About Philip
Growing up in a strict, fundamentalist church in the southern USA, a young Philip Yancey tended to view God as “a scowling Supercop, searching for anyone who might be having a good time—in order to squash them.” Yancey jokes today about being in recovery from a toxic church. “Of course, there were good qualities too. If a neighbor’s house burned down, the congregation would rally around and show charity—if, that is, the house belonged to a white person. I grew up confused by the contradictions. We heard about love and grace, but I didn’t experience much. And we were taught that God answers prayers, miraculously, but my father died of polio just after my first birthday, despite many prayers for his healing.”
For Yancey, reading offered a window to a different world. So, he devoured books that opened his mind, challenged his upbringing, and went against what he had been taught. A sense of betrayal engulfed him. “I felt I had been lied to. For instance, what I learned from a book like To Kill a Mockingbird or Black Like Me contradicted the racism I encountered in church. I went through a period of reacting against everything I was taught, and even discarding my faith. I began my journey back mainly by encountering a world very different than I had been taught, an expansive world of beauty and goodness. Along the way I realized that God had been misrepresented to me. Cautiously, warily, I returned, circling around the faith to see if it might be true.”
Ever since, Yancey has explored the most basic questions and deepest mysteries of the Christian faith, guiding millions of readers with him. Early on he crafted best-selling books such as Disappointment with God and Where is God When it Hurts? while also editing The Student Bible. He coauthored three books with the renowned surgeon Dr. Paul Brand. “No one has influenced me more,” he says. “We had quite a trade: I gave words to his faith, and in the process he gave faith to my words.” In time, he has explored central matters of the Christian faith, penning award-winning titles such as The Jesus I Never Knew, What’s So Amazing About Grace? and Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? His books have garnered 13 Gold Medallion Awards from Christian publishers and booksellers. He currently has more than 17 million books in print, published in over 50 languages worldwide. In his memoir, Where the Light Fell, Yancey recalls his lifelong journey from strict fundamentalism to a life dedicated to a search for grace and meaning, thus providing a type of prequel to all his other books.
Yancey worked as a journalist in Chicago for some twenty years, editing the youth magazine Campus Life while also writing for a wide variety of magazines. In the process he interviewed diverse people enriched by their personal faith, such as President Jimmy Carter, Habitat for Humanity founder Millard Fuller, and Dame Cicely Saunders, founder of the modern hospice movement. In 1992 he and his wife Janet, a social worker and hospice chaplain, moved to the foothills of Colorado, and his writing took a more personal, introspective turn.
“I write books for myself,” he says. “I’m a pilgrim, recovering from a bad church upbringing, searching for a faith that makes its followers larger and not smaller. Writing became for me a way of deconstructing and reconstructing faith. I feel overwhelming gratitude that I can make a living exploring the issues that most interest me.
“I tend to go back to the Bible as a model, because I don’t know a more honest book. I can’t think of any argument against God that isn’t already included in the Bible. To those who struggle with my books, I reply, ‘Then maybe you shouldn’t be reading them.’ Yet some people do need the kinds of books I write. They’ve been burned by the church, or they’re upset about certain aspects of Christianity. I understand that feeling of disappointment, even betrayal. I feel called to speak to those living in the borderlands of faith.”
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email Joannie: pyasst@aol.com
Dear Mr. Yancey: I write this, I am praying, in a most respectful manner. I have read your books over the years and gained from them. Today I find out that you have endorsed the democratic platform and candidate, and am wondering what I had missed when reading your writings formerly. I am so disappointed. I will pray for you.
Look again. I never ever endorsed a democratic platform or any candidate. Rather, I expressed my disappointment that so many evangelicals hold up as their flagbearer a man whose life seems to contradict the most basic principles of our faith.
