What Good Is God?: In Search of a Faith That Matters

by Philip Yancey

Journalist and spiritual seeker Philip Yancey has always struggled with the most basic questions of the Christian faith. The question he tackles in What Good Is God? concerns the practical value of belief in God. His search for the answer to this question took him to some amazing settings around the Mumbai, India when the firing started during the terrorist attacks; at the motel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated; on the Virginia Tech campus soon after the massacre; an AA convention; and even to a conference for women in prostitution. At each of the ten places he visited, his preparation for the visit and exactly what he said to the people he met each provided evidence that faith really does work when what we believe is severely tested. What Good Is God? tells the story of Philip's journey -- the background, the preparation, the presentations themselves. Here is a story of grace for armchair travelers, spiritual seekers, and those in desperate need of assurance that their faith really matters.

Genres: Christian, Nonfiction, Christianity, Religion, Christian Living, Theology, Faith

276 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Philip Yancey earned graduate degrees in Communications and English from Wheaton College Graduate School and the University of Chicago. He joined the staff of Campus Life Magazine in 1971, and worked there as Editor and then Publisher. He looks on those years with gratitude, because teenagers are demanding readers, and writing for them taught him a lasting principle: The reader is in control!

In 1978 Philip Yancey became a full-time writer, initially working as a journalist for such varied publications as Reader’s Digest, Publisher’s Weekly, National Wildlife, Christian Century and The Reformed Journal. For several years he contributed a monthly column to Christianity Today magazine, where he also served as Editor at Large.

In 2021 Philip released two new books: A Companion in Crisis and his long-awaited memoir, Where the Light Fell. Other favorites included in his more than twenty-five titles are: Where Is God When It Hurts, The Student Bible, and Disappointment with God. Philip's books have won thirteen Gold Medallion Awards from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, have sold more than seventeen million copies, and have been published in over 50 languages. Christian bookstore managers selected The Jesus I Never Knew as the 1996 Book of the Year, and in 1998 What’s So Amazing About Grace? won the same award. His other recent books are Fearfully and Wonderfully: The Marvel of Bearing God’s Image; Vanishing Grace: Bringing Good News to a Deeply Divided World; The Question that Never Goes Away; What Good Is God?; Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?; Soul Survivor; and Reaching for the Invisible God. In 2009 a daily reader was published, compiled from excerpts of his work: Grace Notes.

The Yanceys lived in downtown Chicago for many years before moving to a very different environment in Colorado. Together they enjoy mountain climbing, skiing, hiking, and all the other delights of the Rocky Mountains.

Visit Philip online:
https://www.philipyancey.com
https://www.facebook.com/PhilipYancey

Catch his monthly blog:
https://bit.ly/PhilipYanceyBlog

Reviews

[Cheryl Gatling]

My husband read this book for a reading group at church. When he brought it home, I asked him, "So? What good is God?" He wasn't able to give me an answer.

Now that I have read the book myself, I know why not. Yancey doesn't actually answer that question. A more accurate title might have been "Travels With Yancey." Each chapter describes a different place he has visited, and includes a talk that he gave there. He has been literally around the world, often meeting with people in extreme circumstances: people in pain following acts of violence and terrorism, people facing persecution, sex workers trying to escape from prostitution, addicts struggling to recover.

In many cases Yancey doesn't have to answer the question, "What good is God?" because he meets people who have already answered the question for themselves, with stories of their encounters with a God who has saved them from a downward spiral. It may not be God's goodness that is in question, so much as our faith.

Yancey is always ready to correct the imbalances of Christianity. Christians are too judgmental, too legalistic. American Christians are too distracted by consumerism and celebrity culture. Christians need to be reaching out to the marginalized, as Jesus did. Christians need to be caring for the poor, as Jesus did. Christians need to return to the primary message of love and acceptance. If we can do that, we can make a difference in the world, even when few in number. If we can do that, we can show others the goodness of God, like the lamp on the cover, shining over a dark city.

[Holly Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Sojourns of Journalist a Metaphor for Spiritual Journey of Believer”

Phillip Yancey is one of the most influential writers in the Evangelical world today. “I write books for myself,” he says on his blog, “searching for a loving, gracious God.” Yancey writes about God’s grace instead of the God he feared because of the hell and brimstone preaching he received from what he calls a “toxic church.”

Yancey brings us a new format in his book, What Good is God. He takes us on a global trek to ten distinct groups of people to determine if the faith he writes about holds up through the tough issues he encounters in the “refiner’s fire of oppression, violence, and plague.” We see underground Christians in China, the horrific lives of those thrown into prostitution, recovering alcoholics in Chicago and life on campus in a 1960s Bible College. The idea for the book came to him while on an airplane. After his book tour in India was bumped because of the terror in Mumbai in 2008, Yancey instead spoke to a small group in an Indian church. His theme: How do we find comfort in the midst of disaster and suffering?

During his quest, Yancey, the journalist observed with a practiced eye while Yancey, the believer, probed his soul for answers. His sojourns through the dark places of our planet and its broken people are metaphors for his own spiritual journey. Yancey’s answer to What Good is God? echoes that of a pastor preaching from a passage in Romans following the Virginia Tech campus massacre. “Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.”

The design of the book was refreshing. Effective illustrations precede each chapter. The poignant cover shows a small lantern perched high above an unnamed modern city. Faith in God makes a difference—not just in a small 18th century church, but in the indescribable suffering of today’s world.

