God Talk: Cautions for Those Who Hear God's Voice

by Ruth A. Tucker

Book Overview

Ruth A. Tucker tackles the question, Does God speak? By examining the Trinity, Tucker gives us a new glimpse of how God the Father spoke his words in the past, how Christ the Incarnate Word lived among us, and how the Holy Spirit speaks to us now through Scripture.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0830833315
• ISBN13: 9780830833313
• Release Date: December 2005
• Publisher: InterVarsity Press
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.9" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

A Very Unusual and Rewarding Book on Hearing God

Everyone who believes in God - notice I do not draw any religious limits, either conventional or unconventional - should read this book. There is to my knowledge no other book on the market quite like it. Everyone has claimed to hear the voice of God at one time or another, and this author asks all the critical questions: How does one hear God? How can one be sure that what we hear is indeed God's voice? How does one distinguish between God's voice and other voices? What happens when several people claim to hear God's voice and the messages are wildly different - or even contradictory? What are the measuring sticks? What are the best ways of using those measuring sticks? Not just parroting a sacred scripture, the author, an associate professor of missiology at Calvin Theological Seminary, asks all the hard questions - and attempts to supply some answers. This book is well worth reading by anyone interested in this subject.

For Those Who Think They've Heard

We've all heard it said, and have probably said it ourselves- "God told me to go into this ministry..." Sometimes it's a calling, a leading, a tug, a voice, or a whisper, but it's pretty much the same. One of the most treasured spiritual practices in evangelicalism today is receiving communication from God, and not just from the Bible. In God Talk, Ruth Tucker takes the practice of hearing God's voice to task. She notes, "our reported words from God often sound eerily like our own." (8) Most of the book is comprised of analysis of stories and points made by those who teach on how to discern God's voice- such as Dallas Willard, Jack Deere, and Henry Blackaby. Ultimately, Ruth Tucker contends that God is a God of silence, and this if not a bad thing. "The talkative God of today is a second-rate version of the Trinitarian God, who as Father spoke in times past, who as Son incarnate lived among us, and who as Spirit inspired and illumines the Scriptures, the silent Word of God." (14) She insists that we must recognize, "God is God, and with that recognition we must accept the silence of God." (173) While there is much in the book I agree with, there were a number of problematic points. For instance, in chapter three she charges Christian apologists with claiming to speak for God (incidentally, something Paul told us we do in 2 Cor 5:20) and not doing it well. In the course of her rant, she mischaracterizes Reformed Epistemology, indicates that Reformed theology teaches "only a small percentage of people" will be saved (which is false), and repeats the popular fiction that after C.S. Lewis was "deeply disturbed" by a debate in 1948 with Elizabeth Anscombe he "wrote primarily children's fantasy tales." (57) After being down on those who claim to hear from God, Ruth Tucker claims she's heard the voice of God in waterfalls. "I'm convinced we can hear the silent voice of God in nature." (164) Though she explains that this is rooted in her belief that nature is a second volume of God's revelation, she doesn't clearly explain what she means by the "silent voice of God in nature" or how it qualitatively differs from those who claim to hear God in their prayers. God Talk attempts to be the much-needed corrective against a Christianity that loves to put words in God's mouth. In her analysis of contemporary literature and narratives, Ruth Tucker mostly succeeds, but periodically stumbles along the way.

Is God's silence necessarily a bad thing?

"Much has been written on the silence of God, but most often with a sigh of resignation - as though the silence is something that we endure." In reading Tucker's book, I was struck by her assertion that God's silence is not a passive-aggressive "silent treatment", but an attribute of God that we can appreciate and cultivate. At a time when people around me all seem to be getting words from God - sometimes contradictory words - and I don't hear anything, I sometimes feel sad and left out. (Why isn't God speaking to me?) Tucker examines the lives of people in the Bible such as Abraham, Job and other figures in church history and comes up with some radical conclusions. As in other books, Tucker takes on on a nearly taboo topic: overcoming politeness to question people who have words from God. She questions advice given by some of the most popular current writers on the subjects of intimacy with God and listening to God. She tackles the subject of rage against God, and shows that while it may seem to us that accusing God is the worst thing we can do, it's far preferable to indifference, and may be something we need to go through. Maybe having the all the answers is worse than not knowing. While in one sense, I found her book comforting, in letting me feel I have the option of enjoying God's silence instead of feeling like a second-class Christian, I was also shaken by her challenges regarding action and prayer. I like Tucker's style. She manages to work in a lot of hard-core research, but at the same time, draws me in to what seems like a warm and thought-provoking chat with an older sister. She isn't afraid to get under people's skin with the hardest questions, but she does so with grace and humility, and keeps me musing long after I've finished reading. I use one of her books as a frequent handbook, 'Women in the Maze: Questions & Answers on Biblical Equality'. (In fact, I've had to buy it several times because it's one of those books I keep lending people and not getting back!) I was also very moved and provoked by her recent penetrating look into why people stop being believers, 'Walking Away from Faith: Unraveling the Mystery of Belief and Unbelief'. And Tucker even welcomes direct questions from her readers at QuestioningFaith.com. (Hit her with your hardest question!) To avid readers of Philip Yancey, Mike Yaconelli, Richard Rohr and Jim Wallis: if you haven't read Tucker's books already, I think you'll find another name to add to your list.