Mr. Yancy,
I am an evangelical Christian. I was raised in a “hellfire and brimstone” church, and grew closer to God in a bible-teaching, grace-based church. I am also a social worker. And yes, a democrat. Many find that so hard to believe. And yet, my desire to help others comes directly from the Bible. As I read Christ’s charges to us, and realize that NONE of us deserve salvation, I am so struck by the number of “evangelical” Christians who are so quick to judge, condemn, and crucify others. And yes, I’m also so curious how evangelicals can say Donald Trump is God’s choice for us, even when he says he does not need to ask for forgiveness. I believe that is the biblical definition for a non-believer. The amount of hate, sexism, racism, every -ism that this campaign has brought out in our country grieves me deeply. I am praying for God’s intervention, and also deeply trust His Will. Thank you for speaking your mind.
I love your spirit, Lisa. Keep praying. –Philip
I am amazed by the way Christians are judged and condemned. It is rampant. It really does seem that to many, a person is evil and hateful if they believe that marriage should be reserved for a man & a woman. Why is one view tolerated and the other not? Yes, being a Christian IS hard.
An article in ” CP politics” has you wondering about voting for Donald Trump for pres. i understand your argument against that vote but what is the alternative? When there are only two candidates that are miles ahead of the rest of the pack, it would appear to me to be a waste of vote to vote for anyone other then Trump.
Your thoughts please .
dave
Phillip Yancey shows how DECEPTION takes place beginning with his “New Age” views that pushes a very non-Biblical view he offers to separation of Christian involvement in Kingdom of God Government! DONALD TRUMP IS GOD’S CHOICE FOR PRESIDENT! Acting as a “Chosen one ‘Pontificating ‘ his religious spirits secularism views! Yet his Spiritual Smear won’t stop real Believers from being God’s Word to a very sick nation! We are The Church and we do not need seeds of discord from Phillip Yancey! 😛
Evan McMullin is a sane alternative and the only conservative in the race.
We only have 2 choices. The other candidates running only have very small numbersof followers.
Most people,Christians, that is, would rather have Trump because he is not part of the establishment Republicans. Hillery, or as I call her, Hitlery, has proven over the years to be very anti- Christian . Considering full term abortions, Benghazi, funding from Islamic nations, her husbands’ MANY sexual infidelities, and all the things she has contradicted herself on all these years. I have no doubt that IF she wins, the public will know it was rigged, and the fallout will be an uprising that the US hasn’t seen since the Civil War
Easy… Donald is against killing unborn babies.
Actually, his views on abortion have been very mixed over the years, so I wouldn’t count on it… Philip
I enjoyed your comments on Donald Trump. I have read some of your books and enjoyed them all. I was a Christian prior to the Reagan revolution in 1980 when Republicans deliberately confused Christianity with patriotism and capitalism to get their people elected. I now view politics and religion cynically as a tool to maneuver people to an end that benefits their personal goals, not goals of a God whom might think differently. I am in my 60’s and will probably die an atheist unless someone can change my cold heart, even if it is an attempt to maneuver me to their self serving purpose. I would love to be a Christian again.
Michael,
I hope that somehow you are graced with a direct relationship with God, unmediated by those who may try to maneuver or manipulate. You already show an open, wise spirit. The Kingdom could use you! Philip
Dear Mr. Yancey,
I have read your stuff for decades. Thank you for rescuing so many of us from rigid Christianity and teaching us to welcome messy Christianity :-), including doubts and questions.
Hey have you checked out Evan McMullin for President? He compassionately vetted refugees and bravely fought terrorists overseas, worked as Policy head for the Republicans in Congress, and has business experience. He has family values and has a record of integrity. I heard you questioning the movement of evangelicals towards Trump, and I totally agree with you! It is so alarming! But so many of us prayed and then (I believe) God gave us a new candidate – McMullin was asked to run at last minute, he is not a power-grabber. Please look him up and consider supporting his candidacy! He actually could win, but it would take a lot of publicity to get the word out. He is already on enough ballots to win – or to take votes away from T and C so that the House can choose another. Feel free to write me if you would like more info. 🙂
Thanks for reading this!