Compassion may have been the only gift Phillip Yancey felt he could give to the broken and injured he met on his travels. The message of What Good is God, however, is clear. Good exists in this flawed planet because God is here. By encouraging believers to allow the light of Christ to illuminate the darkest places of our experiences, we are reassured that our vigilant God is present, no matter what tragedy we stumble upon.

Reviewed by Holly Weiss, author of Crestmont

[Jessi · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, Philip Yancey presents his ideas about spirituality in an extremely realistic and practical way. He examines the concept of God's goodness and the value of faith in the troubled times we live in and does not mince words or give pithy pat answers. He honestly looks at some disturbing issues with a view to discovering if God is actually good in that specific situation. He is comfortable enough with ambiguity to avoid generalizing and giving advice not based on truth. As a committed Christian, there are doubts and concerns that are ever-present in my mind that a simple, "Christian" answer doesn't quite satisfy, and this book does address some of them. I love that Yancey challenges the way Christians think about the world without discounting the value of faith.

The format of the book follows some tough places that Yancey has been asked to give a talk. As he goes along, Yancey paints a picture of the place or event the difficulties it might present for someone looking for evidences of the goodness of God. He then includes the actual speech given at each place. It's powerful to think about Yancey having to address the various groups of people in each location - for example addressing students at Virginia Tech shortly after the shooting, a group of sex workers in various stages of getting out of the business, recovering alcoholics, and groups offering aid to the destitute in Africa (to name a few issues).

This book is a must-read for Christians looking for insight, spiritual seekers, or even individuals who are curious about the the tenets of the Christian faith. Yancey's style makes everything very understandable without being condescending or trite.

Thanks to the Hachette Book Group for providing this book for a fair review. I was not required to write a positive review.

[Susan Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m still not sure how to write this review. The book did reveal examples of remarkable faith. Many of the things revealed in the book gave moments of pause and deep thought. At times; however, I struggled with the author’s writing style. Some chapters were easy to follow and connect the dots. Other chapters left me struggling to see where the author was going. Maybe I was missing the connection he was trying to make. Maybe I was too hung up on the title, “What Good is God” and wanting a clear answer. Ultimately, yes, God’s presence can bring about the best in people when people don’t corrupt God’s word.

[sylvie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Second and final book my grandma gave me to read

Sorry but I genuinely just do not gaf 😭

[Blue North · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phiip Yancey


WHAT GOOD IS GOD BY PHILIP YANCEY is a magnificently inspiring book. Using ten examples of world shattering pain Philip Yancey is able to see light in the midst of darkness. It is true. No matter how dire the circumstances we never walk alone. For example, think of the famous words cross stitched on samplers, framed as photographs and stamped on greeting cards. The poem is called Footsteps in the Sand. The word picture shows one set of footsteps belonging to me. I looked for God to be walking beside me leaving his footsteps in the sand with mine. However, I only see one set of footsteps. I think this means He deserted me. To the contrary, He was carrying me. This is Divine grace.

At the beginning of the book, Philip Yancey shares a personal experience. He almost lost his life in an accident. Along with this incident and ten other devastating events around the world I ended up asking myself not why did the shootings happen at Virginia Tech or why women are trafficked for sex and drugs. I surprised myself by asking why not. The author is incredibly, heroic. Philip Yancey keeps his faith in God after seeing far more than I will ever understand sitting in front of my television. I remember reading in the book about the inability for the television news watcher to conceive or grasp the amount of horror in an event unless you are really there in front of it. Did I grasp the events of Virginia Tech? In a small way I did, but not like the people who knew the shooter, not like the students and professors on the campus who had taught the victims, not like friends and parents or journalists, not like the people who walked up and tied a ribbon somewhere on campus or bought flowers in remembrance to put at the memorial. "As I wandered through the tent I realized what the news media do to our perceptions. I had thought of the thirty-three who died as a group.....Walking past the individual memorials, I encountered Ryan and Emily and Juan and Waleed and Julia--thirty-three individuals, not a group."

This book is about a microscope beam shed on people who die of HIV/AIDS everyday, the people who live in horrible prisons like Pollsmore Prison. This is the prison in which Nelson Mandela resided for twenty-sevem years. How did he not lose his mind? By grace he lived each day, month, year. At the end of the book I discovered why Philip Yancey chooses to visit places like Mumbai, India. "I go in search of a faith that matters."

Does Philip Yancey find that faith? Yes, in Paul Brand, CS Lewis, Nelson Mandela, Desmond TuTu and ordinary people with names we will never know who act the part of saints. Their daily walk is to keep hope alive for those who are in a storm that often seems to have no end.

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yancey is my favorite Arminian writer. Thought provoking, genuine and original, Yancey never fails to send my thoughts in new directions. I am about half way through this one and it is formated into chapter pairs with the first one describing an extrodinary or unusual circumstance where Yancey has been asked to speak and the second giving the speach itself. He has covered so far speaking at the Virginia Tech Masacare, the Chinese underground church, a conference for recovering prostitutes, remembering CS Lewis at Oxford - pretty powerful. If you have never read Yancey a MUST read is "What is so amazing about grace."

