In 1987, an IRA bomb buried Gordon Wilson and his twenty-year-old daughter beneath five feet of rubble. Gordon alone survived. And forgave. He said of the bombers, "I have lost my daughter, but I bear no grudge. . . . I shall pray, tonight and every night, that God will forgive them." His words caught the media's ear--and out of one man's grief, the world got a glimpse of grace. Grace is the church's great distinctive. It's the one thing the world cannot duplicate, and the one thing it craves above all else--for only grace can bring hope and transformation to a jaded world. In What's So Amazing About Grace? award-winning author Philip Yancey explores grace at street level.
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.
It would be a gross overstatement to say that this book saved my life twenty-five years ago, but it may have saved my faith. It was a time when I desperately needed grace—from others, the church, and mostly from myself.
Somehow, back then, I found Philip Yancey’s book, “What’s So Amazing About Grace?” and poured over it. Long after I finished reading, it continued working on me. There were times I would suddenly think about the grace I had learned of in the book and feel a catch in my breath. I still do. This book changed how I see the grace that Jesus offers and our grace to others. It is no coincidence that three years later, while awaiting the birth of our second daughter, Trish and I decided she would be named Grace.
Two days ago, the twenty-fifth-anniversary edition of “What’s So Amazing about Grace?” was released, with updates to reflect and speak into today. I’m about a quarter of the way through, and while I realize that after twenty-five years, I shouldn’t expect to remember everything I’m reading, it’s more about what I’m feeling. As I read Yancey’s recounting of Babette’s Feast, his horrifying tale of a Chicago prostitute, and his plea to see God as a lovesick father, I realize these stories have never left me.
And, of course, I’m reminded that “‘tis grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.”
The update is well done and does not feel tacked on or intrusive to the original. Rather, it’s genuinely making this material more accessible to a new generation. If you read this one years ago, it’s worth a revisit. The reflection guide in the back is great for personal devotions or a small group study.
“Grace comes free of charge to people who do not deserve it, and I am one of those people. I think back to who I was—resentful, wound tight with anger, a single hardened link in a long chain of ungrace learned from family and church. Now I am trying in my own small way to pipe the tune of grace. I do so because I know, more surely than I know anything, that any pang of healing or forgiveness or goodness I have ever felt comes solely from the grace of God. I yearn for the church to become a nourishing culture of that grace.” - page 54.
For me, a 5 star book is one that sticks in my mind long after reading. This book will be one of those. It is for anyone who follows Jesus, but especially those who look around at our world and ask how did we get here, and where do we go from here?
I need to reread this book every few years to be reminded that the role of the church is to dispense grace “on tap.” We open the tap through radical honesty and radical dependence.
What is it about our pride that tempts is to follow the example of Ananias and Sapphire in misrepresenting ourselves spiritually?
“Hi, I’m Tammy, and I am a sinner.”
Recognition of my need for grace. Open hands and heart to receive grace. Ability to give grace to myself and others—nothing to prove. Freedom to walk in grace.
One of the best books I’ve read on grace. What a life to be captivated by grace and a conveyer of grace!!
* “Many years ago I was driven to the conclusion that the two major causes of most emotional problems among evangelical Christians are these: the failure to understand, receive, and live out God's unconditional grace and forgiveness; and the failure to give out that unconditional love, forgiveness, and grace to other people.... We read, we hear, we believe a good theology of grace. But that's not the way we live. The good news of the Gospel of grace has not penetrated the level of our emotions.”
* “We have all of us been told that grace is to be found in the universe. But in our human foolishness and shortsightedness we imagine divine grace to be finite.... But the moment comes when our eyes are opened, and we see and realize that grace is infinite. Grace, my friends, demands nothing from us but that we shall await it with confidence and acknowledge it in gratitude.”
* “Aware of the apparent scandal of grace, Paul took pains to explain how God has made peace with human beings. Grace baffles us because it goes against the intuition everyone has that, in the face of injustice, some price must be paid. A murderer cannot simply go free. A child abuser cannot shrug and say, "I just felt like it." Anticipating these objections, Paul stressed that a price has been paid— by God's own self, who gave up the Son rather than give up on humanity. Like Babette's feast, grace costs the recipients nothing but the giver everything. God's grace is not a grandfatherly display of "niceness," for it cost the exorbitant price of Calvary.”
