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I really enjoyed this book. Yancey writes in his usual conversational tone, with emotion and feeling. However, the book is nothing like what I expected. Frankly, I read it only on his reputation, and based on some of his excellent previous work.

The title of the book is very misleading. In reality it is a series of essays on people who had an impact on his life including Martin Luther King, G.K. Chesterton, Paul Brand, Robert Coles, Leo Tolstoy & Feodor Dostoevsky, Gandhi, Everett Koop, John Donne, Annie Dillard, Frederick Buechner, Shusaku Endo and Henri Nouwen. After an initial discussion of his own Church experience in the South, and some honest, direct, and often disturbing revelations about racism and prejudice, he launches into the essays.

Each section is written as a critique of the person's Faith and impact of Yancey and others. I found the sections on Paul Brand, Robert Coles and G.K. Chesterton, especially fascinating, as I had very little knowledge of their work prior to reading the book.

I would recommend this book, simply ignore the title and enjoy some wonderful insights into the Faith of some very interesting people. While Yancy spends too little time on the effects of the Church to warrant the title of the book, the insights are worth the effort.

Mr. Yancey is a pleasure to read in his latest book "Soul Survivor". In its pages he relates feeling very abused and mislead by his "conservative" boyhood church, thus the title "Soul Survivor". The book takes the form of several mini-bios of people who Yancey considers to be some of his most important spiritual influences. Beginning with the great civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and ending with the celibate homosexual priest Henri Nouwen, the book covers such luminaries as Dostoevsky and Gandhi.

It is very refreshing that Yancey can find inspiration in the troubled and downtrodden; and even in non-Christians like Gandhi. It seems, that Yancey relates to such people who
struggled with faith as he admittedly does. And he does succeedin producing golden nuggets from each of the lives that he writes about. Especially the life of Martin Luther
King Jr.

There is much to be gained by conservatives who will expose themselves to Christians who would normally be overlooked by traditional churches. Conservatives will find that
God can use even the stragglers and troubled of the faith. A refreshing thought for all of us who struggle to some degree with the faith and the life such faith would have us
pursue. It is an especially appealing message for Western Christians who are increasingly influenced and compromised by an increasingly decadent Western lifestyle.

Yet Yancey does us a grave disservice by not including even one traditional Christian saint. Not a traditional martyr among them! While it is comforting to know that Hindus,
celibate homosexuals, adulterers, and a divorcee with a 3 pack a day smoking habit can indeed be used by God. It is troubling that Yancey can't find a "hero" among all the worlds traditional Christian martyrs and persecuted, past and present. It seems that those who are "persecuted" by Yancey's "conservatives" with mere words and attitudes are
more deserving of his accolades than those who have risked life and limb and even given their lives for the faith and their fellow Christians.

This predisposition of Yancey's of seeing the whole church and the whole faith only in light of his struggle with his boyhood "conservative church" severely limits Yancey's
truly gifted writing and ministry. If Yancey would overcome this predisposition and "spread his wings" he would be one of God's greatest.

Yancey, describes his faith as a "Pascalion Wager", referring to the mathematician Pascal who decided to believe in God simply because if he was right he would gain everything, and if he was wrong the results would be the same as if he bet that there was no God. He admits that he is troubled by many doubts. Perhaps, this is why he fails to include a Paul, a Watchman Nee, a Deitrich Bonhoeffer, or any other Christians who developed rock
solid faith and morals and shed their blood as an undeniable testimony to such faith. Yancey even includes quotes in which his "spiritual influences" say, in effect, that such
faith is impossible.

I highly recommend the book. Allow Yancey to expand your horizons and your faith. But beware, Yancey is a double edged sword, his assumptions about faith can also limit your faith if you let them.

I just finished reading "What's so Amazing About Grace" and this book is a great follow up. I grew up in Alabama going to churches similar to those described by Yancey and I am still trying to recover. The 13 biographical sketches in this book present inspiring details about the subjects but also allow the reader to see their human flaws as well. Read this book and learn about history, faith, and struggles of extraordinary people trying to live up to God's purpose for their lives.