Having now concluded What Good is God, I'm left feeling mixed about what Yancey had to say. I'm really in between "liked" and "really liked." On the one hand Yancey does what he does best - tells you a story. This book is full of powerful, superbly-written stories that make you think or cry or imagine. Very few can so powerfully mix intellectual questioning with such powerful pathos. One is definately moved and stretched to think differently or more deeply about God and how his mysterious plans are worked out in the world. The real question Yancey is asking as he reveals his travels throughout the world is - Does God make a difference in difficult situations faced by believers around the globe? And if so what is that difference and how is it manifested? There is no doubt that Yancy excels at asking this question and painting the picture of suffereing and pain with a realistic and heart-wrenching pen. There is equally no doubt that Yancey comes down firmly on the side that God is good though unfathomable and suffering often results in displays of grace that would never be seen without the agony.

So why the mixed review? I think what strikes as off is that Yancey is mushy. I don't mean sentimental I mean unclear doctrinally. While I do appreciate that doctrine has to be worked out on the road of life and doctrine alone alone can lead to pat, prideful answers - it still seems important to work on the basis of concrete truth - and Yancey seems fuzzy in more areas than I would like.

All in all though this is another great Yancy work - that will challenge and encourgae you in your pursuit of God.

[Marlise · Rating 2 out of 5]

This feels like a memoir and doesn’t actually answer the title question What Good is God? Nothing in this book explains anything about God at all. It’s a very American version of Christianity portrayed as a ‘better’ comparison to other people, cultures, and religions. Ugh. I had to skim the last 100 pages.

[Michael Heidle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot recall reading any of Yancy's other books previously (to my shame; I shall correct that); but this book was excellent! This book gave a very inspirational account of Yancy's opportunities to present God's grace around the world to people in times and occasions of significant pain, hurt, and oppression; and it was reported in such a manner that it brought great hope and grace to me.
I really like the approach that the book is presented in ten parts; each part has two chapters -- one to describe the person/people/place/occurance addressed (e.g. Virginia Tech at the time of the mass shooting; China; South Africa; sex workers; etc) and how he was able to get to know them in their situation. Then, in the second chapter of each part is the message/sermon he presented in that situation in order to apply God's grace to the hurting/hopeless people. As I finished the last part I found study/reflection questions for each part and then the table of contents. I really, really wish the reflection questions had been right after the second chapter of the corresponding part (and that the table of contents would have been at the beginning of the book so I would have known there were reflection questions before I read through all ten parts). The reflection questions were well crafted to help reflect on each part; but it might also be helpful to to have a series of questions from Yancy at the very end that probe thoughts for individual readers and study groups to think through possibilities of engaging in their communities to help convey the messages and God's grace in the lives of others (and themselves).
I genuinely recommend this book for everyone!!

[Franklin Wood · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not my favorite Yancey book. Not to say there was not good writing or 3 or 4 thought provoking moments, but it felt like a "best of" work.

[Florinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not sure what I was expecting from this book, but I don'’t think it was what I found, at least in terms of its structure. What Good Is God? In Search of a Faith That Matters is a collection of talks that Philip Yancey has given in various places around the world, each prefaced with a chapter reflecting on the circumstances under which they were given.

In some instances, Yancey addressed communities in the wake of traumatic events; in others, he spoke to groups who were marginalized and persecuted. He spoke in Memphis, Tennessee - a place I know pretty well, and one where nearly every issue is quite literally black or white - on the day after the 2008 presidential election, discussing the healing influence that the Church Health Center has had on this city with a notorious civil-rights history. He talked in South Africa about how the country'’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission has approached its mission. He brought survivors of the Columbine shootings with him to a talk at Virginia Tech just after it suffered its own similar tragedy, knowing that they'’d be able to reach each other as few could. He spoke at a Cambridge University conference about C.S. Lewis, and that chapter may have been the one I least expected; it actually made me want to read C.S. Lewis’ writings on Christianity.

Yancey was brought up in a narrow-minded, fundamentalist church, but has arrived at a more expansive worldview - and God-view, which is what he communicates to his listeners. He comes across as evangelical in some ways, but with a rather non-sectarian approach, and the more time I spent with the book, the more appealing I found that. He takes a pretty strong stand against what he calls “legalism,” or the excessive focus on “rules” about the “proper” way to believe and express one'’s faith that often seems to lead to “"my Christianity is better than your Christianity"” competitiveness - not especially Christian behavior, in my opinion. In contrast, he seeks to convey what Christianity is by going back to its roots, the teachings of Jesus and writings of his early followers.

Despite some redundancies that I think are at least partly the fault of the book'’s structure, I think that Yancey does a pretty effective job of getting his Christian worldview across to his readers and listeners; I rarely felt that I was being preached at, and I was surprised to find that I shared some of the viewpoints he expressed. I’'m not sure that what’'s presented in this book truly matches the premise of its title, however. “In Search of a Faith That Matters” implies, to me, a personal faith journey in some form, and that’s really not what’'s chronicled here. On top of that, the central question “What Good is God?” really doesn'’t seem to be answered. I’'m not uncomfortable with that, personally - as I'’ve said before, the questions are what interest me - but I do think that some readers might feel a bit misled. Having said that, I’'m not sorry I read this one, and it's left me with some real food for thought.

[Rod Horncastle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yancey was/is a journalist - so his writings come across as long Magazine articles. Possibly to sell magazines?

I attempted this on audiobook. Philip Yancey did all the reading himself, which was kind of fun. He's a very nice reader.

So what good is GOD? Which god? Who's asking, For what?