* “The gospel of grace begins and ends with forgiveness. And people write songs with titles like "Amazing Grace" for one reason: grace is the only force in the universe powerful enough to break the chains that enslave generations. Grace alone melts ungrace.”
* “The free offer of grace extends not only to the undeserving but also to those who in fact deserve the opposite…”
* “If we truly grasped the wonder of God's love for us, the devious question that prompted Romans 6 and 7– What can I get away with? -- would never exen occur to us. We would spend our days trying to fathom, not exploit, God's grace.”
* “What does a grace-full Christian look like? Perhaps I should rephrase the question: How does a grace-full Christian look? The Christian life, I believe, does not primarily center on ethics or rules but rather involves a new way of seeing. I escape the force of "spiritual gravity" when I begin to see myself as a sinner who cannot please God by any method of self-improvement or self-enlargement. Only then can I turn to God for outside help—for grace-and to my amazement I learn that a holy God already loves me despite my defects. I escape the force of gravity again when I recognize my neighbors also as sinners, loved by God. A graceful Christian is one who looks at the world through "grace-tinted lenses."
This may be one of the best books on the Good News (that isn’t the Bible) I have ever read. By using stories of real people from real tragedies Yancey explores how Christians have fallen short in Loving how God directs us to Love. On top of that He emphasizes how Amazing Gods Grace is. I was reminded, and I pray I never forget, there is NO ONE who is too terrible to not be loved and saved through the power of Christ.
This book really spoke to me and can see how a lack of grace in our world can lead to division and hate. Yancey does a good job a writing out what grace is, and counters that with ungrace.
He hits hard the present-day church, and those who are more judgemental than forgiving.
Definitely a book to read/study/reference again in the future.
I listened to this book; a 2023 revised edition from the original. I am not sure I have ever experienced a better, more convicting, reassuring, comforting, demanding book on God’s grace (aside from God’s Word of course!) I finished it, weeping, with the words “Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me! I was once lost, but now am found! Was blind but now I see”
The 1st time I fell in love with Yancey was when, I lived in Middle Earth / New Zealand and worked at a church. I saw in the pastors office, "What's So Amazing About Grace," and devoured the book.
My life turned upside down. My passion revolutionized. I fell in love with Philip Yancey's writings of humility and grace. I would travel to Wellington and hear him lecture in person and get my picture taken of the Yanceys.
While living in Hong Kong I read most of Yanceys books. My only goal in life was to know God and to make Him known.
Now some time has passed. My life has turned upside down. I'm no longer working in the church as a youth leader, but instead I'm a single father, living in the Twilight Zone in Las Vegas. I tried everything to win in family court. But the Judges don't listen or care. I picked up a restraining-order and was forced out of my son's life. My only desire in life is just for the chance to be a father. I looked for ways to make fast money to hire the best lawyer money could buy so that I could be a father. But the harder i fought for my father's rights.. the more I would lose. I would pick up a life time restraining-order to be 100 yards from my son or go to prison, even though I don't have even a speeding ticket nor committed any crime.
So now here I am, destitute and broken. It's 4am and I'm reading this book again. I ask God, why did my life turn out to be a failure for my son. Why am I so weak. I wanted to be a strong dad. But I failed as a father.
As I read Philip Yancey, he reminds me the greatest weapon of God is Love and gentleness.
Grace is Christianities best gift to the world. Gods love comes to us free of charge. We don't need to earn approval. Jesus would never attend church or study the Bible or ask forgiveness of anyone.. grace does not depend on what we have done for God but what God has done for us. The last act of Jesus, was not to save himself from death on a cross... but to forgive a thief. Likewise, I need to always show love.. not just to my son. But also upon my enemies.
"During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith. They began eliminating possibilities. Incarnation? Other religions had different versions of gods appearing in human form. Resurrection? Again, other religions had accounts of return from death. The debate went on for some time until C.S. Lewis wandered into the room. 'What's the rumpus about?' he asked, and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity's unique contribution among world religions. Lewis responded, 'Oh, that's easy. It's grace.'"
