feel. Over the years as a counselor and university professor, I have seen many Christians struggle in their walk with God due to this limited view of the nature of God. Truly, their God is too small. I have referenced this book so many times in helping individuals in the church, in the classroom, and in the counseling room to challenge what they have been taught and what they are feeling about God and to really learn who God really is and what he is really like. This book is truly good news.

"Your God Is Too Small" by J.B Phillips is a bit difficult to get through because of the old-fashioned language, but gaining an understanding of the fallacies we choose to believe about God is well worth the effort required to read this book. The key to completion is to read only one concept at a time, and to completely understand the text before moving on. I frequently found my mind drifting, but stopped when I realized what was happening and re-read the passage. Thankfully the "chapters" are short, so re-reading is not too great an effort. And the rewards reaped are worth it - a greater understanding of God.

When you read Phillips' explanations of the ways people think of God, you're sure to find yourself in at least one of them. I've recommended this book or given it to others more than any other book about faith.

This is truly an "oldie but goodie." Written over 50 years ago, it's just what is needed today for believers and non-believers alike. Those who don't believe in God are often hampered by an all-too-narrow definition of who/what God is, and are driven to reject the whole concept. Of course God is not an old man in a white robe with an account book; believing in that, for an adult, would be as ridiculous as believing in Santa Claus. Phillips strips away the narrow, all-too-worldly notions of a deity that many of us grew up with, and then invites us to consider a liberating, expansive view of God that is worthy of a thinking adult. This is a great book for believers as well, as it will help them cope with doubts and disappointments by correcting false expectations. A valuable, accessible-to-all read.

This is one of those books that is worth reading and re-reading. What a difference it makes to see God as He really IS instead of the "micro" version of our own making.

In this "still-a-classic" work, J.B. Phillips does a good job, a great job really, of deconstructing our small "Gods," the God of our hopes, dreams, imaginations and expectations--our self-created and self-described Gods, helping us to see that our God is, indeed, "too small..."

Yet, after telling us what God "isn't," he unfortunately doesn't do an equally good job of telling us just how big God is. In his defense, it is really impossible for us humans to understand the concept of a God that transcends even our universe and all universes...For us to understand God would be like putting that proverbial BB in that proverbial box car and understanding what a train was all about..It is simply beyond our ability to comprehend other than snippets here and there...

Our main understanding of God, of course, comes from his emissary to us...Jesus. But God is so much bigger than even Jesus...Jesus defines God in our human realm, not the God-realm, the God beyond our time-space continuum.

So, Phillips has an impossible task in telling us just how big God is...

After reading this work, one big questions remains: "How do we know, really know--what makes us think--that the God of the Universe wants to communicate with us?"

We beleive that, but do we beleive it because we want to believe it, because we want it to be true, because we've been conditioned to beleive it? Or is it really true? That's where faith comes in.

Phillips encourages thought and discussion of beliefs and behaviors that both hinder and benefit daily living due to their effect upon one's relationship with God or your higher power, however you choose to view that part of your life. Even though he wrote the book around sixty years ago, the concepts apply today.