Sadly, Yancey does not come across as a theologian or Bible scholar. He's simply a journalist looking for a story. And he's great at finding many of them - all from his own journey's, which sure makes it real (when does this guy NOT travel EVERYWHERE?). But don't expect him to fully understand what good the Christian God is - I don't think Yancey really knows. But he's on the right track. His limitations may be what makes his stories so useful and endearing to people.

So how do you find what good God is? Go around the world seeing how HIS creation is doing. Hint - it's doing very poorly. They've confused and abused every bit of advice and command God gave them, yet they seldom stop their destructive behavior and simply turn back to God. Then they blame God for not cleaning up their mess - and later they demand a place in God's beautiful Heavenly Paradise so... they can mess that up as well.
Awesomely, the Bible explains how the game is PROPERLY played out. Many will be annoyed and shocked by God's Sovereignty. Oh Well.

This book is worth reading, but not for the answer, simply for the problem. See how much of a philosophical theologian you are. Follow Yancey around as he explores the underground church in China, the religious Untouchables in India's caste system, Some severely abused sex workers, Some Charismatic Church-leaders in Johannesburg, Yancey's old Bible College and rebellion days, and a college campus community where a gunman kills 32 students and staff.

The question is really: What Good are humans? God is absolute goodness to even tolerate us.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Phillip Yancey’s latest book and the second Yancey book I’ve read. It’s very good, and I looked forward to reading a chapter each night after work. There are some wonderful stories that I hope to remember and share with others. The book is set up in a series of sections made up of two chapters: In the first chapter of the section, Yancey provides background on the situation, circumstances, invitation, etc., that led to him giving a talk at a particular place. Then in the second chapter, Yancey gives an edited version of his talk. Yancey presents talks he’s given to a wide variety of groups: to a campus church after the Virigina Tech tragedy, to a group of Christians ministering to expats working in Muslim nations, to a convention of professional sex workers, to Alcoholics Anonymous, to Cambridge C.S. Lewis fans, and more. In search of a faith that matters, Yancey finds such a faith in these different groups. I enjoyed Yancey's style and how in every talk he exalts the good news of God’s radical grace.

---
I liked this quote from the book. Besides the definition of a monk, it could also be a definition of a church. "A monk is simply a sinner who joins a community of sinners who are confident in God's mercy and who strive to recognize their weaknesses in the presence of their brothers."

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got an advance copy of this from the bookstore where I work. Philip Yancey is one of my favorite Christian writers, and he had an interesting and effective format for this book. It was divided into 10 sections, each one about a place he had traveled where he had been struck by the faith of the people he met and the difference God had made in their lives. From Mumbai, shortly after the terrorist attacks in 2008, to Virginia Tech after a student went on a murderous rampage, to a convention of women who had found their way out of prostitution, Yancey writes about the people he meets with anecdotes of incredible faith and struggles to not only survive the world, but to make it a better place. Each section is divided in two- Yancey setting the stage for the speaking engagement in each place and then the actual speech he gave. I was moved by this book and may need to read it again for the inspiration it gave. I recommend it to Christians and non-Christians alike as a book that presents stunning examples of Christianity as it should be.

[Rebecca Adelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where is God in a world full of sickness, terrorist attacks, persecuted believers, human trafficking? Does faith matter when you’re facing addiction, relationship conflict, or depression? What does believing in God even do for you, anyway?

This book doesn’t really answer these questions, but it does paint pictures of the gospel thriving in the most unlikely situations: vibrant churches in slums, sex workers redeemed and restored, forgiveness after brutal murder, believers serving life sentences, former addicts deeply dependent on God.

These are hard stories, but hopeful ones, and they come with a challenge. There is no person, no sin, no pain too deep for grace and love to reach… “because grace, like water, flows to the lowest point.” If I am the recipient of this incredible grace, if I know the presence of God, then it’s my job to be grace. To go to dark places, because his grace is already present; my job is to make his grace tangible.

#letsgo #តោះទៅ

PS. If you ask for book recommendations, this is going to be right after “Insanity of God.”

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fine. Nothing earth shattering for me at least, but Yancey always has interesting things to say about faith and religion. In this book he visits 10 places where faith has been tested. Yancey gives the reader information about why he picks this place, why he visits these people and what he had to say to them. I will give Philip Yancey credit - I am not sure that all evangelicals would choose to visit the places Yancey does. And I don't think all conservative Christians would be open to the spirit moving among these people.

This was a good, quick read. Through this book I got to see some of the places in the world where being Christian is not as easy as here. I just feel like this book is not Philip Yancey's best writing. This was not nearly as good as Yancey's book on grace. I may have to go back and read that one so I can remember what a good writer Yancey can be.

[Rebecca Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've never read any of Philip Yancey's books but came across this one in the library.

It was an up & down read for me. It came to points where I was thoroughly interested, but then it would go to just streams of boredom to me. Some wonderful stories of faith that people have had in awful times, & then stories that seemed to not even connect & left me confused.

The book talks about some of the tragedies that has happened lately & how it causes people to question where God is in difficult situations & if God cares. While some of the stories talks about people holding onto faith & how good can be worked out of bad situations, I'm not sure the book ever gets around to the main point of what I thought the book was to be about.

I'll never say its not worth reading a book that can draw you closer to God.... I'm just not this was the best read, for me anyways.

[Shirley Conley · Rating 2 out of 5]

More of a travel log of his speaking engagements. He is looking for a faith that really matters. He tells of his Bible school training and how he had not come to believe before going to that school. He covers sex trafficking, terrorist attacks in the US and India and the growth of the Christian church in China. He also talks of his own near death in auto accident and his speaking at Virginia Tech after the mass shooting there.

