christianity

Surprising this is the first book I have read by the well known Christian author Philip Yancey. After reading this I want to go and get the book The Gift of Pain. If you like apologetics in the style of C.S. Lewis this is the book for you. Not only does it offer that but many interesting stories that really drive home the points Yancey is trying to make. Are you hearing the rumors in everyday life to an eternal spiritual world? Or are you missing them like the natives of Tierra del Fuego who missed Magellan's ships only because they were behind their comprehension. After reading this you will start seeing and hearing the rumors of another world yourself. There is even a chapter that shows how you can even hear a rumor in sex. This is not the usual preachy books that are out there. There is a wonderful chapter on sex found in the book. Totally changed my view points on many subjects. This book also isn't just for the Christian its meant for the "borderlanders" out there. A term the author uses for people who dont visit Christian bookstores or even churches for that matter. A story in the book that really drove home the idea of guilt and its purpose was one of Dorian Gray. Dorian Gray gets a portrait of himself done. One day he thinks that too bad his face will change and get old while this picture will not. So one day he gets his wish instead of his face changing the portrait changes instead. When he lies his mouth in the portrait twists. Well one day Dorian Gray goes up to the attic to look at this picture and finds that it disgusts him so much that he takes a knife and slashes right through the portrait. Later one of the maids finds him up in the attic with a knife right through his own heart. The painting represented his true self so when he faced his true self he killed himself. Driving home the point on how even guilt can be a rumor as well as a gift. From the book I even added a new signature to my emails and its this "When the chess game is over, the pawns, rooks, kings, and queens all go back into the same box."

Are you one of the many people searching for more signs of heaven here on earth? In Rumors of Another World, Philip Yancey, the prolific writer of Christian non-fiction, aims to help readers grasp the reality of the heavenly kingdom ruled by God.

Yancey offers a contemplative, intelligently written commentary of the tensions between the spiritual and the physical, heaven and earth, good and evil, the seen and the unseen, and faith and unbelief. The book flows steadily as Yancey cogently addresses topics that fall into three main categories: 1) What are We Missing? 2) Signs of Disorder, and 3) Two Worlds.

According to Yancey's note, he writes this book for people who live in the borderlands between belief and doubt. In the book, Yancey thinks aloud to answer questions such as "Is the visible world around us all there is?"

Yancey describes himself as being, at times, a "reluctant Christian, buffeted by doubts and 'in recovery' from bad church encounters." For himself and the readers, he explains why he believes in Jesus and the invisible spiritual realm.

I have not read a contemporary Christian writer that incorporates such a plethora of references as Yancey does in this book. Highlights include quotes by C.S. Lewis, Thomas Merton, Milton, T.S. Eliot, Einstein, William James, Blaise Pascal, and many more poets, philosophers, authors and saints.

Perhaps the most effective reference covers several pages devoted to the story of John Merrick, the Elephant Man. Yancey discusses Ashley Montagu's poignant book, The Elephant Man, illustrating how Merrick remained a gentle, compassionate human despite the brutal treatment he received at the hands of most of the people he encountered during his brief life. Yancey uses the story to show how heaven reveals itself in the most unusual places, where we least expect to witness the divine. Yancey emphasizes other points by interspersing similar analogies throughout the book.

Yancey draws on his experiences in nature from around the globe, his interactions with people in the United States and other countries, and his positive and negative interactions in churches. These stories combined with the many references serve to elucidate Christian perspectives on day-to-day activities and on spiritual conundrums. One of the most intriguing chapters compares the world's versus the Christian's attitude toward sex, and another looks at the conflicting ideas of the "good life."

Although the book fails to deliver a crescendo, it coherently provides logical reasons to believe in the substance of the Christian worldview and, most importantly, in the presence of a loving and caring God.

I think Yancey's writing is a gift to modern readers so that we might see past the titillating distractions of our world to the eternal spiritual realm. Yancey draws from many impressive thinkers to articulate a persuasive defense of the gospel. This book is ideal for the skeptic and the fundamentalist, as it serves to strengthen a reader's faith and to soften his or her heart.

Philip Yancey says "I am just like you, an ordinary person trying to figure things out..." Hogwash. What the book jacket doesn't tell you is that Yancey is not only Christian, he is the editor of Christianity Today. He claims to be writing from "the region between belief and unbelief." But though the book is not an apologetic work, Yancey has clearly already figured things out. I had been hoping to find a fellow searcher; instead I find a know-it-all who thinks doesn't think that unbelievers can conceive of anything beyond the physical.

Yancey covers the ground broken so capably by C.S. Lewis, but with less content and more repetition of banal truisms. From worn-out phrases about nature ("thin mountain air, a carpet of wildflowers, a ptarmigan's nest...") to threadbare anecdotes about declining morality ("a sniper opens fire on strangers; a mother drowns her two children...") to the dubious assertion that believers have better sex: Yancey says it all, and then says it all again. If you're looking for a book to confirm your hopes and beliefs, this is the one. But if you wanted a guide for your "dark night of the soul," keep looking.