A great anecdote from the book, and one that's stuck with me. This book hit me at the exact right time. I'd avoided reading it for many years, and I'm not sure why - something about feeling like it could be cheesy. It's not. At heart, it's a simple message - grace is amazing (borderline scandalous), Christians so frequently don't reflect it at all, but they should, because only they can do it and it changes the world. The way he sprinkles in anecdotes makes it very readable and strikes home. I read the updated version so I don't know what's been changed, but it also speaks so strongly to the current age. The church is largely marked by judgment and rancor. It's exactly the opposite of how it should be. It's a message that needs to be heard.
This is quite good. We used it in our book discussion class at church this fall and it generated outstanding discussion. The world (and our culture) is set up for “ungrace” and Yancy obviously advocates we embrace grace. The book was less about God’s grace than I expected and definitely more on how we see grace as humans, show grace to each other (or “ungrace” to each other), grace across communities (e.g., Republicans and Democrats showing no grace to each other in today’s world), grace between counties. To be sure, a big chunk of what he talks about is that we struggle with accepting and understanding God’s grace for us because we don’t know grace with each other. For whatever it is worth, I made my wife read a couple of chapters because they were so powerfully applicable in our circle of family and friends, and after doing so she said “I need to read the whole book.” True. I think all of you need to read the whole book. By the way, the original came out 25 years ago and this is an updated version. In our discussion class some had the old version some had the new. Other than some examples, it’s the same book. The heart of the book is the same, old or new.
This is a phenomenal book. I read the earlier edition several years ago and was delighted to learn that a revised and updated version was now available. This is a book that both my husband and I have given to several other people who have had serious questions about faith that Philip Yancey addresses. I am so grateful for the research and thinking that Philip Yancey has applied to significant questions about the Christian faith and as I have pondered his responses to my own questions, I have found my faith strengthened as my own reflections resonate with his discoveries. Thank you Philip Yancey for the way you have approached these questions and illustrated situations that are appropriate to deepen thinking and response.
I listened to this on audiobook and I was listening to it at a weird time in my life, so I feel like the beginning of the book I didn't listen to and understand as well as I could've. The last half though... that had some good stuff in it. Overall, this book offers examples of grace in a way that is easy to understand. Yancey shows practical ways that Christians can live a life full of grace. I think the AA example is incredible. It just makes so much sense. Overall, a great book, but I feel like (as with many books like this) it'll take a couple rereads to understand the message deeper.
As I sit here thru with this book, I quiver inside! When started it there was sadness and disheartening in my soul of all the ungrace, especially in members of Jesus followers! Then came the teaching me, I couldn’t get enough! At the end I felt I was front roll seating singing along with Norman! Peace fills me now, quivering with knowledge God loves me with grace upon grace!
This one was tough. Has high reviews from most but maybe I am biased. 1. I read what would be the “sequel” to this book before reading this one. Turns out most of the content is the same. Read one or the other. 2. Audiobook made it hard to track what the actual thesis among the many stories and topics.
Yancey seems to have swung from the fundamentalist end of the spectrum he grew up in to the other end.
Incredibly eye opening and convicting! All the stories about grace compiled in this book are so helpful in understanding the magnitude of God’s scandalous grace. Also a very helpful book to have read during my pregnancy especially when dealing with difficult parents. There is nothing more powerful than God’s grace for us!
Yancey tells many touching stories of grace. I had read the book when it came out a long time ago and am glad I revisited it in its updated version now. It's still powerful and there are new stories and insights mixed in with the prior ones. It flows as one. The narrator is very good also.
A bit tough to get through some parts but full of wisdom and made me think hard about a lot of things that I had not considered especially the concepts of forgiveness and grace and what that looks like in action.
Highly highly recommend to Christians and non Christians alike! Want to learn what role grace plays in topics such as abortion, homosexuality, separation of church and state and international relations read to find out. I’ll be listening again as there’s so much to chew on.
No just no. I don’t remember entering the giveaway for this book and doubt I would have on purpose. The book is full of fluffy stereotypical platitudes aimed at gaining religious compliance.
Excellent essay on how Chrisitans see God's grace in their lives and the lives of others. Easy to understand and well researched. Mr. Yancey has good insights into the life of a Christian.
So after listening to the abridged audiobook, I had to get myself a copy of the original book. So good! I love the abridged audiobook better though. So beautiful, so true.