[Barbara A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up because of some sad things I’ve been seeing, and thought it might encourage me. But I have to admit it wasn’t uplifting overall.
Yancy relates his experiences with suffering groups of people in a clear, journalistic fashion so you feel their pain. He gives good insight into facets of grief the outsider wouldn’t know otherwise. But my own faith wasn’t really bolstered as much as it made me grateful I haven’t experienced the suffering I heard about in his account.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like Phillip Yancey's books. He doesn't beat around the bush - bad stuff happens whether you are a Christian or not. The difference for Christians is that we have a companion on the journey and we can experience hope and grace despite out circumstances.

[Clare · Rating 2 out of 5]

As with all Christian books I seem to read, this was too full of anecdotes and not enough answers. I'm not sure he even answers his title question. I gave up half way.

[Buddy Draper · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book covers difficult places and issues and how God speaks and ministers to and through His people.

[Francis Gahren · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Take

This book made me want to read more of Philip Yancey’s books (I have several of them on my shelf). I was immediately interested in his story of how he dealt with his car accident on a slick Colorado road. With a broken neck, strapped to a board because the doctors were afraid a bone fragment would puncture an artery, he was given a cell phone and told to contact his family because they were not sure how long he had to live. That would sober you up real quick, wouldn’t it?
I also like his style of asking the question “What Good is God?” in ten real-world scenarios (see Table of Contents below), many of them very painful but very real. The description of the South African mother who forgave the policeman who killed both her son and husband affected me greatly – if she can forgive like that, who am I to hold petty grievances?
I plan on buying this book and reading it several more times – there is much to learn here. And I will read more of Yancey’s works – I like him.

Table of Contents

1 Virginia Tech: Campus Massacre
The Cruelest Month
Where is God When It Hurts?
2 China: Winds of Change
Underground Rumblings
From the Bottom Up
3 Green Lake: Professional Sex Workers
At the Low, You Cry for Help
Grace, Like Water, Flows Downward
4 Cambridge: Remembering C.S. Lewis
Apostle to the Skeptics
Straddling Two Worlds
5 Bible College: Student Daze
Life in a Bubble
I Wish I’d known
6 South Africa: Breaking Down the Walls
The Unlikeliest Lot
Growing in Grace
7 Memphis: An Alternative Vision
Out of Ashes
Upon This Rock
8 Middle East: Church at Risk
Sand Dunes and Skyscrapers
Stream in the Desert
9 Chicago: A Place for Misfits
The Comedy and the Tragedy
Why I Wish I Were an dAlcoholic
10 Mumbai: A Marathon of Horror
Tour, Interrupted
Grace Under Fire
11 Afterthoughts: What Good Is God?

Philip Yancey

The idea for the book came to me in late November 2008 as the plane I was traveling in took off from the Mumbai, India, airport. I had been scheduled to speak on a book tour downtown the very night terrorists attacked the Taj Mahal Hotel and ten different sites, killing 165 people. The city went under lockdown and we had to cancel the scheduled event. Instead I spoke at an impromptu service at a small church in the suburbs in an atmosphere clouded with fear and grief. It was eerily reminiscent of what we Americans had experienced on September 11, 2001, when my own church spontaneously filled with people looking for comfort—only this time I was the speaker on the spot.
“Man, we’ve had some interesting adventures,” I said to my wife as the plane banked across the Indian Ocean and we felt safe at last. I started making a list of them on my airline ticket stub. Visiting Virginia Tech the week after a campus massacre. Addressing a convention of alcoholics in Chicago. Interviewing members of China’s “underground church,” with guards posted outside to warn us of the secret police. Interviewing a roomful of prostitutes about their life stories. Attending a rousing worship service in South Africa’s most violent prison.
As each of these events unfolded, at some point I had to stand up and try to find words of encouragement and hope. It struck me, as I reviewed them, that each case presented a “story behind the story” that had never been told. By the end of that long plane ride home, this book had taken shape: ten locations, each with a chapter on the untold story and then another on what I said to the people involved.
What does religious faith offer peasants undergoing persecution, or students recovering from a campus massacre, or women who have spent years of virtual slavery in the sex trade? What good is God in situations like these? For most of my career I have delved into the hard questions of faith, writing books with titles like Where Is God When It Hurts?, Disappointment with God, Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? and Church: Why Bother? Most of my books—like this one—have a question as a title because, frankly, my own faith starts with questions.
In this book I tackle perhaps the most basic faith question of all: What good is God? It’s a universal question which I put to the test in ten places on four different continents. Although the book addresses issues of faith, it does so in real-world settings, not abstractly. In my travels I have found a deep longing in almost everyone: the desire for change, the hope that somehow God can wrest permanent good out of this flawed planet and us its flawed inhabitants. Dare we entertain such a hope? This book is my attempt to answer the question. First, as a journalist, I search for a faith that matters. Then the tables get turned and I’m the one who has to speak to an audience hungry for answers. And now you, the readers, join that audience.

