What's So Amazing about Grace? Study Guide

by Philip Yancey

Book Overview

We speak of grace often. But do we understand it? More important, do we truly believe in it . . . and do our lives proclaim it as powerfully as our words? In What's So Amazing About Grace?, award-winning author Philip Yancey explores grace at street level.

If grace is God's love for the undeserving, he asks, then what does it look like in action? And if Christians are its sole dispensers, then how are we doing at lavishing grace on a cruel...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0310219043
• ISBN13: 9780310219040
• Release Date: March 1998
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.3" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up

Customer Reviews

This book changed my life

This book really did change my life by forcing me to look at the world around me and how I react to it as a Christian. Since reading this book, I have felt personally challenged to convey God's grace to others, particularly those that are "different" from myself. I think this is the best Christian book out right now and I have already given it as a gift to several friends and family members. If you are a Christian and have become discouraged by the negative reaction to Christians by non-Christians, read this book and help me start to change those stereotypes.

Here's What's Amazing about Grace

How can I add anything to all the rave reviews of this book? Why does everyone love it so much? Two reasons: the fact of God's grace and the fact that Yancey conveys that grace in a well-written book that is moving and touching. Yancey -- praise the Lord! -- is one conservative Christian who understands that Christianity is about God's love and forgiveness and not about a wrathful, rule-enforcing God who forgives grudgingly. And Yancey has a way of conveying this message with art and feeling. I have already bought multiple copies of this book to give to friends. I consider it a must-read for anyone looking for God's love.

Excellent! Must read!

I was given this book by a friend and it is the best book I have read about Christians today. Philip Yancey tells it like it is and does not sugarcoat the problem of judgemental Christians. I live in an area where what church you go to is all important in determining your "worth".Where many Christians change churches often to find one that agrees with them; and where prejudice among other Christians runs deep. I was so happy to read Yancey's opinions on grace and feel that EVERYONE who considers themselves Christians should read this book.Those of other faiths would also get an understanding from it as well.I plan to recommend to everyone I know. (hardcover edition)

How to become a Grace-full Christian!

Do you consider yourself a "good" Christian who doesn't need to read about God's saving Grace? Think again! In "What's So Amazing About Grace," Philip Yancey not only explains how we benefit from God's Grace, but he also makes it painfully clear that we Christians are sometimes the most ungrace-full creatures, that we need to consider what it means to be truly grace-full. A reviewer of Philip Yancey's other popular book, "The Jesus I Never Knew," summed up his impressions of that book with the following statement: If you've been turned off by Christians but are attracted to the person of Jesus Christ, this is the ONE book to read. Do you wonder how someone could be "turned off" by Christians, yet "attracted" to Jesus Christ? You'll find the answer in "What's So Amazing About Grace." Philip Yancey, a professional Christian writer, uses a combination of anecdotes, stories, personal insights, Biblical and other references to show just exactly what is so amazing about grace. As Christians we are called not only to share the message of God's Grace, but as people of God we are expected to live lives that exude Grace. Sometimes we fail miserably. When we Christians see ourselves as the "moral police" for a failing society, we lose our focus. When we insist that Grace exists, but receiving it is somehow conditional on the "right actions" or "right beliefs" we've lost the most fundamental meaning of unconditional grace: no strings attached. If you enjoy good, thought-provoking writing; if you want to understand what grace is all about; if you want to be a more grace-full Christian in an increasing ungrace-full world, read this book.

Wish I had read this book twenty years ago

Why is it, Yancey asks, that those who are loudest in preaching the gospel of grace exhibit so little grace in their own lives? Christians are called to be like their Lord, who came not "to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance," but today's churches often act more like the Pharisees whom Jesus rebuked so severely. Yancey does not attempt to explain or excuse such unChristlike behavior, but rather invites us to join him in receiving God's amazing grace. Grace, Yancey tells us, means that "there is nothing we can do to make God love us more." Yet at the same time "there is nothing we can do to make God love us less." Yancey explores the implications of these statements not with theological discussions, but in stories. He finds examples of grace in literary works such as Les Miserables and Babette's Feast, as well as in countless anecdotes from a variety of sources, including his own experience. Jesus' own parables, so familiar to those of us with a church background, are suddenly alive with provocative meanings, bursting with hope, challenging what we thought we knew Jesus was saying. I have heard sermons and read books on the topic of grace, but never has it come so vividly to life as in the stories that Yancey weaves into every page of this book. I wish I had read this book twenty years ago, although at the time I might not have been ready to hear God's message of grace spoken through Philip Yancey. Like Yancey, I spent years in churches that preached grace but practiced legalism, even while they decried the legalistic tendencies in others. Many people observe this deplorable lack of grace among evangelical Christians, and conclude that it is Christianity that is defective. Yancey affirms the message of grace and hope central to Christianity, while sadly acknowledging the failure of Christians to follow the example of grace-full living of their Lord. This is not a book to read quickly. It is easy reading as far as the reading goes, but it asks hard questions and Yancey does not pretend to have all the answers. Christians talk about forgiveness, but does forgiveness extend to a murderer like Jeffrey Dahmer? To the Nazis who massacred Jews in the concentration camps? What does grace mean for those living in Bosnia or Northern Ireland or South Africa ... or in the United States? Each story Yancey tells is a nugget of grace, revealing the darkness hidden within us, and the brighter light of the Gospel that alone can dispel the darkness.