Mention the word "grace" and what immediately comes to mind for most of us is a bagpipe wailing the solemn notes of "Amazing Grace."

The grace of which Philip Yancey writes is the freely given and unmerited favor and love of God. This grace seems a remote, almost sentimental concept, without a place in our lives or our society. It is a vague, slippery thing to us, probably because we seem to experience grace so rarely and have managed to leech the word of meaning. But Philip Yancey has set about to rescue grace in his book What's So Amazing About Grace?

This grace is the true message of Jesus. All faiths have virtues and creeds and justice and truth, but Jesus speaks merely of receiving the love that God has for us. Accepting it, not earning it or making ourselves worthy of it. And frankly, accepting something we have not earned or are not worthy of is not an easy thing for most of us.

In truth, grace is both utterly simple and utterly confounding. Little by little, Yancey guides us into a clearer understanding of grace by using stories, in much the same way Jesus did. We read stories of both grace and ungrace at work in people's lives. Sadly, it is stories of ungrace that are more prevalent today, the current culture wars painful acknowledgments of ungrace in our lives as Christians in this country. Yancey helps us understand that ungrace is that state of being in which self-righteousness and pride are a result of thinking that we have somehow earned God's approval and may now stand in judgment in his behalf.

A gifted word master

Pick up any of the Yancey books and you will be drawn into his genuineness, personal vulnerability, and facility with words. In this book, Yancey takes the sometimes ethereal concept of divine Grace, and puts a human face on it, in fact many human faces. He makes it easy to imagine that I can access this grace, partake of it, and even become a conduit for it. Even if you do not agree with all of Yancey's theology, you will find yourself strangely drawn to his writings. He is the quitessential human being in a quest for God.

Simply Amazing

This was the second Philip Yancey book that I read (after The Jesus I Never Knew), and it is, by far, his greatest work. I have read this book almost a dozen times. The book explores the subject of grace in an example-driven, practical way that only Philip Yancey could write sucessfully. In response to criticism because of its controversy, I only have to say that the Bible is a very controversial book as well.

This is truly one of the greatest books I have ever read. I highly recommend this book for everyone who wants to learn more about God's amazing grace.

The best book I've read in years?

For some unknown reason, I resisted Yancey's work for years. I'd see it on the shelf and go blechh!!!, having never read a word he wrote. Finally in desperation for something to read, I picked this up.

Later that night after a reading binge, I put the book down, finshed in one sitting. Ever since I've been haunted by one sentance. "There's nothing we can do to make God love us more, and there's nothing we can do to make God love us less. In that one sentence, Yancey hits the paradox of grace.

As people of faith we are caught between the demands of law and the gift of grace. As one reads scripture, it almost seems as if the biblical writers still had not resolved the balance for themselves. Yancey tries to negotiate the balance between the Jesus who offers himself in unconditional relationship with us and the same Jesus who says I didn't come to eliminate one line of the law. Yancey does this largely through stories that make grace seem really accessible and really costly.

If you were to buy one book for someone who wanted to know what it meant to be a Christian in the 21st century, grab this one and give it to them. I've already gone through 5 copies.