From Booklist: “I travel,” Yancey writes, “for the same reason anyone travels.” Readers may, however, see more self-effacing humility than truth in these words. For the journeys here recounted are those of an extraordinary pilgrim. What Yancey seeks in his globe-straddling travels is spiritual understanding of how God works his miracles of grace through men and women grappling with life’s most wrenching difficulties. Readers thus join the author in marveling at how faith can sustain believers grieving the violent deaths of loved ones in Blacksburg, Virginia, and Mumbai, India; can empower prostitutes trying to escape from the sex trade in Perth, Australia, and buoy alcoholics fighting their addiction in Chicago; and can even enable black Christians in South Africa to extend miraculous forgiveness to their former oppressors under apartheid. Traversing the U.S. and the UK, Yancey finds that the same faith that comforts the oppressed can pierce the comforts of the wealthy, summoning the devout to aid the downtrodden. Still, Yancey refuses to reduce his message to simply a call for improving this world. Drawing on the work of C. S. Lewis, he affirms his ultimate allegiance to a God whose eternal dominion transcends all things earthly. A bracing witness, challenging both religious complacency and secular skepticism. –Bryce Christensen
From Rethink Monthly Magazine: WHAT GOOD IS GOD? follows in the steps of several of Mr. Yancey’s previous offerings and poses a question that concerns the practical value of belief in God: Does faith really matter? This simple question, though the answer isn’t an easy find, takes the author to some of the most fascinating places one individual could go: from the massacre at Virginia Tech to the terror that encircled the streets of Mumbai; from the underground faith in China to the church at risk in the Middle East; from a conference full of professional sex workers to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in Chicago.
I particularly enjoyed the format of the book. The author pulled off the extraordinary task of drawing the reader into ten earlier (and amazingly unique) experiences and propelled them from his past and into our present. He draws us in to the places he visited – as if we are standing directly in the midst of the chaos erupting in Mumbai, India in 2008 or experiencing firsthand the tragedy and the pain that embodied those involved in the massacre at Virginia Tech in 2007 – and gives us, the reader, a chance to hear exactly what he said to the people he met during these difficult times.
I believe you will, as I did, walk away with a clearer understanding of how faith in action works and how grace, when displayed on large and small scales alike, can be presented beautifully, as Mr. Yancey puts it, even in the hands of God’s people. He closes the last section of this book with this exhortation: We who follow Jesus are called to be dispensers of God’s grace, setting loose this powerful force on a weary, violent planet. May the church be known as a place where grace flows on tap: to sinners, to rich and poor alike, to those who need more light, to outcasts, to those who disagree, to oppressed and oppressors both.
WHAT GOOD IS GOD? is a beautiful exploration of one man’s journey to show a lost and dying world that faith really does work, especially when it’s tested to the extreme.
An excerpt from What Good is God?…
Chapter 1 - The Story Behind the Search
In late November 2008, my wife and I were completing a tour of India sponsored by my publisher. I had spoken on themes from my books in five cities and the last stop involved a public event in India’s largest city, Mumbai. As it happened, that was the horrifying night when terrorists attacked tourist sites with grenades and guns, killing 172 people. The city went under lockdown and we had to cancel the scheduled event. Instead I spoke at an impromptu service at a small church in the suburbs on a night shrouded in fear and grief. Later, as we prepared to leave India, shooting erupted in the airport and guards with machine guns searched us and our luggage five separate times before we boarded one of the few international flights still operating.
During the long plane ride home, still rattled by our narrow escape, I thought back to other intense times from my travels. Shuttling interview subjects into dingy hotel rooms in China in order to avoid detection by the secret police. Listening to accounts from the dazed students at Virginia Tech barely a week after their tragedy as I was still recovering from my own life-threatening accident. Interviewing a roomful of prostitutes about their grim life stories. As I get involved in such extreme situations one question looms above all: what good is God? What does religious faith offer peasants undergoing persecution, or students recovering from a campus massacre, or women who have spent years of virtual slavery in the sex trade? If I can find an answer, or even a clue, to the question of what good is God in situations like these, it will help me with the hard questions of faith that confound all of us at times.
At a press conference in the early 1980s a reporter asked the novelist Saul Bellow, “Mr. Bellow, you are a writer and we are writers. What’s the difference between us?” Bellow replied, “As journalists, you are concerned with news of the day. As a novelist, I am concerned with news of eternity.” Ironically, in my case it was my career as a journalist that pointed me toward the news of eternity. My journalistic adventures have become for me a way to test the truth of what I write. Can “the God of all comfort” truly bring solace to a wounded place like Mumbai or the Virginia Tech campus? Will the scars from racism ever heal in the American South, let alone South Africa? Can a Christian minority have any leavening effect in a sometimes hostile environment such as China or the Middle East? I ask such questions each time I take on a challenging assignment.
I should mention that on personality tests I score off the charts as an introvert. Writing is a lonely act, and I am quite content to hole up in a mountain cabin with a stack of books for a week at a time, speaking to no one but the grocery store clerk. Trips prove exhausting and expensive and the public events in developing countries often feel like “combat speaking.” On return I happily settle back into the life of a solitary pilgrim. Nevertheless, I keep leaving home in quest of what happens when the faith I write about in a mountain cabin confronts the real world. Does it work?
Every few years a renowned atheist or agnostic comes out with a new book questioning the worth of religion in general and Christianity in particular. Although some of these books resemble the rants of adolescents, others raise important issues. Meanwhile, national polls in the United States show a steady rise in the number of people declaring “no religion” when asked about their religious affiliation (up from 2.7 percent of the population in 1957 to 16 percent in 2009). More Americans now profess “no religion” than all Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Methodists, and Lutherans combined. Their number has nearly doubled since 1990, and in Europe the percentage is far higher. Strangely, two-thirds of the respondents who claim no religion still believe that God exists. Some of them judge organized religion as hypocritical or irrelevant and others simply question what God is good for. During the years when the West resisted “godless communism,” religion seemed an important bulwark.
Now our most prominent enemies are religious extremists. Little wonder more and more people have doubts about the value of religious faith.
Defenders of the Christian faith rise up with point by point rebuttals of the skeptics. As a journalist I approach such questions differently. I prefer to go out into the field and examine how faith works itself out, especially under extreme conditions. A faith that matters should produce positive results, thus providing an existential answer to the underlying question, “What good is God?”
Technology manufacturers have a phrase called “the tabletop test.” Engineers design wonderful new products: iPhones, netbooks, video game consoles, notebook computers, MP3 players, optical storage devices. But will the shiny new product survive actual use by consumers in the real world? What happens if it gets pushed off a table accidentally or dropped on a sidewalk? Will the device still work?
I look for similar tests in the realm of faith. My travels have taken me to places where Christians face a refiner’s fire of oppression, violence, and plague. This book relates stories from places like China, where the church grows spectacularly despite an atheistic government; and the Middle East, where a once-thriving church in the heartland now barely hangs on; and South Africa, where a multicolored church picks through the pieces of its racist past. In the United States I have visited not only Virginia Tech and a convention of prostitutes, but also a group of alcoholics in Chicago and two enclaves in the Bible Belt South.
When I spend time among such people my own faith undergoes a tabletop test. Do I mean what I write about from my home in Colorado? Can I believe that, as the apostle John promised in one of his letters, “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world”? Can I proclaim that truth with confidence to a woman struggling to feed her children without reverting to prostitution, to an alcoholic battling a lifelong addiction, to an inmate in southern Africa’s most violent prison?
I must admit, my own faith would be much more perilous if I knew only the U.S. church, which can seem like one more self perpetuating institution. Not so elsewhere. Almost always I return from my travels encouraged, my faith buoyed. Only a third of the world’s Christians now hail from the West, and I have been privileged to see remarkable evidence of God at work: the reconciliation miracle of South Africa, the greatest numerical revival in history breaking out under a repressive Chinese government, Indian Christians turning their attention to the most outcast group of human beings on the planet. As a writer I want to bring that good news to the jaded West, for such stories rarely make the headlines on CNN.
In all honesty I must mention one last reason why I accept such assignments: they give me the chance to connect with readers. Writers need the reminder that what we do in isolation may indeed touch people, and so the highlight of all such trips takes place when I meet the readers of my books. In Africa I meet people with biblical names like Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Beauty, Precious, Thanks, Witness, Gift, and Fortune. Filipinos have even more exotic names: Bot, Bos, Ronchie, Bing, Peachy, Blessie, Heaven, Cha Cha, Tin Tin (“My friends call me Tin Squared,” she laughs). The signing line allows for only a few moment’s interaction with my readers, but at least we connect.
“We have an unequal relationship, you and I,” I used to joke before a book signing. “You know everything about me because anything I think or do or say ultimately ends up in a book. I know nothing about you. So in the few seconds we have together as I sign your book, tell me the deepest secret of your life, something you’ve never told anyone.” I stopped giving that invitation because some people took me seriously and told me secrets I had no right to know. In the process, I learned how intimate a bond may develop between readers and a writer they have never met.
Such encounters convince me I am not alone in struggling with the issues I write about. Why must I keep circling back to the problem of pain? I sometimes wonder. Then on a book tour I meet an older man with a lush beard who walks to the microphone with a shuffle and mumbles, “God gave me Parkinson’s disease. How can I possibly think God listens to what I have to say in prayer?” I hear accounts of suicides, birth defects, terminal diseases, and children hit by trucks. A woman confesses praying in desperation during her nineteen years of an abusive marriage, “Lord, if someone is killed by a drunk driver, let it be my husband.” I meet a woman afflicted with multiple sclerosis, shockingly young, who limps over to tell me she is learning all she can about prayer because the disease is progressing so fast soon she will capable of little else.
I speak on the topic of grace and a woman approaches the book table to tell me she needs to work on forgiveness. “Don’t we all,” I say. “No, I really need to!” she replies, and proceeds to tell me that her father murdered her husband. “First he stole my past by abusing me; now he has stolen my future.” Yet she doesn’t want her children to grow up hating their grandfather, who is serving time in prison. The man behind her waits patiently as we talk, then tells me of his daughter’s rape in the parking garage of the Phoenix airport. “She decided to keep the child, a daughter,” he says. “She named her Grace.” After a talk on prayer a teenage girl tells me with a smile that now she has to pray for her sister. Why? “Because you said we should pray for our enemies!” More seriously, a woman in the same line, an ordained pastor, tells of a dark period after her son died when for eighteen months she could not bring herself to pray. She cried out one day,
“God, I don’t want to die like this, with all communication cut off!” Even so, another six months passed before she could resume praying. After each trip I return to my basement office humbled, moved, and also uplifted by my encounters with readers. On a book tour of the East Coast I meet ordinary Christians who devote themselves to causes as disparate as the homeless in Pe

[Esther Filbrun · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a young teenager, I remember picking up one of Philip Yancey’s books (Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, coauthored with Paul Brand), and being drawn in by his perspective and the stories he had to tell. After that, I knew I wanted to read more of his writings, so I started collecting his books whenever I came across them. Collecting books is one thing; getting around to reading them is something else entirely. But I did manage to pick up What Good is God over the last month, and I quickly grew to appreciate Yancey’s writing style and perspective all over again.

As a collection of ten different talks Yancey has given over the years, this book can tend to feel slightly disconnected, but viewed across the broad span of the book, the main theme—seeking to know and understand more of God’s faithfulness even in the most trying circumstances—shines through brilliantly.

I found this book both challenging and inspiring. Challenging, because some of the situations Yancey describes are ones I would find incredibly uncomfortable to navigate. Inspiring, because Yancey manages to pull deep life lessons—and astute observations and conclusions—out of all his varied experiences. Through it all, a thread of faithful perseverance and trust in the Lord is encouraged and lived out.

This was a book I’ll be mulling over for a long time. It’s going down as one of the books I saved the most quotes from in 2023—there was a lot of gentle wisdom in these pages, as well as clarity of thought about situations I’ve never considered before.

If you enjoy being pushed outside of your comfort zone by what you’re reading at times, or enjoy getting a different perspective on the world, or generally want to grow in your Christian faith, I’d highly recommend you pick up this book. It’s a gem, and I’m sure I’ll want to read it again someday!

[David Meldrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Philip Yancey is a beautiful writer, and this book is no exception to that. Here we have 10 chapters about what good God can be and do in experiences of great suffering - they are all very different situations around the world to which Yancey was invited to give a talk on aspects of this theme. In each chapter, he gives a few pages of introduction to the context, and then we have the talk he gave. It's all thought-provoking and moving. As someone who has lived in South Africa for 10 years, I'd make a point about how he talks about this country - he, like many outside and in, sets great store by the 'miracle' worked around the transition to democracy and particularly the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Whilst it remains remarkable to observer what has (and hasn't) happened here, it's true to say (in my view) that the TRC hasn't gone deep enough - it may be forgiveness was rushed and healing hasn't truly taken root. I meet of lot angry, bitter people here - and I think the situation is much more complex than Yancey (and many others) seem to think it is. With that caveat, this is a characteristically good book.

[Brent Soderstrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a fan of Philip Yancey. I like the way he writes and his books are always entertaining and informative.

This book involves 10 areas of the world that went through something spiritual and Yancey visited. He also spoke about the issue faced by that area of the world.

Like a collection of short stories, there are some I enjoyed more than others. I liked the chapters where Yancey discussed the Bible College he attended, its strictness, and the good and bad he experienced as a result of the bubble-like atmosphere he noted when he was there. The chapters I enjoyed the least are those regarding C.S. Lewis. I have never been a C.S. Lewis fan. I struggle to read anything he has written. Yancey thinks he is a great Christian writer who spouts golden streams of knowledge directly from God.

There are others that come in the range between these selections. Yancey finishes off the collection with a short chapter telling us what good God is even in the most horrendous situation.

[Jamie Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yancey asks questions in every book that are hard to answer. Often these answers are like the ending of the book of Job. It turns the tables and asks even harder questions of you. What are you doing about evil in the world? God put the church in place to be a beacon of hope in the darkest of places, in tragedies that leave you deeply unsettled about His goodness. This book won’t explain away evil and it won’t give you easy answers. God is God and that means that we will never fully understand Him or always like what He allows to happen because we aren’t God. We don’t see the whole picture and how tragedy can shape us. I don’t want to spoil the book for you anymore than I have. If you choose to read it, then know this, some of the greatest authors are the ones who make you think long after you finished their books. The ones who don’t give easy answers and generate deeper questions. You will be far more satisfied with answers you wrestled for and with than those you were simply given. This is that kind of author.

[Wes F · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great Yancey book that my wife & I read together as a devotional book. This book focuses on six messages Yancey gave over several years--including one at Virginia Tech after the on-campus shooting, and another in Mumbai after the terrorist attack. I really liked the format: Yancey would spend one chapter giving background on the situation/context for the talk--then the next chapter was the full message. Many of the messages focused on grace--and how God's grace was what was so amazing & good about God, even in the midst of some pretty horrific circumstances. I love Yancey's realism, though, and his frank and honest way of dealing head-on with the various issues he spoke on/about, like alcoholism (AA) and prostitution (one message was to a rehab center for sex workers). So many good insights and quotes from these messages to be garnered. We read it on the iPad.

[Nathan Hoyt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book after hearing Bart Campolo talk about the author as a believing friend and a good guy. I also feel it is good to listen to all sides of issues.

But I can’t say I answer to question of the title of this book the same as the author would want. I would agree with Bart that Yancey is a great guy and an honest and good Christian.

Much of the author’s propositions for the good of God don’t seem to me to support the title. I am someone that does agree that religion does help many and brings good to the world, but I don’t ignore the negative aspects either.

I think I could best summarize this in an example put forward in the book. A rabbi was asked after being in the concentration camps how the rabbi could believe in God. The rabbi replied, how could I not believe in God?

[Ann Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Philip Yancey is clearly one of the best Christian writers of our times. This book is a collection of his speeches in several parts of the world during a crisis, when this question, "what Good is God" arises in the suffering victim's mind. It was a journey to walk with him through the streets of China, the church transforming the wounded south Africa, recovering addicts, when the markets tumbled globally in 2008, grieving friends and family post the Virginia tech shooting and the life transforming works happening around the Dalits in India. it's a must read for anyone who has this question. I wish the church learns to show some Grace.